Bay of Kotor
Encyclopedia
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| Name: | Bay of Kotor Boka Kotorska Бока Kоторска |
| Position: | Southwest Montenegro Montenegro Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the... |
| Rivers: | Karst hydrology, Sopot, Škurda submerged sources |
| Destination: | Sea Sea A sea generally refers to a large body of salt water, but the term is used in other contexts as well. Most commonly, it means a large expanse of saline water connected with an ocean, and is commonly used as a synonym for ocean... |
| Settlements: | Kotor Kotor Kotor is a coastal city in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Gulf of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative center of the municipality.... , Herceg Novi Herceg Novi Herceg Novi is a coastal town in Montenegro located at the entrance to the Bay of Kotor and at the foot of Mount Orjen. It is the administrative center of the Herceg Novi Municipality with around 33,000 inhabitants... , Tivat Tivat Tivat is a coastal town in southwest Montenegro, located in the Bay of Kotor... , Budva Budva Budva is a coastal town in Montenegro. It has around 15,000 inhabitants, and it is the centre of municipality... , Risan Risan Risan is a town in the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro... Dobrota Dobrota Dobrota is a town in the Kotor Municipality in coastal Montenegro. Although administratively a separate town, it is de facto part of Kotor, and encompasses most of Kotor's residential area, while town of Kotor administratively encompasses town's historical core... , Perast Perast Perast is an old town in Bay of Kotor, Montenegro. It is situated a few kilometres northwest of Kotor.- Geography :... , Prčanj Prčanj Prčanj is a small town in Bay of Kotor, Montenegro. According to the 2003 census, the town has a population of 1244 people.It is located 3 miles west of Kotor, opposite Dobrota and between the settlements of Muo and Stoliv. All its history has been written at sea... |
| Records: | Largest bay in the Adriatic, submerged river canyon (Bokeljska rijeka) |
| Numbers | |
| Water Area: | 87 km² |
| Max depth: | 60 m |
| Average depth: | 27.3 m |
| Water content: | 2412, 306 km³ (2,4 mrd m³) |
| Highest point: | Orjen Orjen Orjen is a Dinaric Mediterranean limestone mountain range in Montenegro-Bosnia and Herzegovina. At 1894 m , Zubački kabao is the highest peak in the subadriatic Dinarides. The massif of Orjen lies to the Northwest of Risan in Bay of Kotor... = 1894 m |
| Lowest point: | Sea surface = 0 m |
| Length: | 28,13 km |
| Widest point: | 7 km |
| Narrowest point: | 0.3 km |
| Hydrologic system: | karst hydrology ca. 4000 km² |
| Shoreline: | 107.3 km |
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The Bay of Kotor (Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian language
Serbo-Croatian or Serbo-Croat, less commonly Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian , is a South Slavic language with multiple standards and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro...
: Boka Kotorska, Cyrillic script
Serbian Cyrillic alphabet
The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet is an adaptation of the Cyrillic script for the Serbian language, developed in 1818 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić. It is one of the two standard modern alphabets used to write the Serbian language, the other being Latin...
: Бока Которска, bɔ̂ka kɔ̂tɔrskaː) in south-western Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
is a winding bay
Headlands and bays
Headlands and bays are two related features of the coastal environment.- Geology and geography :Headlands and bays are often found on the same coastline. A bay is surrounded by land on three sides, whereas a headland is surrounded by water on three sides. Headlands are characterized by high,...
on the Adriatic Sea
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
. The bay, sometimes called Europe's southernmost fjord
Fjord
Geologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.-Formation:A fjord is formed when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. Glacial melting is accompanied by rebound of Earth's crust as the ice...
, is in fact a submerged river canyon
Canyon
A canyon or gorge is a deep ravine between cliffs often carved from the landscape by a river. Rivers have a natural tendency to reach a baseline elevation, which is the same elevation as the body of water it will eventually drain into. This forms a canyon. Most canyons were formed by a process of...
of the disintegrated Bokelj River which used to run from the high mountain plateaus of Mount Orjen. It is an important tourist attraction in Montenegro.
