Country name:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Serbia and Montenegro
local long form: none
local short form: Srbija-Crna Gora
note: Serbia and Montenegro has self-proclaimed itself the "Federal Republic of Yugoslavia" (FRY) but the US view is that the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) has dissolved and that none of the successor republics represents its continuation

Data code: Serbia - SR; Montenegro - MW

Government type: republic

Capital: Belgrade (Serbia), Podgorica (Montenegro)

Administrative divisions: 2 republics (republike, singular - republika); and 2 nominally autonomous provinces* (autonomn pokrajine, singular - autonomna pokrajina); Kosovo*, Montenegro, Serbia, Vojvodina*

Independence: 11 April 1992 (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia or FRY formed as self-proclaimed successor to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia or SFRY)

National holiday: St. Vitus Day, 28 June

Constitution: 27 April 1992

Legal system: based on civil law system

Suffrage: 16 years of age, if employed; 18 years of age, universal

Executive branch:
chief of state: President Slobodan MILOSEVIC (since 23 July 1997); note - Milan MILUTINOVIC is president of Serbia (since 21 December 1997); Milo DJUKANOVIC is president of Montenegro (since 21 December 1997)
head of government: Prime Minister Momir BULATOVIC (since 20 May 1998); Deputy Prime Ministers Nikola SAINOVIC (since 15 September 1995), Jovan ZEBIC (since 9 April 1998), and Vladan KUTLESIC (since 20 March 1997), Danilo VUKSANOVIC (since 20 May 1998), Tomislav NIKOLIC (since 12 August 1999), Maja Gojkovic (since 12 August 1999)
cabinet: Federal Executive Council
elections: president elected by the Federal Assembly for a four-year term; election last held 23 July 1997 (next to be held NA 2001); prime minister appointed by the president
election results: Slobodan MILOSEVIC elected president; percent of legislative vote - Slobodan MILOSEVIC 90%

Legislative branch: bicameral Federal Assembly or Savezna Skupstina consists of the Chamber of Republics or Vece Republika (40 seats - 20 Serbian, 20 Montenegrin; members distributed on the basis of party representation in the republican assemblies to serve four-year terms) and the Chamber of Citizens or Vece Gradjana (138 seats - 108 Serbian with half elected by constituency majorities and half by proportional representation, 30 Montenegrin with six elected by constituency and 24 proportionally; members serve four-year terms)
elections: Chamber of Republics - last held 24 December 1996 (next to be held NA 2000); Chamber of Citizens - last held 3 November 1996 (next to be held NA 2000)
election results: Chamber of Republics - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; note - seats are filled on a proportional basis to reflect the composition of the legislatures of the republics of Montenegro and Serbia; note - since 1998 Serbia has effectively barred Montenegro from its constitutional right to delegate deputies to the Chamber of Republics; Chamber of Citizens - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - SPS/JUL/ND 64, Zajedno coalition 22, DPS 20, SRS 16, NS 8, SVM 3, other 5; note - Zajedno coalition included SPO, DS, GSS

Judicial branch: Federal Court or Savezni Sud, judges are elected by the Federal Assembly for nine-year terms; Constitutional Court, judges are elected by the Federal Assembly for nine-year terms

Political parties and leaders: Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians or SVM [Jozsef KASZA]; Civic Alliance of Serbia or GSS [Goran SVILANOVIC, chairman]; Democratic Alliance of Kosovo or LDK [Dr. Ibrahim RUGOVA, president]; Democratic Alliance of Vojvodina Croats or DSHV [Bela TONKOVIC]; Democratic Community of Vojvodina Hungarians or DZVM [Sandor PALL]; Democratic League of Albanians [Rexhep QOSJA]; Democratic Party or DS [Zoran DJINDJIC]; Democratic Party of Serbia or DSS [Vojislav KOSTUNICA]; Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro or DPS [Milo DJUKANOVIC]; League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina or LSV [Nenad CANAK]; Liberal Alliance of Montenegro [Slavko PEROVIC]; New Democracy or ND [Dusan MIHAJLOVIC]; Parliamentary Party of Kosovo or PPK [Bajram KOSUMI]; Party for the Democratic Progress of Kosovo or PPDK [Hashim THACI]; Party of Democratic Action or SDA [Dr. Sulejman UGLJANIN]; People's Party of Montenegro or NS [Novak KILIBARDA]; Reformist Democratic Party of Vojvodina or RDSV [Miodrag JSAKOV]; Serbian Radical Party or SRS [Vojislav SESELJ]; Serbian Renewal Movement or SPO [Vuk DRASKOVIC, president]; Serbian Socialist Party or SPS (former Communist Party) [Slobodan MILOSEVIC]; Social Democratic Party of Montenegro or SDP [Zarko RAKCEVIC]; Socialist People's Party of Montenegro or SNP [Momir BULATOVIC]; Yugoslav United Left or JUL [Mirjana MARKOVIC (MILOSEVIC's wife)]

Political pressure groups and leaders: National Movement for the Liberation of Kosovo or LKCK [Sabit GASHI]; The People's Movement for Kosovo or LPK [leader NA]

International organization participation: ICFTU, IHO, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, IOC, ISO, ITU, NAM, OPCW, UNHCR

Diplomatic representation in the US: the Embassy of the Former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ceased operations 25 March 1999

Diplomatic representation from the US: at present, the US has no diplomatic representation in Serbia and Montenegro; the US office in Pristina, Kosovo, was opened in 1999; its members are not accredited to a foreign government