San Marino

The founding narrative — a Dalmatian stonecutter fleeing Diocletian's persecutions to establish a Christian community on Mount Titano — makes San Marino a rare case of a state whose claimed birth certificate is an act of faith. Two captains-regent have been elected every six months since 1243.

The community of Mount Titano obtained autonomy very early, confirmed repeatedly by the popes. Its defensive position and constant neutrality allowed it to pass through the Italian wars without being absorbed.

In 1861 Abraham Lincoln thanked the republic for granting him honorary citizenship, saluting “a government founded on republican principles, capable of a administration so wise and just that it is perpetual”.

San Marino refused to join the kingdom of Italy, stayed neutral through both world wars and sheltered more than 100,000 refugees in 1944, ten times its population. The country uses the euro under a monetary agreement and has been negotiating an association agreement with the Union since 2015.