Montenegro at a glance

Facts about Montenegro, which holds its first presidential election Sunday since gaining independence:

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PEOPLE: The population of 620,000 is predominantly Christian Orthodox. Up to 15 percent are Slavic Muslims, and ethnic Albanians account for 7 percent.

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HISTORY: Montenegro was recognized as an independent state in 1878, when it became a monarchy. After the end of World War I in 1918, it merged with Serbia and some Slav-populated parts of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire to form what later became Yugoslavia. After World War II, communists took over. In the 1990s, the countryunraveled along ethnic lines. Four republics seceded, while only Serbia and Montenegro stayed together. In a referendum on independence on May 21, 2006, 55.5 percent of Montenegrins voted to split from Serbia. On June 28, 2006, it become the 192nd member of the United Nations.

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LANGUAGE: Serbian, formerly known as Serbo-Croat, is the majority language. Separatists call their slightly different dialect Montenegrin.

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GOVERNMENT: Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic's Democratic Party of Socialists runs the government. The former Communists modernized and stayed in power when a multiparty system was introduced in 1990. Djukanovic, a former ally of Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic, launched a pro-independence movement that culminated with the May referendum.

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ECONOMY: With its industrial output stagnating, Montenegro relies on tourism along its 290-kilometer (180-mile) stretch of Adriatic Sea coast. Annual economic growth is about 8 percent, and foreign investment since 2006 has been about euro1 billion (US$1.6 billion) _ largely owing to the real estate sales boom on the coast. The average monthly salary is euro400 (US$630) and unemployment is officially about 25 percent.