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Principality of Monaco Principatu de Múnegu (Monégasque) Principauté de Monaco (French)
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "Deo Juvante"  (Latin) "With God's Help"
Anthem: Hymne Monégasque
Location of  Monaco  (green) on the European continent  (dark grey)  —  [Legend]
Capital		Monaco1[1] 43°43′N 7°25′E / 43.717°N 7.417°E / 43.717; 7.417
Largest Most populated quartier		Monte Carlo
Official language(s)		French[2] is the only official language. Monégasque, Italian and English are also widely spoken and understood. (See Languages of Monaco)
Demonym		Monégasque or Monegasque
Government		Constitutional monarchy Principality
-	Prince	Albert II
-	Minister of State	Michel Roger
-	President of the National Council	Stéphane Valeri
Independence
-	House of Grimaldi	1297
-	Constitution	1911
Area
-	Total	1.98 km2 (232nd) 0.78 sq mi
-	Water (%)	0.0[3]
Population
-	2010 estimate	30,586[4] (211th)
-	2008 census	35,352[3]
-	Density	15,142/km2 (1st) 39,217/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2010 estimate
-	Total	$5.888 billion[5][6] (n/a)
-	Per capita	$123,811[5][6] (n/a)
GDP (nominal)		2010 estimate
-	Total	US$6.972 billion[5][6] (n/a)
-	Per capita	US$215,163[5][6] (n/a)
HDI (2010)		0.946 (very high)
Currency		Euro (EUR)
Time zone		CET (UTC+1)
-	Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Drives on the		right
ISO 3166 code		MC
Internet TLD		.mc
Calling code		+377
1	Monaco is a city-state.
2	GDP per capita calculations include non-resident workers from France and Italy.

Monaco (ⁱ/ˈmɒnəkoʊ/), officially the Principality of Monaco (French: Principauté de Monaco; Monégasque: Principatu de Múnegu; Italian: Principato di Monaco; Occitan: Principat de Mónegue), is a country (and a microstate) located in south western Europe, on the northern central coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It is surrounded on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about 16 km (9.9 mi) from Italy. Its area is 1.98 km² (0.76 sq mi) with an estimated population of almost 35,000.

Monaco is a principality governed under a form of constitutional monarchy, with Prince Albert II as head of state. The House of Grimaldi has ruled Monaco since 1297, and the state's sovereignty was officially recognized by the Franco-Monegasque Treaty of 1861. Despite Monaco being independent, its national defence is the responsibility of France.

[edit] Administrative divisions

[edit] Overview

Wards of Monaco

Monaco is the second smallest country (by size) in the world; only the Vatican City is smaller. Monaco is also the world's second smallest monarchy, and one of the most densely populated countries in the world. The state consists of only one municipality (commune). There is no geographical distinction between the State and City of Monaco, although responsibilities of the government (state-level) and of the municipality (city-level) are different. According to the constitution of 1911, the principality was subdivided into three municipalities:

• Monaco (Monaco-Ville), the old city on a rocky promontory extending into the Mediterranean, known as the Rock of Monaco, or simply Le Rocher (the Rock), where the palace is located
• Monte Carlo, the principal residential and resort area with the Monte Carlo Casino in the east and northeast
• La Condamine, the northwest section including the port area, Port Hercule

The municipalities were merged into one in 1917, after accusations that the government was acting according to the motto "divide and conquer" and they were accorded the status of wards (quartiers) thereafter.

• Fontvieille was added as fourth ward, a newly constructed area reclaimed from the sea (in the 1970s)
• Moneghetti became the fifth ward, created from a part of La Condamine
• Larvotto became the sixth ward, created from a part of Monte Carlo
• La Rousse/Saint Roman (including Le Ténao) became the seventh ward, also created from a part of Monte Carlo

Directly ahead is La Condamine, to the right with the smaller harbour is Fontvieille and to the left with the high-rise buildings is Monte Carlo

Subsequently, three additional wards were created:

• Saint Michel, from a part of Monte Carlo
• La Colle, from a part of La Condamine
• Les Révoires, from a part of La Condamine

An additional ward was planned by new land reclamation, to be settled beginning in 2014; however, Prince Albert II announced in his 2009 New Year Speech that the plans had been put on hold due to the current economic climate.

