Official name: Principality of Monaco
Capital city: Monaco
Internet country code: .mc
Flag description: Two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and white; similar to the flag of Indonesia which is longer and the flag of Poland which is white (top) and red
Geographical description: Western Europe, bordering the Mediterranean Sea on the southern coast of France, near the border with Italy
Total area: 0.8 sq. mi. (1.95 sq. km.)
Climate: Mediterranean with mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers
Nationality: noun: Monegasque(s) or Monacan(s); adjective: Monegasque or Monacan
Population: 32,671 (July 2007 CIA est.)
Ethnic groups: French 47%, Monegasque 16%, Italian 16%, other 21%
Languages spoken: French (official), English, Italian, Monegasque
Religions: Roman Catholic 90%, other 10%
| All Saints' Day | Nov 1 |
| Assumption Day | Aug 15 |
| Christmas Day | Dec 25 |
| Easter Monday | Apr 25, 2011; Apr 9, 2012; Apr 1, 2013; Apr 21, 2014; Apr 6, 2015; Mar 28, 2016; Apr 17, 2017; Apr 2, 2018; Apr 22, 2019; Apr 13, 2020; Apr 5, 2021; Apr 18, 2022; Apr 10, 2023 |
| Immaculate Conception | Dec 8 |
| Labor Day | May 1 |
| National Day | Nov 19 |
| New Year's Day | Jan 1 |
| St. Devote's Day | Jan 27 |
a state in southern Europe on the Mediterranean coast, surrounded by France. Area, 1.5 sq km. Population, about 25,000 (1973), including 4,500 subjects of Monaco (Monégasques) and more than 15,000 French citizens, Italians, and other resident nationals. The official language is French, and the religion Catholicism. The Gregorian calendar is used. Monaco consists of three merged administrative district-cities—Monaco (the capital), Monte Carlo, and La Condamine.
Monaco is a principality, a constitutional monarchy whose present constitution was adopted on Dec. 17, 1962. The head of state, the prince, exercises legislative power jointly with the 18-member National Council, which is elected for five years. All citizens who have reached the age of 21 have the right to vote. Executive power is held by the Council of the Crown, which is headed by the minister of state. The judicial system consists of a court of the first instance, a justice of the peace, and appellate courts. With certain exceptions, French law is applied.
Between the tenth and first centuries B.C. there were Phoenician, and later, Greek colonies on the territory of Monaco. In the first century B.C. the territory fell under Roman rule. Later, it was seized by the Arabs, and in the second half of the llth century by the Genoese, who built a fortress on the site of present-day Monaco in 1215. In 1419 the Grimaldi family of Genoa established their power in Monaco, which became an independent principality under the protection of Genoa. Although formally it retained its autonomy, from 1524, Monaco was under the dominion of the Spanish monarchy. In 1605, Spanish troops occupied the principality. In 1641 the people of Monaco rebelled against Spanish rule, and the principality came under the protection of France. As a result of the Great French Revolution, the princely regime in Monaco was overthrown, and in 1793, Monaco’s territory was annexed by France. The Treaty of Paris of 1814 restored the Principality of Monaco, and according to the decision of the Congress of Vienna (1814–15), it became a protectorate of the Kingdom of Sardinia.
The Revolution of 1848 overthrew the princely regime in Monaco. In 1849 the monarchy was reestablished, but the Sardinian protectorate was eliminated. In 1861, Prince Charles III sold France the rights to the cities of Menton and Roquebrune and agreed in essence to a French protectorate. A tariff union was established with France in 1865. In 1861 the Frenchman Maurice Blanc was granted a concession to open a gambling house in Monaco. The Société des Bains de Mer, the international joint-stock company that owned Blanc’s gambling house, built a complex of casinos in Monte Carlo (1861–1910; French architect C. Gamier). After the completion of the railroad between France and Monaco (1868), the Monte Carlo Casino became world-famous and became one of Monaco’s main sources of income. The Oceanographic Museum, which has become an international research center, was founded in 1899.
The first constitution, which provided for the formation of the elected National Council (parliament), went into effect in 1911. Relations with France are regulated by a series of agreements. In 1951, Monaco and France signed a mutual aid convention regarding tariff collection, taxes, the postal service, and television, for example. Prince Rainier III, who came to power in 1949, dissolved the National Council and suspended the constitution in 1959, and in December 1962 a new constitution was promulgated. In the spring of 1962 a conflict with France arose over Monaco’s refusal to introduce certain changes in taxation, and French authorities imposed a tariff cordon on the boundary with Monaco. On May 18, 1963, France and Monaco signed an agreement which included, in particular, a convention providing for the institution in Monaco of an income tax modeled on French principles. However, the Monegasques, as well as French people who had resided in Monaco for more than five years and companies in which Monacan capital exceeded 25 percent of the total, were exempted from the tax.
Located in Monaco is one of Europe’s most powerful medium-wave radio stations, Radio Monte Carlo. There is also a television station. Monaco is the headquarters for many international organizations, including the International Hydrographic Bureau and the International Academy of Tourism. It is also a popular site for international meetings, particularly on oceanography.
Monaco is a tourist center and an internationally famous health resort on the Cote d’Azur. From 500,000 to 700,000 tourists come to the principality every year. The state’s main sources of income are tourism, health resorts, the gambling houses in Monte Carlo and elsewhere, and postage stamps. The Société des Bains de Mer (under government control since 1967) owns Monaco’s hotels and entertainment and bathing establishments. Monaco has a food industry, light industry, and a building materials industry. Faience and majolica are produced, and souvenirs are manufactured. The monetary unit is the French franc.
In the 1969–70 school year 1,446 students were enrolled in the principality’s five-year elementary schools, and 1,847 students in the seven-year secondary schools. A third of the students attend private schools. The vocational-technical schools have an enrollment of 330, and the Academy of Music in the city of Monaco has an enrollment of 400.
the capital of the principality of Monaco. Port and resort on the Mediterranean. Population, about 2,000 (1961).
The historical center of Monaco is the prince’s palace (13th-19th centuries). Among the city’s more recent buildings is the Neo-Romanesque cathedral (1874–98, architect C. Lenormand). The Palace Library has more than 120,000 volumes. The Oceanographic Museum (founded in 1899; present building constructed in 1910), which is the research headquarters of the international Institute of Oceanography in Paris, includes a large aquarium and a library (more than 30,000 volumes). Also located in Monaco is the Museum of Prehistoric Anthropology. Documents dating from as early as the 13th century and specimens of Monaco’s money dating from 1640 are kept in the archive at the palace.