III.

Population

Montenegro is much smaller than Serbia, its northern neighbour; the population at the 1991 census was 615,035. In 2008 the population estimate was 678,177, giving an average density of 49 people per sq km (127 per sq mi). Around 60 per cent of the population belongs to the Montenegrin ethnic group; the chief minorities are ethnic Muslims (15 per cent), Serbs (10 per cent), and ethnic Albanians (8 per cent). Podgorica, called Titograd from 1946 until 1992, is the largest city as well as the capital; at the 1991 census it had a population of 118,059 (2002; 138,000). Serbian Orthodoxy was the chief religion until 1993, when an autonomous Montenegrin Church was established. Another important religion in Montenegro is Islam. The Serbian language is the main language of Montenegro.