Slavs (including
Croats and
Serbs) have lived in the area of
Montenegro since the 6th and 7th centuries in the medieval principalities of
Doclea and
Zeta, and the area got its present name (Montenegrin:
Crna Gora, which means Black Mountain) during the rule of the
Crnojević dynasty. It was part of
medieval Serbia during 13th century and first half of the 14th century, but
Ottoman conquest of the Balkans resulted in separation from Serbia and re-emergence of Zeta. In the 19th century national romanticism among the
South Slavs fueled the desire for re-unification. Regarding the linguistic and ethnic identity of
Montenegrins, there is
an ongoing controversy, some supporting the ideea that they aren't a distinct group, but only a subgroup of Serbian people. Whatever the truth, the many similarities between Serbs and Montenegrins not be questioned. The
Bay of Kotor, known also as Boka, is a winding bay of the
Adriatic Sea, in fact a ria of the disintegrated Bokelj River which used to run from the high mountain plateaus of
Orjen. The inhabitants of Boka and adjacent regions are the
Bokelj or
Bokez people, who are an ethnic South Slavic community, many of whom nationally identify as being Montenegrin, Serb or Croat, or others. Most are
Eastern Orthodox, while some are
Roman Catholics.