The Verige strait represent the narrowest section of the bay and is located between Cape St. Nedjelja and Cape Opatovo; it separates the inner bay east of the strait from the remainder and belongs to the Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor
Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor
The Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor is a World Heritage Site located in Montenegro that was inscribed in 1979. It encompasses the old town of Kotor , the fortifications of Kotor, and the surrounding region of the inner Bay of Kotor.-Old town of Kotor:The old town of Kotor is...
, A World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
. Montenegro is planning to build a bridge that would span the strait, the so called Verige bridge
Verige bridge
The Verige bridge is a planned bridge in Montenegro that would span the Bay of Kotor, crossing the Verige Strait at the Bay's entrance, after which it is named. It will be part of the Adriatic Highway . As of 2007, the planning stage of the bridge is completed, and construction of the bridge can...
.
The bay has been inhabited since antiquity and has some well preserved medieval towns. The picturesque towns of Kotor
Kotor
Kotor is a coastal city in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Gulf of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative center of the municipality....
, Risan
Risan
Risan is a town in the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro...
, Tivat
Tivat
Tivat is a coastal town in southwest Montenegro, located in the Bay of Kotor...
, Perast
Perast
Perast is an old town in Bay of Kotor, Montenegro. It is situated a few kilometres northwest of Kotor.- Geography :...
, Prčanj
Prčanj
Prčanj is a small town in Bay of Kotor, Montenegro. According to the 2003 census, the town has a population of 1244 people.It is located 3 miles west of Kotor, opposite Dobrota and between the settlements of Muo and Stoliv. All its history has been written at sea...
, Herceg Novi
Herceg Novi
Herceg Novi is a coastal town in Montenegro located at the entrance to the Bay of Kotor and at the foot of Mount Orjen. It is the administrative center of the Herceg Novi Municipality with around 33,000 inhabitants...
and Budva
Budva
Budva is a coastal town in Montenegro. It has around 15,000 inhabitants, and it is the centre of municipality...
along with their natural surroundings, are major tourist attractions.
The religious heritage of the land around the bay — its numerous Orthodox and Catholic Christian churches and monasteries — makes it one of the major pilgrimage sites of the region.
History
The nearby hamlet of RisanRisan
Risan is a town in the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro...
was a thriving Illyria
Illyria
In classical antiquity, Illyria was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by the Illyrians....
n city called Rhizon as early as 229 BC and gave its name to the bay, then known as Rhizonicus Sinus. Queen Teuta of Illyria
Illyria
In classical antiquity, Illyria was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by the Illyrians....
retired from Shkodra to Rhizon. Rhizon eventually submitted to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
in 168 BC, at the same time that Acrivium, or Acruvium, the modern Kotor
Kotor
Kotor is a coastal city in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Gulf of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative center of the municipality....
, is first mentioned as a neighboring city.
Kotor has been fortified since the early Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, and was one of the more influential Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
n city-states of the romanized Illirians throughout the period. It later passed to Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
and then to Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
before becoming a part of the medieval Bosnian state. Its merchant fleet and importance gradually increased, and after the fall of Serbia to the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
in the late 14th century, Kotor was seized by the Venetian Republic. Part of the Bay of Kotor area was conquered by the Turks at the end of the 15th century, and the Venetian Republic held the south-western part with the city of Kotor. The Turkish part was retaken at the end of the 17th century and the whole area became part of the Venetian Republic, with the name of Albania Veneta
Albania Veneta
Venetian Albania was the name for the possessions of the Venetian Republic in southern Dalmatia that existed from 1420 to 1797. It originally covered the coastal area of what is now northern Albania and the coast of Montenegro, but the Albanian and southern Montenegrin parts were lost to the...
. Until the 20th century the difference between the two parts was visible because the former Turkish part had an Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
majority, and the part that was under Venetian rule had a Croat Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
majority.
