Montenegrin Americans are

Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Law of the United States, U.S. federal law does not equate nationality with Race (hu ...

who are of Montenegrin origin. The figure includes all people affiliated with United States who claim Montenegrin ancestry, both those born in the country and naturalized citizens, as well as those with dual citizenship who affiliate themselves with both countries or cultures. The number of Montenegrin Americans in the United States is unknown, as the Montenegrin community has not been differentiated in the

United States census The United States census (plural censuses or census) is a census that is legally mandated by the Constitution of the United States. It takes place every ten years. The first census after the American Revolution was taken in 1790 United States ce ...

as different from closely related Yugoslav American groups; therefore Montenegrin Americans are likely to identify with those groups.

History

Early period

At the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries, mass migration of

Montenegrins Montenegrins (, or ) are a South Slavic ethnic group that share a common ancestry, culture, history, and language, identified with the country of Montenegro. Montenegrins are mostly Orthodox Christians; however, the population also includes ...

into America occurred. It went in groups, but also individually. First of all, young people from the coastal part of Montenegro were leaving: Boka, Pastrovici, the surroundings of

Budva Budva (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Будва, or ) is a town in the Coastal Montenegro, Coastal region of Montenegro. It had 27,445 inhabitants as of 2023, and is the centre of Budva Municipality. The coastal area around Budva, called the Budv ...

, then from Crmnica, Katun nahija, Gragova, Krivosija, Vilusa, so that in a few years the departure would be extended to the region of Niksic, Bjelopavlici, Piva, Zabljak, Moraca and the whole northern part of Montenegro. The

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

authorities then helped to get as many Montenegrins as possible, especially young men, to go to America to leave as few soldiers as possible in Montenegro who could go to war. The number of emigrants has grown from year to year. According to the passport book, which was carefully conducted from 1864 to 1914 in the

Kingdom of Montenegro The Kingdom of Montenegro was a monarchy in southeastern Europe, present-day Montenegro, during the tumultuous period of time on the Balkan Peninsula leading up to and during World War I. Officially it was a constitutional monarchy, but absolu ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, according to Pavel Rovinsky, there were 17 thousand young Montenegrins. This is stated in the "Glas Crnogorca", which was at that time in

Cetinje Cetinje ( cnr-Cyrl, Цетиње, ) is a List of cities and towns in Montenegro, town in Montenegro. It is the former royal capital ( cnr-Latn-Cyrl, prijestonica, приjестоница, separator=" / ") of Montenegro and is the location of sev ...

, as well as in the "Slobodna Misao" newspaper in Niksic. Interesting is the fact that in 1903, in the course of five months, from the beginning of August to the end of December, 621 Montenegrins went to America. With the departure of young people through

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

, spontaneously disappeared the first verses that best talked to the desire to get to the far rich country as soon as possible. Many Montenegrins sang a song: "Ameriko, rosno cvijeće/ nema toga ko te neće/ ni đeteta od tri ljeta/ niti starca od 100 ljeta…" Ili: "Ameriko zemljo kleta/ po tebi mi drago šeta/. Molim brata, molim kuma, /da mi zajme trista kruna/ da otidem u Čikago,/ pa da vidim moje drago/ kako radi i propada/ i daleko jade jada…" Ili: "Navijorče, vrći momke/ da s’ udaju Crnogorke…" " Montenegrin day New York

Communities

Today, these

mainly live in the central and

eastern United States The Eastern United States, often abbreviated as simply the East, is a macroregion of the United States located to the east of the Mississippi River. It includes 17–26 states and Washington, D.C., the national capital. As of 2011, the Eastern ...

, much of which is concentrated in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

(mainly Albanians from Ulcinj, Gusinje, Rozaje, Berane, etc) and

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, and to a lesser extent in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, and recent arrivals from former Yugoslavia in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

area.

Montenegrin Americans are found throughout the state of

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

. About a quarter of all known Montenegrin Americans live in

Anchorage Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolita ...

. Their presence in Alaska dates back to the

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, ...

es of the early 20th century. A short-lived

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

entitled ''Servian Montenegrin'' was established at the beginning of 1905 in the town of Douglas, near Juneau. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2015, there were 9,486 ethnic Serbs born in "Other Eastern Europe" countries, overwhelmingly Montenegro. According to the 2000 U.S. census, there were 2,339 individuals whose first ancestry was Montenegrin, and 189 whose second ancestry was Montenegrin, 2,528 ethnic Montenegrins overall.

Notable people

Arts and entertainment

* Marina Abramović, performance artist * Enisa Nikaj, pop singer, model and songwriter *

Emina Cunmulaj Emina Cunmulaj (; born September 12, 1984) is an Albanian-American model. Early life Emina Cunmulaj was born in Farmington Hills, Michigan, United States to Albanians in Montenegro, Albanian parents from Podgorica, Montenegro. In 1988, she mov ...

, model and philanthropist

Literature

* Elijah Monte Radlovic * Nikola Petanović, writer and philosopher

Film

* Ivan Kraljevic, film director *

Milla Jovovich Milica Bogdanovna Jovović; ; ( ; born December 17, 1975), known professionally as Milla Jovovich (), is an American actress and former fashion model. Her starring roles in numerous science fiction film, science-fiction and action films led th ...

, actress

Politics

* Mark Brnovich, Arizona Attorney General * Michael Anthony Stepovich, former

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of Alaska Territory, 1957-1958 (last appointed governor before statehood). * John Butrovich, former Alaska State Senator * John Dapcevich, former mayor of

Sitka, Alaska Sitka (; ) is a municipal home rule, unified Consolidated city-county, city-borough in the southeast portion of the U.S. state of Alaska. It was under Russian America, Russian rule from 1799 to 1867. The city is situated on the west side of Ba ...

* Marko Dapcevich, most recent former mayor of

* Susan Marie Brnovich, Arizona Superior Court Judge * George Perazich, humanitarian

Sports

* Justin Cobbs, basketball player * Nicholas Delpopolo, Olympic athlete - judo *

Gregg Popovich Gregg Charles Popovich (born January 28, 1949) is an American professional basketball executive and former coach who is the president for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was the List of current NBA head co ...

, basketball coach * Mirsad Huseinovic, soccer player * Novo Bojovic, football player * Omar Cook, basketball player * Taylor Rochestie, basketball player * Tyrese Rice, basketball player * Kendrick Perry, basketball player * Javonte Green, basketball player * Derek Needham, basketball player * Jonah Radebaugh, basketball player *

Halil Kanacević Halil Kanacević (; born October 23, 1991) is an American-born Montenegrin former professional basketball player. He played college basketball at Saint Joseph's University, where he helped lead the team to the 2014 Atlantic 10 championship. High ...

, basketball player in Europe

Service sector

* Roko Camaj, high-rise window cleaner of the original World Trade Center

Fictional

* Nero Wolfe

References

External links

Montenegrins in AlaskaMontenegrin Americans celebrating Montenegrin Independence in ChicagoHow Montenegrin Citizens Helped U.S. SoldiersMontenegrin Ohioans
{{European Americans

European diaspora in the United States European-American history