Rozaje Municipality

Rožaje demonstrates that cultural concentration without economic base creates emigration. This municipality of approximately 13,600 residents is 84.7% Bosniak—the highest percentage in Montenegro, making it the cultural center of Montenegrin Bosniaks. But cultural identity cannot pay mortgages. The municipality bleeds population to diaspora, with officials openly fighting to keep Bosniaks 'living in Montenegro, not in the diaspora.' The 2025 dual citizenship policy and IOM workshops on diaspora engagement reveal the scale of dependency: Rožaje's economy runs on remittances sent by families working in Western Europe, the Gulf, and North America. The money flows in; the people flow out.

The Sandžak region that Rožaje anchors has always been peripheral to Montenegrin and Serbian power centers. This northern mountain zone along the Ibar River maintained Ottoman Islamic culture when surrounding areas fell to Christian powers in the 19th century, creating the distinct Bosniak identity. When Yugoslavia collapsed, Sandžak remained divided between Serbia (northern portion) and Montenegro (southern portion, including Rožaje). Neither state invested heavily in the region. No major industries established here, no mining like Pljevlja, no ski resorts on the scale of Kolašin. The Hajla Ski Center exists, and officials promise Rožaje will become 'a regional hub for winter tourism,' but that promise has circulated for years while youth continue leaving for jobs that exist now rather than tourism that might materialize eventually.

The economic model is straightforward: working-age adults emigrate, send money back to families, return for summers and religious holidays. Remittances sustain consumption—groceries, utilities, home maintenance—but do not create productive employment. The municipality has few jobs to offer the educated young who might otherwise stay. Agriculture provides subsistence, small shops serve local needs, government offices employ a fraction of the population, and construction funded by diaspora money creates temporary work. This pattern is visible across the Western Balkans, but Rožaje concentrates it: a cultural stronghold surviving on external income streams while its strongest members export themselves.

By 2026, Rožaje will either capture some of the diaspora capital that Montenegro's dual citizenship policy aims to attract, or continue as a remittance economy where houses stand empty most of the year, owned by families who live in Sarajevo, Vienna, or Istanbul. The municipality's 84.7% Bosniak majority ensures cultural continuity, but populations need more than identity to remain viable. Cultural enclaves persist as long as someone stays to maintain them. When everyone leaves, the percentages become irrelevant—100% of nobody is still nobody.