How San Marino Survives Inside Italy
If you look at a map of Italy, you will see a small country inside it. The country is called San Marino. When I first saw it, I asked myself, how does it live and grow inside a big country like Italy?
Italy completely surrounds San Marino. San Marino is very small. It covers only 61 square kilometres and has about 34,000 people. That makes it one-tenth the size of New York. In Europe, only the Vatican and Monaco are smaller.
San Marino runs itself. It has its own government, laws, passports, and money deals. It even has an Olympic team. But it does not have an army.
Yet it has managed to remain sovereign. And not only does it survive, it thrives. People here earn about $86,989 each year, making it the eighth-richest country in the world.
This is the story of how San Marino survives inside Italy. To know it, we must go back in time.
San Marino is very old. It is the world’s oldest free country. It was founded on September 3, 301 AD by a stonemason named Marinus. He was fleeing religious persecution and established a small community on Mount Titano. Since then, this little state has stayed free, living through barbarian attacks, the Napoleonic Wars, and even the Unification of Italy.
San Marino is located on a rugged mountain with natural defences that helped it survive the medieval era, though that was not a unique factor. But that alone did not keep it safe. When bishops attacked, it stayed humble and kept only its small land. It did not make risky alliances that could pull it into wars. And in fights for power, it often chose the winning side. Because of this, San Marino has stayed free for more than 1,700 years.
To put this in perspective,
In 1797, when Napoleon’s army moved through Italy, San Marino could have been wiped out.
But the leaders then, called Captains Regent, chose peace over fight. Antonio Onofri, one of them, spoke with Napoleon’s man, Gaspard Monge. He showed him that San Marino was neutral, humble, and free.
Napoleon liked this. Instead of taking the land, he promised to protect San Marino. He even offered to give it more land. But San Marino said no. They feared that more land would bring more wars and risk their freedom.
By staying small, calm, and neutral, San Marino kept its independence and grew even stronger in spirit.
Fast forward to the 20th century. During World War II, San Marino said it was neutral. Despite that, it briefly got caught in the fighting, but still managed to shelter thousands of refugees fleeing from fascist Italy.
After the war, when Italy was rebuilding and finding its new path, San Marino did not need to break away.
Today, San Marino depends on Italy for defence. It has no army of its own. It also uses the euro, even though it is not in the European Union. In fact, it mints its own euro coins, and collectors love them.
People speak Italian here. They trade with Italy and share some services too. But in law and politics, San Marino is fully independent.
So, how did it survive? By being peaceful, practical, and proudly small. It never made itself a threat. That’s why Italy is fine with San Marino being there and even kind of proud of it. And that’s how San Marino survives inside Italy.
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