San Marino

The (Republic of) San Marino is a nation in Europe completely enclosed in Italy. San Marino is most famous for its size, covering only about 61 squared kilometres (24 squared miles). San Marino is also popular for its economy in several areas including finance, industry, services and tourism, which makes the country one of the wealthiest countries for GDP per capita. San Marino is considered as one of the highest and most stable economies in Europe, with one of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe and no national debt.

Politics in San Marino are based on its constitution, with the San Marino parliament electing two Captain Regents twice a year. Captain Regents have equal power to the parliament, doing certain things allowed in the constitution their term expires.

One Man, One Nation
San Marino, whose independence is ancient, is claimed to be the oldest surviving republic. According to legend, San Marino was founded in 301 AD when Marinus, a Christian stonemason, regarded as Saint Marinus, emigrated in 297 AD from the island of Rab in Dalmatia, Croatia when the roman emperor Diocletian issued a reconstruction of the city of Rimini, destroyed by Liburnian pirates, Marinus later became a Deacon and was ordained by Gaudentius, the Bishop of Rimini. Marinus, shortly after becoming a Deacon, he was accused by an insane woman of being her affectionate husband, and quickly fled to Monte Titano to build a chapel and a monastery and secluded himself from society, living as a hermit. Later, the state of San Marino would grow from the centre created by the monastery.

After seclusion, the lords of Montefeltro, the Malatesta of Rimini, and the lords of Urbino attempted invading the small town, but were unsuccessful. In 1320, the Chiesanuova community joined San Marino. The land of San Marino was only on Mount Titano until 1463, when the republic formed an alliance with the duke of Rimini, Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, who would be later defeated. Pope Pius II gave San Marino the castles and cities of Fiorentino, Montegiardino and Serravalle. Later that year, the town of Faetano joined San Marino. The size of the republic has not changed since then.

Force to be Reckoned With
San Marino has been occupied three times by foreign powers, each for short periods of time.

In 1503, Cesare Borgia occupied San Marino until the death of his father several months later.

On June 4, 1543 Fabiano di Monte San Savino, nephew of Pope Julius III, attempted conquering the republic with 500 infantry men and cavalry, but the group failed by getting lost in fog. San Marino faced many threats during this period, so a treaty for protection was signed in 1602 with Pope Clement VIII, which came into force in 1631.

On October 17, 1739, Cardinal Giulio Alberoni, governor of Ravenna, invaded the country, created a constitution, and forced the Sammarinese people to submit to the government of the Papal States. Alberoni was also aiding rebels, and possibly acted contrary to Pope Clement XII. However, disobedience from the Sammarinese people grew, and on February 5, 1740, 3.5 months after San Marino was invaded, the Pope recognized San Marino's rights, returning independence to the nation.

New Government
All government in San Marino is based on the multi-document Constitution of San Marino, the first rules of the constitution becoming effective on September 1, 1600. Whether these documents started from a written constitution depends on how someone defines the term. Political scientist Jorri Duursma claims "San Marino does not have an official constitution as such. The first legal documents which mentioned San Marino's institutional organs were the Statutes of 1600."

Kindness Paying Off
The Napoleon campaign in Italy moved San Marino to be bordered by the Kingdom of Italy and the Papal States, a long time ally to San Marino. On February 5, 1797, a letter arrived to San Marino from General Louis Alexandre Berthier, telling the government of San Marino to give up ownership of Rimini. A solution was made by one of the Regents, Antonio Onofri, which would bring Napoleon to respect San Marino.

Napoleon shared the same idea of liberty and praised the founding and history of San Marino in a letter sent to Gaspard Monge, a scientist in the commissary of the French Government for the Sciences and the Arts, who was in Italy at the time. Napoleon respected San Marino enough to guarantee and protect its independence, and even offered land to the republic, which would be denied, but respected, by the government in San Marino.

Napoleon ordered that people in San Marino would be exempt from tax, and gave the republic about 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds) of wheat and four cannons, but with no exact reason as to why Napoleon gave the cannons and the cannons never moving into San Marino.

The republic would be recognized by Napoleon from the Treaty of Tolentino in 1797, and by the Congress of Vienna in 1815. In 1825 and 1853, attempts to annex the nation to the Papal States failed, and its wish to not be in the unification of Italy in the mid-nineteenth century was respected by Guiseppe Garibaldi after talking to refugees who respected Italian unification. Even though Guiseppe faced many hardships, including his wife dying while carrying their fifth child, he would still respect what the people wanted in San Marino, and would permanently change the opinions of Guiseppe in terms of diplomacy.

True Democracy
In spring of 1861, shortly before the American Civil War, the government of San Marino sent a letter to the United States president Abraham Lincoln, "perfect Italian on one side, and imperfect but clear English on the other," proposing a "alliance" between San Marino and the United States and promising the president citizenship in San Marino. Lincoln accepted, writing a reply stating that San Marino proved that, "government founded on republican principles is capable of being so administered as to be secure and enduring," Lincoln would use similar language in his Gettysburg Address, writing, "You have kindly adverted to the trial through which this Republic is now passing. It is one of deep import. It involves the question whether a Representative republic, extended and aggrandized so much as to be safe against foreign enemies can save itself from the dangers of domestic faction. I have faith in a good result...."