At the beginning of the 19th century the region around the Bay of Kotor was included in the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy and later in the Illyrian provinces
Illyrian provinces
The Illyrian Provinces was an autonomous province of the Napoleonic French Empire on the north and east coasts of the Adriatic Sea between 1809 and 1816. Its capital was established at Laybach...
, which were a part of the French Empire
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
. The region was later conquered by Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
with Russian help by Episcop of Cetinje
Cetinje
Cetinje , Цетиње / Cetinje , Italian: Cettigne, Greek: Κετίγνη, Ketígni) is a town and Old Royal Capital of Montenegro. It is also a historical and the secondary capital of Montenegro , with the official residence of the President of Montenegro...
Petar I Petrović Njegoš and in 1813 a union of the bay area with Montenegro was declared.
In 1815, the bay was annexed by the Austrian Empire
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
(Austro-Hungary since 1867) and was included into the province of Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
(part of Cisleithania
Cisleithania
Cisleithania was a name of the Austrian part of Austria-Hungary, the Dual Monarchy created in 1867 and dissolved in 1918. The name was used by politicians and bureaucrats, but it had no official status...
since 1867). In 1848 Montenegrin Prince-Bishop Petar II Petrović-Njegoš
Petar II Petrovic-Njegoš
Petar II Petrović-Njegoš , was a Serbian Orthodox Prince-Bishop of Montenegro , who transformed Montenegro from a theocracy into a secular state. However, he is most famous as a poet...
advised the denizens to fight in the Revolutions of 1848
Revolutions of 1848
The European Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Spring of Nations, Springtime of the Peoples or the Year of Revolution, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe in 1848. It was the first Europe-wide collapse of traditional authority, but within a year reactionary...
for Croatian Ban Josip Jelačić
Josip Jelacic
Count Josip Jelačić of Bužim was the Ban of Croatia between 23 March 1848 and 19 May 1859...
in an attempt to unite Dalmatia, Croatia and Slavonia under the Habsburg crown. Contrary to this the Serb National Guard of Kotor
Serb National Guard of Kotor
The Serb National Guard of Kotor was an armed Serb institution in the Gulf of Kotor, founded in 1862. It existed for over 50 years.-External links:*...
refused the proposition of Petar II Petrović Njegoš to unite with Croatia-Slavonia, stating that Serbs have to be unified first before uniting with other Slavs.
The Bay was attempted to be taken by the Kingdom of Montenegro
Kingdom of Montenegro
The Kingdom of Montenegro was a monarchy in southeastern Europe during the tumultuous years on the Balkan Peninsula leading up to and during World War I. Legally it was a constitutional monarchy, but absolutist in practice...
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, it was bombarded from Lovćen, but by 1916 Austro-Hungary defeated Montenegro. On 7 November 1918 the Serbian Army enters the bay and is greeted by the people as liberators. It becomes a part of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
The State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs was a short-lived state formed from the southernmost parts of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy after its dissolution at the end of the World War I by the resident population of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs...
. The State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs joined the Kingdom of Montenegro
Kingdom of Montenegro
The Kingdom of Montenegro was a monarchy in southeastern Europe during the tumultuous years on the Balkan Peninsula leading up to and during World War I. Legally it was a constitutional monarchy, but absolutist in practice...
and the Kingdom of Serbia
Kingdom of Serbia
The Kingdom of Serbia was created when Prince Milan Obrenović, ruler of the Principality of Serbia, was crowned King in 1882. The Principality of Serbia was ruled by the Karađorđevic dynasty from 1817 onwards . The Principality, suzerain to the Porte, had expelled all Ottoman troops by 1867, de...
. Within a month, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes is formed, renamed to Yugoslavia in 1939. The Bay was a municipality of Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
until it was, like all historic entities, re-organized into smaller districts in 1922. It was incorporated into the Zeta Area, from 1939 Zeta Banate.
According to a list of Christians from the Kotor Catholic Bishopric from 29 October 1625, the Bay had a total of 3,430 residents. 2,350 were Orthodox and 1,080 were Catholic.
