Like many of the countries in the region Montenegro is a small country with a population of just 600,000 and a history of being subsumed into larger empires.

In the ninth century Montenegro became a vassal state of the Byzantine Empire. The Ottomans took over until World War I when the Republic of Yugoslavia was formed.

Montenegro was part of the various forms of Yugoslavia and Serbia until an EU brokered deal led to it being declared independent in 2006. For an account of the country’s recent past, read Montenegro: a Modern History by Kenneth Morrison.

The traditional cultures of the country are represented by traditional dances called Oro and Sota. There is also a powerful tradition of Epic Songs accompanied by gusle, a one-stringed instrument. Folk poet, Petar II Petrović Njegoš’s Gorski Vijenac, written in the Montenegrin vernacular, presents a central point of the Montenegrin culture.