San Marino, the Small Mountain Country Surrounded by Italy, San Marino, San Marino (B)

I visited quite a few new countries this summer and the first one on the long list was the tiny nation of San Marino. San Marino is the third smallest country in Europe and the fifth smallest in the world. It’s an enclaved microstate on the northeastern side of the Apennine Mountains, surrounded completely by Italy, making it one of only three countries in the world to be completely surrounded by another country (the other two being Vatican City, also surrounded by Italy, and Lesotho, surrounded by South Africa). That the country is surrounded by Italy is evident through a number of cultural aspects. They eat Italian foods and watch Italian tv channels. There is no native Sammarinese language, so the official language is Italian, although they do have a special dialect with certain unique words and phrases. But don’t make the mistake of calling them Italians. The Sammarinese are proud of their heritage, history and status as an independent nation.

The name of the country derives from Saint Marinus, who in 301 AD, according to the popular legend, founded a small Christian society and built a monastery on Monte Titano, where the capital, City of San Marino, is located today. For this reason, San Marino claims to be the oldest extant sovereign state as well as the oldest constitutional republic. Together with Monaco, Liechtenstein, Andorra and Malta, San Marino is a relic from the time when Europe consisted of hundreds of small, independent units. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).