According to 1818 data, the area had 29,899 inhabitants, of whom 21,310 were Orthodox Christians and 8,589 Roman Catholics. At that time municipalities with an Orthodox majority were Kotor, Risan, Grbalj, Budva, and Herceg Novi, while municipalities with a Catholic majority were Dobrota
Dobrota
Dobrota is a town in the Kotor Municipality in coastal Montenegro. Although administratively a separate town, it is de facto part of Kotor, and encompasses most of Kotor's residential area, while town of Kotor administratively encompasses town's historical core...
, Prčanj
Prčanj
Prčanj is a small town in Bay of Kotor, Montenegro. According to the 2003 census, the town has a population of 1244 people.It is located 3 miles west of Kotor, opposite Dobrota and between the settlements of Muo and Stoliv. All its history has been written at sea...
, Stoliv, Kontada of Kotor
Kotor
Kotor is a coastal city in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Gulf of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative center of the municipality....
, and Perast
Perast
Perast is an old town in Bay of Kotor, Montenegro. It is situated a few kilometres northwest of Kotor.- Geography :...
.
The population of the municipalities, only coastal settlements, of Boka in 1880:
- Herceg-Novi = 3,314 Orthodox Christians, 1,469 Catholics
- KotorKotorKotor is a coastal city in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Gulf of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative center of the municipality....
= 7,051 Catholics, 3,077 Orthodox Christians - RisanRisanRisan is a town in the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro...
= 1,910 Orthodox Christians, 860 Catholics
In Kotor
Kotor
Kotor is a coastal city in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Gulf of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative center of the municipality....
municipality Krtole had an Orthodox majority, 899 compared to 89 Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
inhabitants, and in Risan
Risan
Risan is a town in the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro...
municipality, Perast
Perast
Perast is an old town in Bay of Kotor, Montenegro. It is situated a few kilometres northwest of Kotor.- Geography :...
had a Catholic majority, 683 compared to 327 Orthodox inhabitants.
The population of the municipalities, only coastal settlements, of Boka in 1890:
- Herceg-Novi = 3,377 Orthodox Christians, 1,274 Catholics
- KotorKotorKotor is a coastal city in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Gulf of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative center of the municipality....
= 7,409 Catholics, 2,983 Orthodox Christians - RisanRisanRisan is a town in the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro...
= 1,842 Orthodox Christians, 1,000 Catholics
According to the 1900 population census, the Bay of Kotor had 37,096 inhabitants. Religion:
- 24,130 (65.05%) Eastern Orthodox
- 12,777 (34.44%) Roman Catholics
- 189 (0.51%) other
Language:
- 31,087 (83.8%) Serbian & Croatian
- 842 (2.27%) German
- 731 (1.97%) Italian
- 1,029 (2.77%)other
The population of the municipalities of Boka in 1900, all settlements:
- BudvaBudvaBudva is a coastal town in Montenegro. It has around 15,000 inhabitants, and it is the centre of municipality...
= 5,526 Orthodox Christians, 1,537 Catholics - Herceg-Novi = 7,377 Orthodox Christians, 2,198 Catholics
- KotorKotorKotor is a coastal city in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Gulf of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative center of the municipality....
= 7,617 Catholics, 7,207 Orthodox Christians - RisanRisanRisan is a town in the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro...
= 4,020 Orthodox Christians, 1,385 Catholics
The population of the municipalities, only coastal settlements, of Boka in 1910:
- Herceg-Novi = 3,893 Orthodox Christians, 2,599 Catholics
- KotorKotorKotor is a coastal city in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Gulf of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative center of the municipality....
= 9,188 Catholics, 3,554 Orthodox Christians - RisanRisanRisan is a town in the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro...
