We have visited San Marino while travelling through Europe in a Campervan. to tell the truth we visited the place on the way from Venice, Chioggia and Ravenna just to score another country. But we were taken by surprised, even San Marino is one of the smallest countries in the world its an extremely charming. We even gave it a nickname – country above the clouds. Discover other fun facts about San Marino

San Marino – Facts

san marino facts

Historical Facts about San Marino

San Marino was founded in 301 AD by the stonemason Marin, later St. Marinus who came to Italy – Rimini from the Croatian island of Rab. St. Marinus hid around mount Titano with group of Christians to avoid persecution.

San Marino is one of the world’s oldest republic in the world.

San Marino was never conquered, and the last battle in which San Marino actively participated took place in 1463.

The statute of October 8, 1600, which included the institutions and practices of the executive and the judiciary at that time, is considered by many to be the first written constitution in the world (although officially the US Constitution of 1787 is still officially the first one)

facts about San Marino - the Flag
Facts about San Marino – the Flag

The flag of San Marino is blue and white with the coat of arms in the center of the flag. The blue color of the flag represents the sky, and the white snow covering Mt. Titano. The flag was officially adopted in 1862. The coat of arms of San Marino shows three towers decorated with feathers, located on three peaks of the highest mountain in San Marino.
The earlier flag had three horizontal colors of orange, white and cherry and a simplified coat of arms with three defensive towers.

The first commemorative stamps in the country were issued in 1894 and since then San Marino stamps have been highly valued by philatelists around the world. The income from their sale accounts for about 10% of the state’s income.

San Marino remained neutral, like Switzerland, and did not participate in World War II,

Although the country is very small and neutral it has its own “army”. It is admittedly small because the permanent contingent consisting of volunteers numbers from 75 to 100 people

Facts about Geography of San Marino

The official name of San Marino is the Republic of San Marino. The area of ​​San Marino is 61 km2 (23.6 square miles) making this country the third smallest country in Europe and the fifth smallest country in the world. Only Vatican City, Monaco, Nauru and Tuvalu are smaller.

San Marino is bordered on all sides by Italy, so it only borders on one country. You can enter San Marino without any formalities, but if you want to have your passport stamped as a souvenir there is a fee of 5 euros

Two rivers flow through the territory of the country: San Marino and Marano.

The country’s capital – the “City of San Marino” is situated on top of Mount Titano and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Mount Titano at 739 meters is the focal point in the country and the highest mountain. It has 3 peaks, each with the Guaita, Cesta and Montale towers.

Montale is privately owned and it’s not accessible to tourists, however, when traveling to San Marino, you can climb both Guaita and Cesta. They have amazing views of both the countryside and each other! In good weather, you can even see the Adriatic Sea.

You can either climb or take a cable car on Titano – we recommend it the cable car to go up and walk down.

Facts about the San Marino economy

The current Currency in San Marino is Euro, however this country is not in the European Union. Another such country with the euro currency outside the union is Montenegro. San Marino’s Euro coins are a real treat for coin collectors, as the issue of Sanmarin euro is very low.

Photo credit Wikipedia

The main sectors of the economy in San Marino are banking, tourism and wine production. San Marino is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of GDP.

Italy imports almost 80% of the goods produced in San Marino, but all electricity in San Marino is imported from Italy

San Marino does not have an airport, the only option to visit it is by car or by bus from Rimini. In the 1930s a railway was built between San Marino and Rimini, but it was destroyed during the war and not rebuilt

Interesting Facts about San Marino

Napoleon offered to help expand the country’s territory (1797), but high-ranking officials from that country politely rejected his offer.

The official language is Italian, but people of San Marino do not like to be called Italians. They pride themselves on having their own citizenship and constitution

San Marino does not recognize dual nationality. To obtain citizenship, you must have been officially resident in San Marino for 30 years, or 15 years if you are married to a San Marino resident. However, having dual nationality is prohibited. It is worth mentioning that in 1861 US President Abraham Lincoln became an honorary citizen of San Marino.

Even though the country was founded by a Catholic Saint, San Marino is officially devoid of any state religion.

Fun Facts about San Marino

The San Marino football team only started participating in international competitions at the end of the 1980s. However, San Marino’s representatives cannot boast about spectacular results – in their entire history they lost most of the matches, noting only 4 draws and 1 victory (1-0 over the Liechtenstein national team).

San Marino in numbers

9 – as many municipalities (known as “castelli” which can be translated as castles) are in San Marino. The largest is Serravalle with an area of 10 km², and the smallest is Montegiardino (3.31 km²)
33,779 – this is the number of inhabitants of San Marino according to 2018 data
37 km – the length of the border with Italy – the only country with which San Marino borders
292 km – this is the total length of all paved roads in San Marino
12 – this is the number of embassies around the world that San Marino has.
38,000 – this is the number of mobile phones registered in San Marino. Therefore, there are 113 cells per 100 inhabitants.

Facts about San Marino – Pin it

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