[edit] Traditional quarters and modern geographic areas

The traditional four quarters of Monaco are: Monaco-Ville, La Condamine, Monte Carlo and Fontvieille. These quarters and Moneghetti are the five "modern geographic areas", defined by the Monaco Department of Tourism which is situated in Monaco-Ville.^[7]

[edit] Wards

Currently the principality is subdivided into ten wards (with their official numbers; Le Portier, the proposed ward, was anticipated as number 11):

Note: for statistical purposes, the wards of Monaco are further subdivided into 173 city blocks (îlots), which are comparable to the census blocks in the United States.

[edit] History

The Palace and a tower

The Cathedral of Monaco

The Place d'Armes with modern buildings

Statue of François Grimaldi, "il Malizia" ("the Cunning"), disguised as a monk with a sword under his frock before the Prince's Palace of Monaco.

Monaco's name comes from the 6th century BC nearby Phocaean Greek colony. Referred to the Ligurians as Monoikos, from the Greek "μόνοικος", "single house", from "μόνος" (monos) "alone, single"^[8] + "οἶκος" (oikos) "house",^[9] which bears the sense of a people either settled in a "single habitation" or of "living apart" from others. According to an ancient myth, Hercules passed through the Monaco area and turned away the previous gods. As a result, a temple was constructed there, the temple of Hercules Monoikos. Because the only temple of this area was the "House" of Hercules, the city was called Monoikos.^[10][11]

Following a land grant from Emperor Henry VI in 1191, Monaco was re-founded in 1215 as a colony of Genoa. Monaco has been ruled by the House of Grimaldi since 1297, when Francesco Grimaldi ("Il Malizia", translated from Italian either as "The Malicious One" or "The Cunning One") and his men captured the fortress protecting the Rock of Monaco while he was dressed as a Franciscan monk – a Monaco in Italian, although this is a coincidence as the area was already known by this name.

In 1793, French Revolutionary forces captured Monaco, and it remained under French control until 1814. The principality was re-established that year, only to be designated a protectorate of the Kingdom of Sardinia by the Congress of Vienna in 1815. Monaco remained in this position until 1860, when by the Treaty of Turin, Sardinia ceded to France the surrounding county of Nice (as well as Savoy). During this time there was unrest in the towns of Menton and Roquebrune, which declared independence, hoping for annexation by Sardinia. The unrest continued until the ruling prince gave up his claim to the two towns (some 95% of the country), and they were ceded to France in return for four million francs. This transfer and Monaco's sovereignty was recognised by the Franco-Monegasque Treaty of 1861.

[edit] 20th century

Until the Monegasque Revolution of 1910 forced the adoption of the 1911 constitution, the princes of Monaco were absolute rulers. In July 1918, a treaty was signed providing for limited French protection over Monaco. The treaty, part of the Treaty of Versailles, established that Monegasque international policy would be aligned with French political, military, and economic interests.

In 1943, the Italian army invaded and occupied Monaco, setting up a Fascist administration. Shortly thereafter, following Mussolini's collapse in Italy, the Nazi German Wehrmacht occupied Monaco and began the deportation of the Jewish population. The prominent French Jew René Blum (Paris, 13 March 1878 – Auschwitz, 30 April 1943), who founded the Ballet de l'Opera in Monte Carlo, was arrested in his Paris home and held in the Drancy deportation camp outside Paris, France whence he was then shipped to the Auschwitz concentration camp, where he was killed.

Rainier III, Prince of Monaco from 1949 to 2005

Rainier III, who ruled until 2005, acceded to the throne following the death of his grandfather, Prince Louis II, in 1949. On 19 April 1956, Prince Rainier married the American actress Grace Kelly; the event was widely televised and covered in the popular press, focusing the world's attention on the tiny Principality.

A new constitution in 1962 abolished capital punishment, provided for women's suffrage, and established a Supreme Court of Monaco to guarantee fundamental liberties. In 1993, the Principality of Monaco became a member of the UN, with full voting rights. In 2002, a new treaty between France and Monaco specified that, should there be no heirs to carry on the Grimaldi dynasty, the principality would still remain an independent nation rather than revert to France. Monaco's military defence, however, is still the responsibility of France.