= 1,884 Orthodox Christians, 1,215 Catholics
According to the 1910 census, the Bay of Kotor area had 40,582 inhabitants, of whom 24,794 were Orthodox Christians and 14,523 Catholics, but in the same time in coastal area of Bay of Kotor
Kotor
Kotor is a coastal city in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Gulf of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative center of the municipality....
there were 22,823 inhabitants of which 13,002 were Catholics and 9,331 were Orthodox.
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...
in 1929). Between 1918 and 1922 the region was a separate county administered from Kotor
Kotor
Kotor is a coastal city in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Gulf of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative center of the municipality....
(still in Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
, between 1922 and 1929 it was part of Zeta Oblast, and between 1929 and 1941 part of Zeta Banovina
Zeta Banovina
The Zeta Banovina or Zeta Banate was a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1929 and 1941. This province consisted of all of the present-day Montenegro as well as adjacent parts of Central Serbia, Kosovo, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina...
. According to the 1921 census, Boka had 36,539 inhabitants, of whom 23,777 were Orthodox Christians and 12,342 Catholics.
The region of the Bay of Kotor was occupied by the Italian Army in April 1941, and was included in the Italian Governatorato di Dalmazia until September 1943. Since 1945, it has been part of the Republic of Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
.
Today, most of the inhabitants of the region are Orthodox Christian declaring themselves on census forms either as Serbs or as Montenegrins, while about 11% of its population is Croatian. The Bay of Kotor region is under the protection of UNESCO due to its very rich cultural heritage.
In 1979, there was an earthquake that destroyed or seriously damaged numerous cultural monuments.
Population
Most inhabitants of the Bay of Kotor area are SerbsSerbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
(41.89%) and Montenegrins (34.68%) with some Croats
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
(7.61%).
The three municipalities making up the Bay of Kotor region have a total population of 71,443 (2003 census):
- Herceg-Novi = 33,971 (17,818 SerbsSerbsThe Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
; 9,651 Montenegrins; 831 CroatsCroatsCroats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
) - KotorKotorKotor is a coastal city in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Gulf of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative center of the municipality....
= 23,481 (11,002 Montenegrins; 7,197 SerbsSerbsThe Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
; 1,842 CroatsCroatsCroats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
) - TivatTivatTivat is a coastal town in southwest Montenegro, located in the Bay of Kotor...
= 13,991 (4,911 SerbsSerbsThe Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
; 4,126 Montenegrins; 2,761 CroatsCroatsCroats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
)
Of these, 76% are Orthodox Christians
Serbian Orthodox Church
The Serbian Orthodox Church is one of the autocephalous Orthodox Christian churches, ranking sixth in order of seniority after Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Russia...
and 11% are Catholics
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
.
Ethnic groups in Boka
Montenegrins & Serbs
Slavic
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
tribes including Croats and Serbs settled around the Bay of Kotor in the 7th century. The region was divided between tribes - the Doclea
Duklja
Doclea or Duklja was a medieval state with hereditary lands roughly encompassing the territories of present-day southeastern Montenegro, from Kotor on the west to the river Bojana on the east and to the sources of Zeta and Morača rivers on the north....
ns and the Travunia
Travunia
Travunia was a medieval region, administrative unit and principality, which was part of Medieval Serbia , and in its last years, the Bosnian Kingdom . The county became hereditary in a number of noble houses, often kin to the ruling dynasty. The region came under Ottoman rule in 1482...
ns.
When the autonomous Serbian Orthodox Church was established in the 13th century, one of its first eparchies
Eparchy
Eparchy is an anglicized Greek word , authentically Latinized as eparchia and loosely translating as 'rule over something,' like province, prefecture, or territory, to have the jurisdiction over, it has specific meanings both in politics, history and in the hierarchy of the Eastern Christian...
was established in Boka.
Croats
The towns of Kotor, Perast, Tivat, Dobrota, Prčanj, Herceg-Novi and Budva had a Croatian Roman Catholic majority in 1910.The Bokelj Marine 809 (Bokeljska mornarica 809) is a Croat fraternal society whose aim is to preserve maritime tradition.
