The municipality of Cetinje is located in the southwestern part of Montenegro between the romantic Boka Kotorska in the west, the Budva Riviera known for its sandy beaches in the south, the picturesque Skadar lake basin and the fertile Zeta-Bjelopavlić plain in the east and Niksic field and Bijeli Rudin in the north. The area of ​​the municipality is 910 km2, 6.6% of the territory of Montenegro. It borders seven municipalities (Kotor, Tivat, Budva, Bar, Podgorica, Danilovgrad, Niksic). The main road lines are oriented in three directions: towards Titograd (46 km), Kotor (45 km and Budva 33 km) and the fourth through Katunska Poverša to Grahovo and Nikšić. The nearest airports to Cetinje are in Golubovci near Podgorica (58 km), Tivat (57 km) and Ćilipi near Dubrovnik (115 km). Podgorica airport is used the most. From a germological point of view, the surface of the municipality is characterized by the development of mainly karst relief. In addition to the dominant karst forms, there are also glacial, river and lake relief elements. The territory of the municipality can be divided into three less characteristic spatial units, namely: the Katun karst surface, the Lovćen mountain range and the western edge of the Skadar Basin.

Geomorphologically, the Katun area is not simple. It has the appearance of a highly undulating karstified plateau whose average height is 700-1000 m, from which rise limestone hills and ridges, as well as entire high mountains. It leaves the impression of a petrified turbulent sea whose depressions resemble waves below and the elevations resemble wave crests. That is why it is popularly called "stone sea". The surface of Katun is actually shaped by all the surface forms of the karst relief, chaotically distributed (scrapes, gullies, coves, karst fields), and it also abounds in underground karst phenomena (pits and caves). The most famous cave is Duboki Do (340 m) in Njeguško polje, and Lipska and Cetinjska (Manastirska) caves near Cetinje and Obodska near Rijeka Crnojevića stand out from several caves, from which the river of the same name emerges with a strong spring.

 Geomorphologically, the Katun area is not simple. It has the appearance of a highly undulating karstified plateau whose average height is 700-1000 m, from which rise limestone hills and ridges, as well as entire high mountains. It leaves the impression of a petrified turbulent sea whose depressions resemble waves below and the elevations resemble wave crests. That is why it is popularly called "stone sea". The surface of Katun is actually shaped by all the surface forms of the karst relief, chaotically distributed (scrapes, gullies, coves, karst fields), and it also abounds in underground karst phenomena (pits and caves).

The most famous cave is Duboki Do (340 m) in Njeguško polje, and Lipska and Cetinjska (Manastirska) caves near Cetinje and Obodska near Rijeka Crnojevića stand out from several caves, from which the river of the same name emerges with a strong spring. Of the multitude of surface diverse, deep and specific karst forms, the most important is the Cetinjsko polje, even though its plane is relatively small - only 4.5 km2. It enabled and predisposed the creation and development of Cetinje as a city settlement. The area of ​​the Lovcen mountain range includes the western part of the territory of the municipality. Lovćen descends vertically, in almost vertical sections, towards the sea (Bokokotorsko Budva prijmoje), and in the northeast and east it gradually passes into Katunska površ and Cetinjsko polje. Between the highest peaks of Lovcen (Stirovnik 1679 m, Jezerski vrh 1166 m, Babljak 1631 m) there are deep karst depressions - bays, the deepest in the entire area (Kuk, Bizaljevac, Vuci Do, Veliki and Mali Bostur), some of which are up to 200 m deep. Others, on the other hand, become significantly shallower, such as Ivan's Korita and Dolovi - the most spacious bays in the central part of the mountain. Ivan's beds (1200m) have the greatest economic and touristic importance, as does Jezerski vrh, where Njegos's mausoleum is located.

The part of the Skadar basin that belongs to the municipality of Cetinje covers mainly the southeastern part of its territory, which gravitates to Lake Skadar. According to its geographical features, this area is quite different from the previous ones. It is lower and less rugged, so it is characterized by significantly milder forms of relief, which results in, among other things, greater traffic accessibility. Of the bays, Dobrsko-gornjoceklin bay stands out as the largest, on the edge of which is the famous Lipska cave. In the extension of this bay, but at a lower level, it built its rather deep and winding valley of the Crnojevića river - a tributary of Lake Skadar. The Lovćen National Park is of special importance, covering an area of ​​about 2000 ha of mostly beech forests. It forms a unique whole in terms of phytogeography and tourism. And the fauna is scarce, especially when it comes to hunting and economically useful species. An exception to this is the bird life and fish population in the area of ​​the Crnojević River and Lake Skadar. The bird fauna is represented by over 150 species of waders and other birds, while the fish population has about thirty species. In addition to the economic benefits of this fauna, there are solid prerequisites for the development of hunting and fishing tourism.

Even before the establishment of Cetinje, there were settlements on this territory. There are traces of the habitats of the original people from the Paleolithic era. From that period, the Koronjina cave represents an important, still unexplored archaeological site. A large number of interesting stone tools were found in it. Around today's Wallachian church there was a Bogomil necropolis with about 150 stećaks that were built into its foundations during the restoration of this building (1866), except for two that are still lying at the entrance to the church yard. In written sources, Cetinje is mentioned for the first time in 1440. however, the settlement dates back to the end of the 15th century. Before the dramatic invasion of the Turks, the center of the medieval state of Zeta moved from Žabljak (1475) to Obod near Rijka Crnojević, and then to Cetinje a few years later. Its foundations were laid by the ruler of Zeta, Ivan Crnojević, who built the castle in 1482, and two years later his famous endowment - the Cetinje Monastery, to which he moved the seat of the Zeta Metropolitanate from the monastery of St. Nikola from the former island of Vranjine in Lake Skadar. Thus, Cetinje became the secular and spiritual center of the state of Crnojevica, at that time already called Montenegro, territorially squeezed between the valley of the River Crnojevića and Boka Kotorska, on the poor and lean lovčen karst. From that historically very important time until the end of World War II (until 1946), Cetinje was the capital of Montenegro, when Podgorica took over that function.