Bar Municipality is one of the municipalities of Montenegro. The center is Bar. The municipality is located at the Adriatic coast in the southeast Montenegro. According to the 2011 census, the city proper had 13,503 inhabitants, while the total population of Bar Municipality was 42,068.
Geography and tourism
Bar Municipality is located on the coastal western border of Montenegro on the shore of the Adriatic Sea. It is approximately from Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro.To the east is the largest lake in the Balkans, Lake Skadar. To the west, across the sea, is Italy. The natural area around City of Bar is mostly untouched and is rich in vegetation. The Bar municipality stretches to the southern shore of Skadar lake and encompasses Krajina region. This area is visited for its leisure activities and hiking. Smaller settlements near Bar, such as Dobra Voda, Sutomore and Čanj, are a destination for sunbathing, as they incorporate long sandy beaches.
Beaches
Bar municipality has over of sea coast. There are twenty beaches stretching over. In the north is Čanj, which has a sandy beach. A boat takes tourists from Čanj to the Kraljičina Plaža. It lies below a natural wall of sedimentary rock. Further south is Maljevik Beach. The beach at Sutomore, long, has entertainments, activities and restaurants. Near the medieval monastery complex of Ratac is Crvena Plaža, named after the colour of its fine sand. The beach is surrounded by a pine forest and located about a hundred m from the main road to Bar. The Bar city beach is located in front of King Nikola I's palace. It is long, part pebble and part sand. There are also beaches on the shore of Lake Skadar.
Flora and fauna
The coastal part of Bar supports maquis shrubland with oak, holm oak, laurel, myrtle, Spanish broom, oleander, hawthorn, sloe, thorn, butcher's broom, and asparagus. To the north and the mountains, there are oak and beech forests. Citrus fruits including tangerine, orange, and lemon grow in the Bar area as do pomegranates, olives, grapevines, and figs. Ginkgo biloba grows in the park of King Nikola's palace. Skadar Lake is rich in birdlife including the pelican. Game animals are found in Ostros, Rumija, Lisinj, Sutorman, and Sozina and include rabbit, badger, fox, wolf, and boar. At the Bar seashore one finds various kinds of shells, snails, echinodermata, cephalopoda and crayfish.
Population
Bar Municipality administrative centre is City of Bar, municipality also includes the towns of Stari Bar, Virpazar, Šušanj, Čanj, Sutomore and other small coastal towns. A census in 2011 recorded 42,048 people in the Bar Municipality. Bar city had 17,727 inhabitants. Bar's population has been growing from 6,742 in 1981, to 10,971 in 1991, 13,719 in 2003 and 17,727 in 2011.