In 1893, the Croatian Home (Hrvatski dom) was opened in Kotor
Kotor
Kotor is a coastal city in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Gulf of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative center of the municipality....
.
In 1991 Croats comprised 8% of the Bay of Kotor, and according to the 2003 Census the percent of Croats was 6.41%
Geography
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
The bay inlet was formerly a river system. Very intensive tectonics and karstification processes led to the disintegration of this river.
After heavy rain the famous waterfall of Sopot spring at Risan
Risan
Risan is a town in the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro...
appears, and Škurda, another well known spring runs through a canyon from Lovćen.
The outermost part of the bay is the Bay of Tivat
Tivat
Tivat is a coastal town in southwest Montenegro, located in the Bay of Kotor...
(Teodo) and a small naval port, currently being transformed into a state of the art Super Yacht Marina, Porto Montenegro. On the seaward side, there is the Bay of Herceg Novi
Herceg Novi
Herceg Novi is a coastal town in Montenegro located at the entrance to the Bay of Kotor and at the foot of Mount Orjen. It is the administrative center of the Herceg Novi Municipality with around 33,000 inhabitants...
(Castelnuovo), which guards the main entrance to the Bay of Kotor. The inner bays are the Bay of Risan
Risan
Risan is a town in the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro...
to the northwest and the Bay of Kotor
Kotor
Kotor is a coastal city in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Gulf of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative center of the municipality....
to the southeast.
On the landward side, the long walls running from the fortified old town of Kotor to the castle of Saint John, far above, formed a striking feature in the landscape; and the heights of the Krivošije
Krivošije
Krivošije is a clan and a high plateau on the eastern branches of Mount Orjen in Montenegro, near Kotor. A significant geological/geomorphological feature of the Krivošije region are the glacial deposits distributed across the whole of the plateau...
(Krivoscie), a group of barren plateaus in Mount Orjen, were crowned by small forts.
There are many interesting places on the shores of the Bay of Kotor. Herceg Novi
Herceg Novi
Herceg Novi is a coastal town in Montenegro located at the entrance to the Bay of Kotor and at the foot of Mount Orjen. It is the administrative center of the Herceg Novi Municipality with around 33,000 inhabitants...
has an Orthodox convent of St. Sava nearby (Savina monastery
Savina monastery
Savina Monastery is a Serb Orthodox monastery near the city Herceg Novi in Boka Kotorska, and is made of thick Mediterranean vegetation in one of the most beautiful parts of the northern Montenegrin coast. It was built by the Duke of Saint Sava, Stjepan Vukčić Kosača of Herzegovina...
) standing amid beautiful gardens. It was founded in the 16th century and contains many fine specimens of 17th century silversmiths' work. Eight miles (12.87 km) east of Herceg Novi, there is a Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
monastery on a small island opposite Perast
Perast
Perast is an old town in Bay of Kotor, Montenegro. It is situated a few kilometres northwest of Kotor.- Geography :...
(Perasto). Perast itself was for a time an independent state in the 14th century.
Climate
Region
Region is most commonly found as a term used in terrestrial and astrophysics sciences also an area, notably among the different sub-disciplines of geography, studied by regional geographers. Regions consist of subregions that contain clusters of like areas that are distinctive by their uniformity...
. While summers are hot and sunny, autumn, winter and spring are rainy seasons. It is the climate type of the Mediterranean but modifications exist in the vast region. A peculiarity of the littoral Dinarids is the precipitation regime as at the Bay of Kotor, Mt. Orjen receives Europe's most heavy precipitation. Just as the monsoon
Monsoon
Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...
rain is seasonally distributed, so too November thunderstorms sometimes pour 2000 l of water in several days, while August is frequently completely dry, leading to forest fires. With a maximum discharge of 200 m³/s of water one of the biggest karst
KARST
Kilometer-square Area Radio Synthesis Telescope is a Chinese telescope project to which FAST is a forerunner. KARST is a set of large spherical reflectors on karst landforms, which are bowlshaped limestone sinkholes named after the Kras region in Slovenia and Northern Italy. It will consist of...
