Abandoning Traditional Identity—Depopulation of the Mountain Areas of Montenegro Throughout the Second Half of the Twentieth Century

Traditionally perceived as a mountainous country, Montenegro is facing trends that, having accelerated since the mid-twentieth century, are genuinely changing its character in this regard. Reorientation from extensive agriculture practices, dominantly cattle rearing, to the activities and lifestyle adjusted to the industrialized urban centers determined the gradual but constant depopulation of the mountain areas, leaving there ever fewer and mostly elder households. Such trends have their roots in the development of the Montenegrin urban settlements since the late nineteenth century; however, the balance was drastically broken only after WWII when the new social and economic paradigm pressed on forced industrialization and urbanization as the comprehensive political, social, and economic strategy. Generational experience of living with and in the mountains was quickly replaced by a completely different context, depriving the new generations not only of the intention and reason to live there but also of the knowledge needed to organize and lead a life in the rural parts of the country. Within only half a century, the socio-demographical picture of Montenegro was so thoroughly changed, those mountainous areas, once the cradle of its traditional identity, nowadays often resemble deserted areas with sparsely scattered inhabitants.