According to abbreviationfinder, Podgorica is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Montenegro as well as the municipality of the same name, previously the city was known as Titograd and Ribnica. It is located between the coordinates 42 ° 28′01 ″ N 19 ° 16′47 ″ E at 44 meters above sea level and covering an area of 1399 km². According to the 2003 census, the resident population in the city was 139,500, which is equivalent to 27.3% of the population of Montenegro.
Place names
The name of the city comes from a reference to the hill that dominates the entire city, the literal translation of the name is “under the small mountain”, since Gorica or Goritsa means “small mountain” referring to this hill.
The pronunciation of the name of this city is Podgoritsa, just as Ribnica was pronounced Ribnitsa.
History
The area that is known today as Podgorica was not founded until the 5th century even though the area was inhabited since the late Stone Age. Already in the Middle Ages and until 1326 the city was known by the name of Ribnic. Many years passed until between 1945 and 1992 the city received the name of Titogrado in honor of the former Yugoslav head of state Josip Broz Tito.
Between 1466 and 1878 the area was part of the Ottoman Empire and years later of Montenegro. On November 29, 1918, the city was chosen to hold the meeting of the Serbian Grand National Assembly that sought the unification between the kingdoms of Serbia and Montenegro, an agreement that bore fruit when the federation of Serbia and Montenegro was united with the newly created Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
In 1941 during World War II, the city was occupied by the Italian fascist troops, who later gave control of the city to the German army, however already on December 19, 1944 the city was finally liberated, but not before being practically devastated by the enormous damage caused by the bombardments of the allied troops.
In 1945 the city was rebuilt by the government of Josip Broz Tito, in honor of which the city took the name of Titogrado, a year later in 1946 the city was established as the capital of the Republic of Montenegro, which was part of the Federal Republic Yugoslavian Socialist.
During this stage of socialist government, the city experienced an extraordinary advance, education received a colossal boost, many of the new cultural, sports and health institutions were founded, modern buildings, roads and air connections were built that linked the city. city with the rest of the State and other countries, all of which made Titograd the commercial and cultural center of Montenegro.
On May 21, 2006, the Montenegrin population supported the independence of Montenegro and already on June 3 of that same year, Podgorica was proclaimed the capital of the new Republic of Montenegro.
In 1992 when the city changed its name from Titogrado to Podgorica, the local government replaced the shield that existed until then with the current one.
Geography
Podgorica is located in southern Montenegro, in the municipality of the same name, in the northern part of the Zeta plain, north of Lake Skadar, where the Ribnica and Morača rivers converge, specifically between the coordinates 42 ° 28′01 ″ N 19 ° 16′47 ″ E at 44 meters above sea level and covering an area of 1399 km². The city is located a few kilometers from the Mediterranean coast of the Adriatic Sea. The rivers Zeta, Cijevna, Sitnica and Mareza flow in the vicinity of the city.
The city presents a predominantly flat relief in reverse of much of the republic, with the exception of the Gorica peak which is 107 m high and some hills such as Malo brdo (small hill), Velje brdo (large hill), the Ljubović and the Čardak, which are mostly steep mountains that limit the expansion of the city towards the north where they are located.
Climate
The climate is Mediterranean, with hot, dry summers and mild winters.
Precipitation
Rainfall presents an annual average of 1544 mm, with practically unknown snowfalls.
Temperature
The city is known for its very hot summers, with temperatures above 40 ° C, especially in the months of July and August, and temperatures above 25 ° C are recorded on approximately 135 days of the year. The average daily temperature is 16.4 ° C
Population
Podgorica is the largest city in Montenegro, where almost a third (27.3%) of Montenegrins live. The city is home to a total of 140,000 people according to the 2003 population census, while current estimates raise the figure to 200,000 throughout the municipality, thus the municipality of Podgorica, which represents 10.4% of the territory of Montenegro is home to 27.3% of its population, which is distributed according to its ethnic groups as follows. See population of Montenegro.
Ethnic group population percentage
- Montenegrins 96,343 residents for 56.96% of the population.
- Serbs 44,423 inh. for 26.26% of the population.
- Albanians 19,341 inhab. for 11.42% of the population.
- Muslims 4,399 2.60% of the population.
- Bosnians 2,307 inhab. for 1.36% of the population.
- Gypsies 1,389 hab. for 0.82% of the population.
- Croatian 709 hab. for 0.42% of the population.
Economy
The city is the administrative center of Montenegro and the nucleus of its economy, which formerly was mostly oriented towards manufacturing, but after the Second World War and being elevated to the capital of Montenegro (within the new Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia), the city prospered extraordinarily and underwent a gigantic urbanization process, coupled with the establishment and boom of industries linked to the processing of aluminum, textiles, wine and automobile production.
The city was left without markets for its industries after the Yugoslav wars and the dissolution of Yugoslavia, which caused a decrease in production in many factories and the closure of others, those that managed to survive were privatized.
Podgorica experienced rapid growth from 2000, mainly in the finance and services sector, which took a lot of momentum when it was declared the capital of the new sovereign state of Montenegro in 2006.
Today the number of foreign investors and companies that are opening businesses in the city is growing. The most important economic activities are those related to heavy industry, telecommunications, construction and banking.
Districts
The city is divided into 57 neighborhoods and two major population entities, Golubovci and Tuzi.
Social development
Culture
The city is the headquarters of the main cultural events in Montenegro, where countless cultural institutions have their headquarters, among which the National Theater of Montenegro stands out, which is not only the most important theater in Podgorica, but in the entire country. Podgorica is also the seat of the City Theater (Gradsko pozorište), which includes the Children’s Theater and the Puppet Theater, in the city there are also a number of very important museums and galleries nationwide.
The Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ, is the largest place of worship in Podgorica, and one of the greatest symbols of the city, Podgorica is also a multicultural and multi-denominational city, and a reflection of what is also Montenegro.
Education
Podgorica has institutions where all levels of education are taught, including university. The city is home to the vast majority of higher education centers in Montenegro, especially the University of Montenegro, which is the most important in the country and the largest of all, reaching nine faculties and four scientific research institutes:
Institutes
Institute of Foreign Languages. Institute of Biotechnology. Institute of History. Institute of Marine Biology.
In recent years, the number of private institutions of higher education has increased. In Podgorica there is also the Radosav Ljumović which is the national library of Montenegro.