Towards the end of the nineteenth century, San Marino experienced an economic depression, which slowed the economy of San Marino. This paused after World War I, and increased after Facism dominated Italian politics. There are an estimated 15,000 people that are Sammarinese that live outside of San Marino that likely mostly grew during this period, mostly in the United States, France, and Argentina.

A large impact on politics and social living in San Marino happened on March 25, 1906, the civilians met in the Arengo met. Out of the 1,054 families in San Marino, 805 attended the met, with every family receiving a ballot with two different questions. The first question asked if the government of San Marino should be lead by a Principle and Sovereign Council, and the second question asked if the council members should be proportionate to urban and rural populations. This is seen as a first step to true democracy in San Marino, since this was the first time that this method would be effective. A second referendum was held in the same year on May 5, which changed law to politically elect people into government, resulting in complete democracy.

Austrian-Summarinese War?
After Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary on May 23, 1915, San Marino stayed neutral. The Italian government, assuming that San Marino could be used for an advantage by Austrian spies with a new radiotelegraph station, tried forcing a detachment of Carabinieri, who carry out domestic policing duties, and other telephone settings if San Marino did not comply.

Two groups of ten volunteers from San Marino joined the Italian front, the first group was used as combatants, while the second group was used for medical support, operating a Red Cross field hospital. That hospital would later cause Austria-Hungary to suspend diplomatic relations with San Marino.

On June 4, 1915, The New York Times created propaganda against San Marino, claiming that San Marino declared war on Austria-Hungary. San Marino would not declare war on any nation during the first (and second) world war(s).

Fascist Republic
During the 1920s, still being a largely agrarian society, San Marino experienced destruction to its politics after the rise of Fascist Italy. Tensions between Italy and San Marino would rise after the murder of Carlo Bosi, a Italian doctor and fascist sympothiser, which caused threats of invasion from Italy to become more common in San Marino. Similarly to Italy, San Marino would fall to the Fascist party, with the Summarinese Facist Party ruling over the republic.

The 1930s was an era of reinvention to the economy of San Marino, with the construction of the San Marino-Rimini railway being completed, connecting Summarinese and Italian railways, which modernized infrastructure in San Marino.

Stress of War
San Marino had been mostly uninvolved in World War II. Press reports from September 1940 claim that San Marino was forced to declare war on Britain in support of Italy, which was denied by the Sammarinese government.

On June 26, 1944, after the fall of Fascist Italy, San Marino was bombed by British Royal Air Forces, who had mistaken San Marino for being overrun by German forces. The San Marino-Rimini railway was destroyed, and 63 civilians died. The British government admitted that the bombing was unjustified and that they did it based on very loose information.

Summarinese escape from involvement in World War II was shattered on July 27, 1944 when Major Gunther, commander of German forces in Forli, sent a message to San Marino stating that sovereignty in San Marino would not be respected if the republic did not transit troops or vehicles. A statement from Germany would later mention that occupation of San Marino would not happen.

Fears over occupation rose on July 30, when a German medical corps colonel wished for claims over two buildings to construct a military hospital. On July 31, San Marino, in fear of the possibility of a German invasion, sent three letters in protest against invasion, one to Joachim von Ribbentrop, one to Adolf Hitler, and one to Benito Mussolini.

San Marino was a refuge for over 100,000 people, who went to the republic to find safety from Allied Forces. The Battle of Rimini was an enormous effort to relieve the inhabitants of San Marino, which was about 15,000.

Despite staying out of war, German and Allied forces clashed in San Marino in late September of 1944. Allied forces occupied the republic for around two months before returning its sovereignty.

After World War II, San Marino became the first country in Western Europe to become communist in democratic elections. The faction was in power of San Marino from 1945 to 1957. San Marino became the first communist country through democratic elections.

The communist party in San Marino dissolved peacefully in 1990, and became the Summarinese Democratic Progressive Party, changing from a hammer and sickle to a drawing of Pablo Picasso

Universal voting was achieved in San Marino in 1960. Having joined the Council of Europe in 1988, San Marino had much importance in the Council of Europe though the early 1990s.

San Marino became a United Nations member in 1992. In 2002, it signed the treaty with the OECD, agreeing to greater transparency to combat tax evasion.

Demographics
The population of San Marino in 2019 was 33,439. 16% (~4,200) of the population in San Marino are 14 or younger, 68% (~19.000) of the population are 15-64, and 16% ~4,000, 2010) are over 65. The average sex ration in San Marino is 1 man/1 woman. The ethnic groups and main languages are Summarinese and Italian, Summarinese is also the nationality. The main nationality in San Marino is Roman Catholic, with 99% of the population believing in it. 96% of the total population of San Marino is literate.

Municipalities
San Marino is politically divided into 9 municipalities, known as castellis. This list names the municipalities in alphabetical order, with populations from 2019.