Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - Why Does Monaco Even Exist?

Episode Date: October 21, 2021

Located on the French Riveria, just a few kilometers from the border of Italy, sandwiched between the mountains and the sea, is the tiny country of Monaco. Monaco has several distinctions among the countries in the world, not just for its size, but for its population and its history. Learn more about Monaco, the smallest and wealthiest principality in the world, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Located on the French Riviera, just a few kilometers from the border of Italy, sandwiched between the mountains and the sea, is the tiny country of Monaco. Monaco has several distinctions among the countries of the world, not just for its size, but for its population and history. Learn more about Monaco, the smallest and wealthiest principality in the world, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Do you ever climb into bed, ready to sleep, only to have your mind start racing the moment your head hits the pillow?

Thoughts bouncing around, replaying the day, or just a day? jumping ahead to tomorrow. That is exactly why Catherine Nikolai created Nothing Much Happens. Each episode is a gentle, cozy bedtime story where, well, nothing much happens. No drama, no tension, nothing you need to follow closely. Just soft narration, calming repetition, and soothing sensory details designed to help your mind slow down and your body relax. It's not about entertainment, it's about rest. And millions of listeners around the world use it every night to quiet their thoughts and finally fall asleep. If you've ever struggled to Shut your brain off at night, this might be exactly what you've been missing.

You can listen to Nothing Much Happens wherever you get your podcasts. Episodes are every Monday and Thursday. This episode is sponsored by Skillshare. Let's say that you want to visit Monaco to pick up the keys to your new super yacht. You might want to check out Skillshare before you go. They have courses on learning French if you want to brush up on that before you go, as well as Italian, which you also might find useful. And they even have courses on how to find a job working on yachts.

They even have courses on investment and banking, which can also come in real handy if you're going to be spending time in Monaco. With Skillshare premium, you can have unlimited access to everything for as low as 825 per month. Go to everything-dash everywhere.com slash Skillshare to get a free two-week trial of Skillshare premium membership, or just click on the link in the show notes. Once again, that's everything-everywhere.com slash Skillshare. Hundreds of years ago, the map of Europe was much more complicated. There were dozens of kingdoms and duchies and principalities all over the place. Over time, however, almost all of those tiny countries were absorbed into larger countries that we know today. But not all of them did.

A small handful of very small countries managed, through luck, perseverance, and diplomacy, to remain independent to the present day. I've previously known episodes on Andorra, Lichtenstein, San Moreno, and Vatican City. Each one of those countries has a unique history which allowed them to wind up as independent countries in the 21st century. The story of Monaco is similar yet different. It too has managed to survive as a tiny principality into the 21st century, but its story and history are different than other European microstates. Historically, Monaco was defined by its most significant and really only landmark, the Rock of Monaco. The Rock of Monaco is, as the name implies, a rock that just juts out into the Mediterranean side. It was historically used as a fortification, and there's evidence that humans have inhabited

the site for at least 30,000 years. If you're familiar with Monaco, the rock is on the southern side of the main harbor. The name Monaco comes from the name of a 6th century BC Greek colony that was there called Monaco. The meaning of the name in ancient Greek was single house. During the Roman period, Julius Caesar came through Monaco after completing the Golic Wars. The poet Virgil called it, quote,

the castled cliff monocas by the sea. The modern history of Monaco, if you want to call it that, dates back to the 12th century. It was then part of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1191, Holy Roman Emperor Henry V gave the land to the steady state of Genoa, and the Genoese colony of Monaco was re-founded in 1215. In 1297, a Genoese nobleman by the name of Francisco Grimaldi, with the help of several other men dressed as Franciscan monks, took over the fortress which was on the Rock of Monaco.

This was the beginning of the Grimaldi family rule of Monaco, which is still in place today. It didn't remain in Grimaldi hands for long. It was eventually taken back by Genoa, who then lost it to the Kingdom of Aragon in the 14th century. The Grimaldi family purchased Monago back from Aragon in 1612, and the head of the family, Honore II, declared himself Prince of Monaco. Monaco wasn't fully independent, however. While the prince was recognized as a sovereign prince by the French, they were also vassals to the French king. They continued this quasi-sovereignty state until the onset of the French Revolution when Monaco became totally annexed by France.