spring
Spring (hydrosphere)
A spring—also known as a rising or resurgence—is a component of the hydrosphere. Specifically, it is any natural situation where water flows to the surface of the earth from underground...
s, the Sopot spring, is a remarkable indicator of this seasonal variation. Most of the time it is inactive but after heavy rain a remarkable waterfall appears 20 m above the Bay of Kotor.
| Station | Height [m] | Type | Character | Precipitation [mm] | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zubacki kabao Zubacki kabao thumb|Zubacki kabao with a small snowpatch in JuneZubački kabao is a mountain in Montenegro. At 1,894 m, it is the highest summit of the Orjen range in the Dinaric Alps... |
1894 | D | perhumid Mediterranean snowclimate | ca. 6250 | ap. 140 days |
| Crkvice Crkvice Crkvice is a village on Orjen mountain in Montenegro and is the wettest place in Europe. The average annual precipitation for the period 1931-1960 was 4927 mm and for 1961-1990 4631 mm... |
940 | Cfsb | (fs= without summerdryness), perhumid Mediterranean mountain climate | 4926 | 70 days |
| Risan Risan Risan is a town in the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro... |
0 | Cs’’a | (s’’= double winter rain season), perhumid Mediterranean coast climate | 3500 | 0.4 days |
classification scheme after Köppen
Wladimir Köppen
Wladimir Peter Köppen was a Russian geographer, meteorologist, climatologist and botanist. After studies in St. Petersburg, he spent the bulk of his life and professional career in Germany and Austria...
Two wind system
Wind
Wind is the flow of gases on a large scale. On Earth, wind consists of the bulk movement of air. In outer space, solar wind is the movement of gases or charged particles from the sun through space, while planetary wind is the outgassing of light chemical elements from a planet's atmosphere into space...
s are noteworthy for their ecological significance: Bora
Bora (wind)
Bora or Bura is a northern to north-eastern katabatic wind in the Adriatic, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Italy, Greece, Slovenia, and Turkey....
and Jugo
Sirocco
Sirocco, scirocco, , jugo or, rarely, siroc is a Mediterranean wind that comes from the Sahara and reaches hurricane speeds in North Africa and Southern Europe. It is known in North Africa by the Arabic word qibli or ghibli Sirocco, scirocco, , jugo or, rarely, siroc is a Mediterranean wind...
. Strong cold downslope wind
Katabatic wind
A katabatic wind, from the Greek word katabatikos meaning "going downhill", is the technical name for a drainage wind, a wind that carries high density air from a higher elevation down a slope under the force of gravity. Such winds are sometimes also called fall winds...
s of the Bora type appear in winter and are most severe in the Bay of Risan. Gusts reach 250 km/h and can lead to a significant fall of temperatures in several hours with freezing events problematic for most of the Mediterranean cultures. Bora weather
Weather
Weather is the state of the atmosphere, to the degree that it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. Most weather phenomena occur in the troposphere, just below the stratosphere. Weather refers, generally, to day-to-day temperature and precipitation activity, whereas climate...
situations are frequent and sailors keep an eye on the mountains as cap clouds indicate an imminent Bora event.
Jugo is a warm humid wind and is important as it brings heavy rain. It appears throughout the year but is usually concentrated in autumn and spring.
