Monaco is a tiny sovereign-city state on the French Riviera that borders France on three sides and the Mediterranean Sea by its fourth. It's the second-smallest nation globally and earned a glamourous reputation for lavish wealth. Monaco is one of the most iconic places worldwide, and it's safe to say that the country offers more than casinos, yachts, and millionaires.
You know your country is tiny if you can walk across the width of it from one side to the other in just 56 minutes at an average walking pace. Yep, that's possible in Monaco.
Yes, Monaco's expanding its land size thanks to offshore extensions. The Principality already began increasing in size by 20% in the 19th century by claiming land from the Mediterranean Sea. This extension allowed Monaco to build hundreds of new homes - and the numbers are steadily going up!
The residents of Monaco, also known as "Monegasques," are forbidden by law to gamble and even visit a casino. This fact is even more surprising since the country is home to the world-famous Monte Carlo Casino and, therefore, a premier destination for gambling enthusiasts and tourists.
If you're looking for an airport to visit Monaco, you're out of luck. The nearest airport is in Nice Côte d'Azur, France, and it takes about 40 minutes by car to arrive in Monaco-Ville. However, if you have the money, you can choose between various heliports to visit the country extravagantly.
Ok, this one is actually an already well-known fact. There's no income tax or corporate tax for businesses in Monaco, which makes the country extremely attractive for the super-rich around the globe. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Monaco has the highest number of millionaires and billionaires per capita.
Today, Monaco is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, but there was once a time when Monaco's royal rulers had to fear bankruptcy. It was Princess Caroline who found a way to save the country from ruin and introduced the highly profitable gambling business.
If you're interested in the whole story (which we'd highly recommend you to read!), check out the article from The History Press!
This fact follows up on Monaco's introduction to the gambling business in the 19th century. Back then, the country was solely dependent on the casino business. With Prince Rainer III as Monaco's official ruler, it began diversifying its revenue by managing to attract the investment banking industry to make Monaco a hub for "wealth management" services.
With an unemployment rate of just 2%, as of 2012, one could debate that the actual unemployment rate is, in fact, even 0%. If you think of the vast amount of millionaires and even billionaires in the country, would you choose to work if you don't have to?
Monaco never had commercial agriculture (there's just no space), and the only natural resource is fish, which wasn't very profitable. Before the gambling business became a standard in Monaco, the first industries developing were chocolate factories, breweries, and flour mills.
The house of Grimaldi has ruled Monaco for more than 600 years, making it the oldest ruling house in Europe. Before 2002, there was a treaty stating that if there were no Grimaldi heirs to rule Monaco, France would take control. However, this treaty was abolished and replaced by a new one saying that Monaco will still retain its status as an independent nation if the Grimaldi family fails to leave an heir.
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