For 21 years through the French Revolution in the Napoleonic era, Monaco was a part of France. After the downfall of Napoleon, the Congress of Vienna reestablished Monaco as a sovereign entity as a protectorate of the Kingdom of Sardinia. The real independence of Monaco came with the signing of the Franco-Monegesse Treaty of 1861. France recognized the existence of a sovereign Monaco and gave them 4.1 million francs, and all Monaco had to do was give up 95% of its territory. France also took the responsibility of the defense of Monaco. Monaco used to actually be much larger, although still pretty small in the big scheme of things. It extended all the way to the modern Italian border and included the current French cities of Menton

and Rakhobrune. The treaty also said that if House Grimaldi did not have a male heir, then Monaco would return to France. This clause was subsequently removed in subsequent treaties. The famous Casino of Monte Carlo, which still exists today, opened in 1863. In 1911, Monaco adopted a constitution, taking away the absolute power of the prince, although still giving him more power than most European monarchs. In the Second World War, it had the distinction of being invaded by the Italians in 1942, and then by Germans in 1943 after the fall of Mussolini. Most people after the war knew of Monaco for one thing and one thing only. Prince Rainier III took as his wife, the Hollywood star Grace Kelly, in 1956.

She had already won an Academy Award by the age of 26 when she retired from filmmaking upon taking the position of the Princess of Monaco. In 1993, Monaco became a full member of the United Nations. So in a nutshell, that explains how Monaco came to exist in the 21st century. They basically gave up 95% of their country in exchange for sovereignty. But what about the country itself? The biggest thing about Monaco is how small it is. I've done several episodes on very small countries, such as Tuvalu and Nauru, in addition to other European microstates.

With the exception of Vatican City, which is really more of a legal fiction created to keep the papacy independent, Monaco is the smallest country in the world by area. Of the 193 countries in the United Nations, Monaco is the smallest by a wide margin. Monaco is only 2.2 square kilometers in area. It is literally smaller than Central Park in New York City, which has an area of 3.4 kilometers. The next smallest country in the United Nations would be Nauru,

with an area of 21 square kilometers, almost 10 times larger than Monaco. I have literally walked across the entire country of Monaco, and it took me about an hour, and that was taking my time. The corollary to being the smallest country is having the highest population density. With a population of over 37,000 people, it has a population density of around 19,000 people per square kilometer. The only other territory that has a higher population density is the Chinese territory of

Macau that has a density of 21,000 people per square kilometer. There is pretty much no available land in Monaco anymore, which is one reason why land values in the country are so astronomical. There's currently a land reclamation project underway which will try to create an additional six hectares for apartment buildings and shops. Even though 37,000 people live in Monaco, most of them are not citizens of the country. There are only about 9,000 Montaguez citizens who live in the country. And speaking of citizens of Monaco, the official language of Monaco is French. but the national language is called Montaguezsk. It's a dialect of Ligurian, which is a form of Italian, which is spoken in Genoa and the surrounding area.

The other significant thing about Monaco is that it has a lot of rich people. A full third of the country is millionaires. It has the highest per capita GDP of any country in the world at $190,000 per year. The poverty rate in Monaco is officially zero. With that much money, it also shouldn't come as a surprise that Monaco is. is one of the safest countries in the world. The murder rate in Monaco is zero, and there's one police officer for every 100 people who live in the country.

Also, Monaco has the highest life expectancy of any country in the world at 85.6 years for men and 93.5 years for women. The Monte Carlo Casino is probably the most famous casino in the world. In 1913, it had a famous streak at the roulette table when Black came up 26 times in a row. The odds of that happening were one in 67 million. The casino cleaned up with gamblers who lost money continually betting on red, thinking that it was due. And yes, you can go there and play Baccarat like James Bond.

However, you can't place a bet at a casino in Monaco if you are a citizen, as it is illegal. Only foreigners can gamble in Monaco. Given the size of the country, there isn't much in the way of sports, but the Monaco Grand Prix is one of the most prestigious Formula One races in the world. and in 2015 they also launched a Formula E-race, which is for electric vehicles. Monaco is not a member of the European Union, although it is de facto subject to many of its rules due to its relationship with France. Likewise, it isn't technically a member of the Eurozone,

but they use the Euro as their currency. I'll end by noting one other really odd thing about Monaco, their flag. The flag of Monaco is just a red stripe on the top and a white stripe on the bottom. That's it. The problem is, it looks almost identical to the flag of Indonesia, or the flag of Poland upside down. The only difference between the flags of Monaco and Indonesia is the dimensions. The Monaco flag has a 4x5 ratio, and Indonesia's flag has a 2 by 3 ratio. One of these countries has to change, and I'm sorry to say this, Monaco, but it isn't going to be the country with 270 million people. If you have any desire to see Monaco yourself, it's pretty easy to do.

If you happen to be in the south of France or northwest Italy, you can easily reach Monaco by train. There's no airport in Monaco, but you can fly into Nice in France, which is only a 15-minute train ride away. If you do visit, take an hour and use the opportunity so you can say that you literally walk from one end of a country to another. The associate producers of Everything Everywhere Daily are Peter Bennett and Thor Thompson. If you'd like to support the show, please join the list of patrons over at patreon.com. And also remember, if you leave a review or send me a question, you two can have it read on the show.