Montenegro (Montenegrin: Crna Gora), is a small country located in South-eastern Europe, with population of almost 680 thousand people. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast, and Albania to the southeast. Its capital and largest city is Podgorica, while Cetinje is designated as the Prijestonica, meaning the former Royal Capital City.
The country got its name (literally, “black mountain”) from the dark, mountain forests that cover the land. Some 60 percent of the country is more than 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) high, with the tallest peak Bobotov Kuk (Durmitor) reaching to 2,522 meters (8,274 feet). Montenegro has five national parks which cover approximately 10 percent of the country’s territory (Durmitor, Biogradska gora, Lake Skadar, Prokletije, Lovćen).
The coast of Montenegro is 294 km (183 mi) long, with the long sandy beaches on the eastern part of the coast (Budva, Bar, Ulcinj) and with Bay of Kotor, a fjord-like gulf, on the west (Kotor, Tivat, Herceg Novi). The Bay of Kotor is surrounded by mountains up to 1,000 m (3,281 ft) high, which plunge almost vertically into the sea.