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The Monaco Portal
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Microstate of Monaco.

Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is a semi-enclave bordered by France to the north, east and west. The principality is home to 38,682 residents, of whom 9,486 are Monégasque nationals; it is widely recognised as one of the wealthiest and most expensive places in the world. The official language of the principality is French. In addition, Monégasque (a variety of Ligurian), English and Italian are spoken and understood by many residents.

With an area of 2.02 km2 (0.78 sq mi), it is the second-smallest sovereign state in the world, after Vatican City. Its 19,009 inhabitants /km2 (49,230/sq mi) make it the most densely-populated sovereign state in the world. Monaco has a land border of 5.47 km (3.40 mi) and the world's shortest coastline of approximately 3.83 km (2.38 mi); it has a width that varies between 1,700 and 349 m (5,577 and 1,145 ft). The highest point in the state is a narrow pathway named Chemin des Révoires on the slopes of Mont Agel, in the Les Révoires ward, which is 161 m (528 ft) above sea level. The principality is about 15 km (9.3 mi) from the border with Italy. Since 2013, it consists of nine administrative wards, the largest of which is Monte Carlo (Monte Carlo/Spélugues, 0.44 km2 (0.17 sq mi)), and the most populous of which is Larvotto (Larvotto/Bas Moulins, 5,443 residents as of 2008). Through ongoing land reclamation, started in 1861 and accelerating in the 1960s, Monaco's small land mass has expanded by 20 per cent.

The principality is governed under a form of constitutional monarchy, with Prince Albert II as head of state, who wields immense political power despite his constitutional status. The prime minister, who is the head of government, can be either a Monégasque or a French citizen; the monarch consults with the Government of France before an appointment. Key members of the judiciary in Monaco are detached French magistrates. The House of Grimaldi has ruled Monaco, with brief interruptions, since 1297. The state's sovereignty was officially recognised by the Franco-Monégasque Treaty of 1861, with Monaco becoming a full United Nations voting member in 1993. Despite Monaco's independence and separate foreign policy, its defence is the responsibility of France, besides maintenance of two small military units. (Full article...)

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Sainte-Dévote Chapel
Ravin de Sainte-Dévote (French pronunciation: [ʁavɛ̃ də sɛ̃t devɔt]; Monégasque: Valu̍n de Santa Devota, English: Ravine of Saint Devota) is a ward in the Principality of Monaco. (Full article...)

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The Tête de Chien above Monaco

The Tête de Chien (Monégasque: Testa de Can; "Dog's Head") is a 550 m (1,804 ft) high rock promontory near the village of La Turbie in the Alpes-Maritimes department of France. It overlooks the Principality of Monaco, and is the highest point on the Grande Corniche road.

The American diplomat Samuel S. Cox, in his 1870 travel book Search for Winter Sunbeams in the Riviera, Corsica, Algiers and Spain wrote that the Tête de Chien more resembled a tortoise than a dog's head, and believed that Tête de Chien, or rather Testa de Can, was a corruption of Testa de Camp ("Field Head"), as it was where Caesar stationed his troops after the conquest of Gaul. Vere Herbert, the heroine of Ouida's 1880 novel Moths is described as living under the Tête de Chien, "...within a few miles of the brilliant Hell [Monaco]." (Full article...)

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Monaco was represented by Lise Darly with the song "Tout de moi" in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005. The song was written and composed by Philippe Bosco. (Full article...)

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The location of Monaco (dark green, in circle) in Europe

The history of the Jews in Monaco goes back at least a century, most notably to the time of the Holocaust. Monaco had a very small Jewish presence before World War II, numbering approximately 300 people. During the war, the principality's government issued false identity papers to its Jewish residents to protect them from Nazi deportation. Prince Louis II refused to dismiss Jewish civil servants and protected Édouard de Rothschild from deportation. However, Monaco's police arrested and turned over 42 Central European Jewish refugees to the Nazis. Sixty Jews were arrested 27–28 August 1942, and ninety in total, according to The Algemeiner.

In 1948, the Association Cultuelle Israelite de Monaco was founded as the official organization of Monaco's Jewish community, and it provides the community with a synagogue, Hebrew school and kosher food store. Today's Jewish community in Monaco consists primarily of retirees from France and the United Kingdom, and there is also a small population of North African and Turkish Jews. (Full article...)

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The 2008 Monaco Grand Prix (formally the Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monaco 2008) was a Formula One motor race held on 25 May 2008 at the Circuit de Monaco; contested over 76 laps, it was the sixth race of the 2008 Formula One World Championship. The race was won by the season's eventual Drivers' Champion, Lewis Hamilton, for the McLaren team. BMW Sauber driver Robert Kubica finished second, and Felipe Massa, who started from pole position, was third in a Ferrari.

Conditions were wet at the start of the race. Massa maintained his lead into the first corner, but his teammate Kimi Räikkönen was passed for second by Hamilton, who had started in third position on the grid. Hamilton suffered a punctured tyre on lap six, forcing him to make a pit stop from which he re-entered the race in fifth place. As the track dried and his rivals made their own pit stops Hamilton became the race leader, a position he held until the end of the race. Kubica's strategy allowed him to pass Massa during their second pit stops, after the latter's Ferrari was forced to change from wet to dry tyres. Räikkönen dropped back from fifth position to ninth after colliding with Adrian Sutil's Force India late in the race. Sutil had started from 18th on the grid and was in fourth position before the incident, which allowed Red Bull driver Mark Webber to finish fourth, ahead of Toro Rosso driver Sebastian Vettel in fifth. (Full article...)

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The American College of Monaco was a tertiary institution located in Monte Carlo, Monaco, that operated from 1968 until 1970. The college offered a four-year degree program and was reportedly established by the Principality at the request of Princess Grace.

The college held classes in the Hotel Hermitage behind the Hotel de Paris, and the famous Monte Carlo Casino during its first academic year. After that, the school relocated to the Hotel Splendid, on the border of Beausoleil. Prince Rainier III was the Chancellor of the School, and the famous oceanographer, Jacques Yves Cousteau, was a member of its Board of Academic Overseers. (Full article...)

Selected transportation article

Port Hercules

Port Hercules (French: Port Hercule [pɔʁ ɛʁkyl]) is the only deep-water port in Monaco. The port has been in use since ancient times. The modern port was completed in 1926, and underwent substantial improvements in the 1970s. It covers almost 40 acres (160,000 m2), enough to provide anchorage for up to 700 vessels. The port is located in the La Condamine district. Harbour pilots are required for all vessels longer than 30 metres. The depth of water in the harbour ranges from seven metres for standard berths and up to 40 metres for the outer piers and cruise ship docks. (Full article...)

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Romeo Acquarone (1895 – 1980) was a professional tennis player born in Monaco. He became a French citizen in 1937. Acquarone won the Bristol Cup in France in 1920 (beating Joseph Negro in the final). The Bristol Cup was the top professional tournament in the world in the 1920s. (Full article...)

Did you know...

  • ... that Ron Monaco, described as the "longest of long shots", became a starter in the NFL having been just a backup in college?

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