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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 nearly 39,000 residents as of the 2020s, of whom about 9,883 are Monégasque nationals. It is recognised as one of the wealthiest and most expensive places in the world. The official language of Monaco is French. Monégasque, English and Italian are also spoken and understood by many residents.

With an area of 2.08 km2 (0.80 sq mi), Monaco is the second-smallest sovereign state in the world, after Vatican City. Its population of 38,423 in 2024 makes it the most densely populated sovereign state. Monaco has the world's shortest national coastline (not counting landlocked nations): 3.83 km (2.38 mi). The principality is about 15 km (9.3 mi) from the border with Italy and consists of nine administrative wards, the largest of which is Monte Carlo.

The principality is governed under a form of semi-constitutional monarchy, with Prince Albert II as head of state, who holds substantial political powers. The prime minister, who is the head of government, can be either a Monégasque or French citizen; the monarch consults with the Government of France before an appointment. Key members of the judiciary 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...)

Selected location article

The current Hotel Metropole building

The Hotel Metropole Monte Carlo is a five-star luxury hotel at 4 Avenue De La Madone in Monte Carlo, Monaco. (Full article...)

Selected pictures

Selected ward

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

Selected environment article

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...)

Selected arts article

The Eurovision Song Contest 1973 was the 18th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 7 April 1973 at the Nouveau Théâtre in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, and presented by Helga Guitton. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion (CLT), who staged the event after winning the 1972 contest for Luxembourg with the song "Après toi" by Vicky Leandros. Broadcasters from a total of eighteen countries signed up to enter the contest, with Israel competing for the first time, while Austria pulled out after taking part in 1972 due to disputes between the broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF) and Austrian record labels. However Malta's planned participation ultimately failed to materialise, after the Maltese Broadcasting Authority (MBA) deemed the quality of the songs that it had received of too low quality, leaving seventeen countries to participate.

For the second year in a row the winner was Luxembourg, represented by the song "Tu te reconnaîtras", composed by Claude Morgan, with lyrics by Vline Buggy, and performed by Anne-Marie David. This was Luxembourg's fourth contest victory, matching the record number of contest wins previously set by France, and marked the second time that a country had won the contest two years in succession, previously set by Spain in 1969. Spain, the United Kingdom, Israel, and Sweden rounded out the top five positions, with Israel achieving the best performance for a debut nation since 1957. With 129 votes out of a possible maximum score of 160, "Tu te reconnaîtras" remains as of 2025 the best-ever scoring song when compared to the potential maximum available, receiving 80.63% of the maximum vote. (Full article...)

Selected religion article

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 no kosher food store, but a kosher section in some supermarkets. 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. More Sephardic Jews came when they were expelled from countries like Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Yemen, and South America/ Spain. To them, Monaco and France were alternatives to Israel. (Full article...)

Selected sports article

Monaco competed at the 1924 Summer Olympics held in Paris, France.

Julien Médecin won a bronze medal for architecture at the art competitions. However, the medals for art competition are not included in the official tally. Seven competitors, all men, took part in six events in four sports. (Full article...)

Selected education article

The American College of Monaco was an American tertiary education institution located in Monte Carlo, Monaco. It operated from 1968 until it went bankrupt in 1970. The college offered a four-year degree program and classes were held in hotels. Prince Rainier III was the college's chancellor, and it was established by the Principality at the request of Princess Grace. (Full article...)

Selected transportation article

The Principality of Monaco has currently a single railway station, Monaco - Monte Carlo, part of the Marseille–Ventimiglia railway line. The station was originally opened in 1867, but extensively rebuilt in 1999. The length of railway within the Principality is 1.7 km (1.1 mi), giving Monaco the third-smallest railway system in the world. (Full article...)

Selected biography

Georges Vigarello (born 16 June 1941) is a French historian and sociologist. He is a Research Director at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS) of Paris. His main research interests include the sociology of the body, the history of hygiene, representations of the body over the centuries, and the social dimensions of sport. (Full article...)

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