Society

According to the 2011 census, Montenegro has 620,029 inhabitants. A new population census is scheduled for the end of November 2023.

The official language is Montenegrin, while other languages in the official use are Serbian, Bosnian, Croatian, and Albanian. As per 2011 Census data, the most spoken language is Serbian at 42,88%, then Montenegrin at 36,97%, followed by Bosnian, which is spoken by 5,33%, and Albanian, which is spoken among 5,27% of the population. All other languages are spoken by less than 1% of the population. Montenegrin, Serbian, Bosnian, and Croatian are very similar languages.

The biggest ethnic group is Montenegrin, to which 44,98% of the population belongs, followed by 28,73% of people who belong to the Serb ethnic group. In total, 8,65% of the population are Bosniaks, 4,91% Albanians, and 3,31% Muslims. Croat ethnic group counts 0,97%

Also, according to the 2011 census, most of the population is Orthodox, 72,07%, followed by 15,97% of the population who belong to Islam. In total 3,44% of the population are Catholic while 3,14% declare themselves as Muslims. Atheists are 1,24% of the population.

The biggest number of inhabitants was in Podgorica, 185,937, representing 30% percent of the population of Montenegro, and then Nikšić and Bijelo Polje follow. In these three cities live approximately half of the Montenegrin population. Municipalities with the smallest number of populations are Šavnik with 2,070, Plužine with 3,246 and Žabljak with 3,569 inhabitants.

In urban settlements, there are 392,020 inhabitants, representing 63% of the total population, while in other settlements, there are 228,009 inhabitants.

According to what is now very outdated information, in 2011, Montenegro had 501,278 citizens who were over 15 years of age, and in total, 50,643 did not complete primary school, did not have any school degree, or did not want to disclose the data, or 10,10% of the population older than 15.

Reporters Without Borders point out that in Montenegro, press freedom continues to be threatened by political interference, unpunished attacks on journalists, and economic pressure. While current attacks on journalists are mostly resolved promptly, many remain unpunished, despite promises from the government that came to power in 2020 to take steps to resolve them. One such case is the assassination of editor-in-chief Duško Jovanović and the attempted murder of investigative journalist Olivera Lakić.