Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1899 American Edition.djvu/1152

 79G

MONTENEGRO

proclaimed March 21, 1879, in a State Council of eight members, one half of them being nominated by the Prince, and the other elected by the male in- habitants who are bearing, or have borne, arms. Practically, all depends on the absolute Avill of the Prince. The inhabitants are divided into 40 tribes, each governed by elected 'elders,' and a chief or captain of district called Knjez, who acts as magistrate in peace and is commander in war. By the ' Administrative Statute ' of 1879, the country was divided into 80 districts and eight military commands.

President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of the Interior, Voivode Bojo Petrovic. There are ]\Iinistries for Foreign Affairs, War, Finance, and Justice and Worship.

Area and Population.

The area of Montenegro is estimated to embrace 3,630 English square miles, inclusive of the annexations effected by the Congress of Berlin in 1878. Its extreme length, from the northernmost point of Piwa to the Boyana, is little more than 100, and its width, from Grahovo to the Lim, about 80 English miles. It is bordered on the south or south-east by the Turkish Vilayets of Scutari and Kossovo (North Albania), on the east by the Sanjak of Novi Bazar, and on the north-west by the Herzegovina, On the west it is separated from the Adriatic by the narrow strip of Austrian territory forming the extremity of Dalmatia (Bocche di Cattaro, Budua, Spizza), excepting in the recently (1878-81) acquired districts of Antivari and Dulcigno, where it possesses a seaboard some 28 miles in length. The total population numbers about 228,000. The capital is Cettinje, with 2,920 population ; Podgoritza, 6,534 ; Dulcigno, 5,000 ; Niksic, 3,500 ; Danilograd, 1,100. The population is mainly pastoral and agricultural. The Montenegrins belong almost entirely to the Servian branch of the Slav race.

Religion.

The Church is nominally independent of the State, except that the bishops are appointed by the Prince ; but the personal authority of the latter is all- pervading. The principal monasteries are possessed of sufficient property for their maintenance, aided In' occasional contributions from Russia. The rural clergy are maintained by the communities. Orthodox Montenegro is divided into two dioceses, Cettinje and Ostrog, but actually the cure of both sees is united in the hands of the Metropolitan Bishop of Cettinje. The former see comprises 8 sub-districts, called proto-presbyteries, with 84 parishes, and the latter into 9 such districts with 75 parishes. The Roman Catholic Arch- bishopric of Antivari contains 10 parishes, all of which arc situated in the districts recently acquired from Turkey, in which there are likewise 10 Mus- ulman parishes.

Religion

Number of Churches

Number of Clergy

Adherents

Greek Orthodox Mohammedan. Roman Catholic

177 19 10

180 33 13

201,067 13,840 12,924

206

226

227,831

Instruction.

Schools for elementary education are supported by Government ; education is compulsory and free ; there are (1889) 70 elementary schools, with 3,000