Republic of San Marino

San Marino is the oldest existing representative republic and the European state with the smallest population, excluding Vatican City. It is the larger of the two microstates surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern side of the Apennine Mountains, it is the fifth-smallest country in the world, with a land area of just over 61 km² (23.5 square miles) and a population of c. 34,000. It is a member of the Council of Europe, uses the euro as its official currency, but is not a member of the European Union. It is a landlocked country; however, its northeastern end is within ten kilometres (six miles) of the Adriatic coast through the Italian city of Rimini. The country’s capital city, the City of San Marino, is located atop Monte Titano, while its largest settlement is Dogana, within the municipality of Serravalle. San Marino’s official language is Italian.

The country derives its name from Saint Marinus, a stonemason from the then-Roman island of Rab in present-day Croatia. According to legendary accounts participated in the rebuilding of Rimini’s city walls after their destruction and later founded an independent monastic community on Monte Titano (301 CE). Thus, San Marino lays claim to being the oldest extant sovereign state, as well as the oldest constitutional republic.

San Marino, Guaita Tower – ©Eponimm CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Uniquely, San Marino’s constitution dictates that its democratically elected legislature, the Grand and General Council, must elect two heads of state every six months. Known as the Captains Regent, they serve concurrently and with equal powers. The country’s economy is mainly based on finance, industry, services, retail, and tourism. It is one of the wealthiest countries in the world in terms of GDP per capita, with a figure comparable to the most developed European regions.

Its hilly topography, with no substantial naturally flat ground, is part of the Apennine mountain range. The highest point in the country, the summit of Monte Titano, is 2,457 feet above sea level; the lowest, the Ausa River (ending in the Marecchia), is 180 feet. San Marino has no still or contained bodies of water of any significant size. It is one of only three countries in the world to be completely surrounded by one other country. Its terrestrial ecoregion is Italian sclerophyllous and semi-deciduous forests.

San Marino has a humid subtropical climate with some continental influences. It has warm to hot summers and cool winters, typical of inland areas of the central Italian Peninsula. Precipitation is scattered throughout the year with no real dry month. Snowfalls are common and heavy almost every winter, especially above 1,300 feet.

Birding San Marino

Despite its small size and lack of standing water, San Marino does have a diverse landscape with steep valleys, creeks, and limestone cliffs.

Patchwork Landscape – ©Commonists CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Its general altitude coupled with broadleaf woodland favours montane and boreal species. There are patches of intensive agriculture but also scrubland where hawthorn and dogwood dominate.

Avifauna is typical of such southern European habitat in surrounding Italy.