On 31 March 2005, Prince Rainier III, too ill to exercise his duties, relinquished them to his only son and heir, Prince Albert Alexandre Louis. Prince Rainier died on 6 April 2005, after a reign of 56 years, and his son, by Princess Grace, succeeded him as Albert II, Sovereign Prince of Monaco.

Albert II, the current Prince of Monaco

Following a period of official mourning, Prince Albert II formally assumed the princely crown on 12 July 2005, in a celebration that began with a solemn Mass at Saint Nicholas Cathedral, where his father had been buried three months earlier. His accession to the Monegasque throne was a two-step event, with a further ceremony, drawing heads of state for an elaborate levée, held on 19 November 2005 at the historic Prince's Palace in Monaco-Ville.

[edit] Law and government

Monaco has been governed under a constitutional monarchy since 1911, with the Sovereign Prince of Monaco as head of state. The executive branch consists of a Minister of State (the head of government), who presides over a five-member Council of Government. Until 2002, the Minister of State was a French citizen appointed by the prince from among candidates proposed by the French government; since a constitutional amendment in 2002, the Minister of State can be French or Monegasque. However, Prince Albert II appointed, on 3 March 2010, the Frenchman Michel Roger as Minister of State.

Under the 1962 constitution, the prince shares his power with the unicameral National Council (parliament). The twenty-four members of this legislative body are elected from lists by universal suffrage for five-year terms. The principality's local affairs are directed by the Communal Council, which consists of fifteen elected members and is presided over by the mayor.

[edit] Economy

Fontvieille and its new harbour

One of Monaco's main sources of income is tourism; each year many are attracted to its casino and pleasant climate. Monaco's own citizens are not allowed to gamble in the casino.^[12] In 2001, a major new construction project extended the pier used by cruise ships in the main harbour. The principality has successfully sought to diversify into services and small, high-value-added, non-polluting industries, such as cosmetics and biothermics.

The state retains monopolies in numerous sectors, including tobacco and the postal service. The telephone network (Monaco Telecom) used to be fully owned by the state; it now owns only 45%, while the remaining 55% is owned by both Cable & Wireless (49%) and Compagnie Monégasque de Banque (6%). It is still, however, a monopoly. Living standards are high, roughly comparable to those in prosperous French metropolitan areas.

Monaco is not a member of the European Union. However, it is very closely linked via a customs union with France, and as such, its currency is the same as that of France, the euro. Before 2002, Monaco minted its own coins, the Monegasque franc. Monaco has acquired the right to mint euro coins with Monegasque designs on its national side.

[edit] Gambling Industry

Casino gambling was initially legalized during the reign of Florestan I in 1846. At the time, the monarch hoped the newly legal industry would help alleviate the crushing debt the royal family had incurred due in part to economic interference from Sardinia--which had received Monaco as a protectorate under the Treaty of Vienna (1815) and was attempting to destabilize the principality in order to annex it. Monaco's first casino would not receive a royal concession to operate, however, until after Charles III assumed the throne in 1856.^[12]

The grantee of this first royal concession was unable to attract enough business to sustain the operation and, after relocating the casino several times, sold the royal concession to French casino magnates François and Louis Blanc for 1.7 million francs. The Blancs had already set up a highly successful casino in Homborg and quickly petitioned Charles III to rename a depressed seaside area known as "Les Spelegures," or "Den of Thieves," "Monte Carlo," or "Mount Charles." They then constructed their casino in the newly dubbed "Monte Carlo" and cleared out the area's less-than-savory elements to make the neighborhood surrounding the establishment more conducive to tourism.

The Blancs opened Le Grand Casino de Monte Carlo in 1858, and the casino benefited from the tourist traffic the newly built French railway system created. Due to the combination of the casino and the railroads, Monaco finally recovered from the previous half century of economic slump, and the principality's success attracted other businesses. In the years following the casino's opening Monaco founded its Oceanographic Museum and the Monte Carlo Opera House, 46 hotels sprang up and the number of jewellers operating in Monaco increased by nearly 500 percent.

Today, Le Grand Casino still operates in the original building the Blancs constructed and has been joined