San Marino

San Marino is a small republic on the northeastern slopes of the Apennines, surrounded on every side by Italy. Its capital, the City of San Marino, stands on Monte Titano, Dogana in Serravalle is the largest settlement, and Italian is the official language.

Tradition holds that Saint Marinus, a stonemason from the island of Rab, founded a monastic community on Monte Titano in AD 301, the date the republic counts as its founding; the earliest record of monks there is from the 5th or 6th century. Rulings in 1291 and 1296 freed the community from taxes to the lords of Montefeltro. Chiesanuova joined in 1320, and with Faetano, Fiorentino, Montegiardino and Serravalle added in 1463 the borders reached their present shape.

Cesare Borgia held the republic for six months in 1503, and the papal legate Giulio Alberoni occupied it from October 1739 until Pope Clement XII restored its independence in February 1740. Napoleon offered to guarantee and even enlarge it in 1797, an offer the regents declined. Giuseppe Garibaldi found refuge there during Italian unification, and a friendship treaty with Italy followed in 1862. The first stamps of its own appeared in 1877. San Marino stayed neutral in World War II.

Two Captains Regent, chosen every six months by the Grand and General Council from opposing parties, serve together as heads of state, and the Statutes of 1600 remain at the core of the constitution. The country abolished the death penalty in 1865, joined the Council of Europe in 1988 and the United Nations in 1992, and uses the euro outside the European Union. The historic center and Monte Titano, crowned by the towers of Guaita, Cesta and Montale, entered the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2008.