Montenegro census 2003 - Back to the Roots

NOVEMBER 2003 MONTENEGRIN CENSUS (OFFICIAL DATA): 201.892 or 30,01% of 672.656 inhabitants of Montenegro declared their ethnicity (nationality) as being Serbian and 401.382 or 59,67% of the population identifies Serbian as their mother tongue, thus an absolute majority of Montenegrin citizens have affirmed their ethnic and/or linguistic identity as being Serbian. 40,64% are declared Montenegrins and only 21,53% speak so-called Montenegrin language. Historical areas, Boka Kotorska (The Gulf of Kotor) and The Highlands, are overwhelmingly inhabitated by the declared Serbs.

PODGORICA -- Friday – The number of Serbs in Montenegro is on the rise, according to the unofficial results of the latest population census published today in Podgorica daily Vijesti.

The Serb population in Montenegro has risen to 30 per cent, from just 9.2 per cent in 1991, Vijesti reports. The proportion registered as Montenegrin has dropped from 62 per cent to 40.6 per cent.

The newspaper noted a “sharp” rise in those who failed to specify ethnicity, from just over 0.1 per cent in 1991 to 4 per cent in 2003.

PODGORICA, Dec 19 (Tanjug) - Of the total of 672.656 citizens of Montenegro, 273,366 or 40.64 pct said they were Montenegrins, and 201,892 or 30 pct Serbs, the preliminary results of the population census showed, the Montenegrin Statistics Institute stated on Friday.

Compared to the census from 1991, the number of citizens who said they were Montenegrin decreased by 107,101, or 21.22 pct, while the number of Serbs in Montenegro was more than three times higher, or increased by 144,439.

The number of registered Bosniacs is 9.41 pct, Albanians 7.09, Mislims 4.27, Croats 1.05 and Roma 0.43 pct. National affiliation was not stated by 27,715 citizens or 4.12 pct, while there is no data for 10,532 citizens or 1.57 pct.

Compared to the previous census the number of Muslims decreased by 9.4 pct, or by as many who now stated they were Bosniacs, who were not registered in Montenegro in 1991.

The number of Albanians in the past 12 years increased by 0.5 pct, while the number of Croats is almost identical. The number of those who did not state their national affiliation has grown rapidly, from 943 in the 1991 census to 27,715 now, and the number of those about whom there is no data has almost doubled.

The census results showed that the Serbian language is spoken in Montenegro by 59,67 pct, Montenegrin by 21.23, Albanian by 7.35, Bosniac by 4.37 pct of the population.

For other languages have opted 3.26 pct, while there is no data for 2.93 pct of citizens.

Data about denomination showed that in Montenegro 69.6 pct belong to the Orthodox faith, 20.98 pct are Catholics, while Islam is the faith of 4.19 pct. On the issue of denomination, 2.25 pct of citizens did not declare themselves.

PODGORICA, Serbia-Montenegro -- People who regard themselves as Montenegrins are a minority in their own republic, according to results of a census released Friday (19 December). Of a total population of 672,656, 40.6 per cent said they were ethnic Montenegrins. That’s a decline of 30 per cent since the last census, in 1991. An estimated 30 per cent described themselves as Serbs, 9.4 per cent as Bosnians, 4.3 per cent as Albanians, one per cent as Muslims, and 0.4 per cent as Croats. Nearly 70 per cent said they were Orthodox Christian, compared to 20.9 per cent Muslim, and 4.2 per cent Roman Catholic. (AFP - 19/12/03)

Vojislav Kostunica, leader and bearer of election list of Democratic Party said during convention in the town of Cacak that the state union of Serbia and Montenegro would survive with Kosovo and Metohija as its integral part.

'It is better to have a state having access to the Danube and the Adriatic Sea', Kostunica said.

'The census in Montenegro shows that in relation to 1991 when there were 10 percents of Serbs, today there are 30 percents of Serbs. At the same time more people are speaking Serbian Language in Montenegro than the actual number of Serbs in that Republic', Kostunica said.

20th December 2003. - 40,64 per cent of Montenegrins and 30,01 per cent of Serbs live in Montenegro
According to the unofficial population census results, there are 40,64 per cent of Montenegrins, 30,01 per cent of Serbs, 9,41 per cent of Bosnjaks, 7,09 per cent of Albanians, 4,27 per cent of Muslims, 1,05 per cent of Croats and 0,43 per cent of Romas in Montenegro. This result of population census, conducted from 1 until 15 November in Montenegro, was published by today's Vijesti and it was obtained through the census commissions. As far as the national affiliation is concerned, 4,12 did not identify themselves in the census while there are no data for 1,57 per cent. Number of those who did not want to identify themselves rapidly increased since only 0,15 per cent of citizens did not want to identify themselves in the 1991 census. Comparing to the 1991 census number of citizens that identified themselves as Montenegrin decreased by over 107 thousand while number of those identifying themselves as Serbs increased by over 144 thousand. Cetinje, Niksic, Danilovgrad, Podgorica, Kolasin and Mojkovac are the cities in which Montenegrins make more then half of all the citizens. There are 90,28 per cent of Montenegrins in Cetinje, 67,93 per cent in Danilovgrad, 62,5 per cent in NIksic, 54,94 in Podgorica, 54,77 in Mojkovac and 50,35 per cent in Kolasin. According to 1991 census there was over 9,5 thousand Serbs in Pljevlja and there are more then 21,5 thousand now. It is almost the same in Berane while number of those who identified them as Serbs in Savnik was 490 it has now increased by almost a thousand. Number of Serbs in Pluzine increased from 348 to over 2,5 thousand. Monstat announced that it would present the official final results and data on language on Monday, 22 December. MINA

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