Monthly and yearly precipitation
Precipitation (meteorology)
In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...
ranges in Bay of Kotor:
| Station | Period | Height [m] | I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII | IX | X | XI | XII | I-XII [mm/m²a] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herceg Novi Herceg Novi Herceg Novi is a coastal town in Montenegro located at the entrance to the Bay of Kotor and at the foot of Mount Orjen. It is the administrative center of the Herceg Novi Municipality with around 33,000 inhabitants... |
1961-1984 | 40 | 230 | 221 | 183 | 135 | 130 | 73 | 28 | 45 | 160 | 181 | 326 | 262 | 1974 |
| Risan Risan Risan is a town in the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro... |
1961-1984 | 40 | 405 | 342 | 340 | 235 | 153 | 101 | 66 | 123 | 188 | 295 | 423 | 434 | 3105 |
| Grahovo Grahovo Grahovo is a tribe in western Montenegro. It contains the village of Grahovac, which was the sight of the Battle of Grahovac.-History:In the early 17th century, during the Sanjak of Scutari, Grahovo was commanded by Mile Perin.... |
1961-1984 | 710 | 351 | 324 | 305 | 251 | 142 | 94 | 55 | 103 | 202 | 416 | 508 | 473 | 3224 |
| Podvrsnik | 1961-1984 | 630 | 407 | 398 | 367 | 305 | 151 | 101 | 77 | 132 | 238 | 465 | 593 | 586 | 3820 |
| Vrbanj | 1961-1984 | 1010 | 472 | 390 | 388 | 321 | 181 | 104 | 70 | 122 | 224 | 369 | 565 | 536 | 3742 |
| Knezlaz | 1961-1984 | 620 | 547 | 472 | 473 | 373 | 207 | 120 | 72 | 136 | 268 | 400 | 629 | 661 | 4358 |
| Crkvice Crkvice Crkvice is a village on Orjen mountain in Montenegro and is the wettest place in Europe. The average annual precipitation for the period 1931-1960 was 4927 mm and for 1961-1990 4631 mm... |
1961-1984 | 940 | 610 | 499 | 503 | 398 | 198 | 135 | 82 | 155 | 295 | 502 | 714 | 683 | 4774 |
| Ivan. Korita | 1960-1984 | 1350 | 434 | 460 | 742 | 472 | 128 | 198 | 74 | 46 | 94 | 300 | 694 | 972 | 4614 |
| Goli vrh | 1893-1913 | 1311 | 271 | 286 | 307 | 226 | 188 | 148 | 75 | 70 | 215 | 473 | 415 | 327 | 3129 |
| Jankov vrh | 1890-1909 | 1017 | 424 | 386 | 389 | 346 | 212 | 124 | 55 | 58 | 202 | 484 | 579 | 501 | 3750 |
Literature
- Odjeci slavnih vremena - Tomislav Grgurević,
- Boka kotorska: Etnički sastav u razdoblju austrijske uprave (1814.-1918. g.),Ivan Crkvenčić, Antun Schaller, Hrvatski geografski glasnik 68/1, 51-72 (2006),
See also
- Albania VenetaAlbania VenetaVenetian Albania was the name for the possessions of the Venetian Republic in southern Dalmatia that existed from 1420 to 1797. It originally covered the coastal area of what is now northern Albania and the coast of Montenegro, but the Albanian and southern Montenegrin parts were lost to the...
- Crazy Vuk's borderCrazy Vuk's borderCrazy Vuk's border , sometimes also called Dukljan's border is remains of a border wall in Montenegro...
- Croatian Civic Society of MontenegroCroatian Civic Society of MontenegroThe Croatian Civic Society of Montenegro is a Croat community organisation in Montenegro.Their headquarters is located in the coastal town of Kotor, in the Boka kotorska region of MontenegroThe president is Ivan Ilić, and the vice-president is Tripo Schubert....
- MontenegroMontenegroMontenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
- Montenegrin LittoralMontenegrin LittoralThe Montenegrin Littoral is a region in Montenegro which borders the Adriatic Sea. Prior to the Creation of Yugoslavia, the Montenegrin Littoral was not part of the Kingdom of Montenegro, but rather a bordering region of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, latterly part of the State of Slovenes, Croats,...
- PrevlakaPrevlakaPrevlaka is a small peninsula in southern Croatia, at the entrance to the Bay of Kotor in the eastern Adriatic. The word prevlaka means portage. The cape Oštro, located at the tip of the peninsula, is the southernmost point of mainland in Croatia....