San Marino is a landlocked country within Italy near the Adriatic Sea coast on the northeastern side of the Apennine Mountains. The northeastern end is within 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) of the Italian coastal city of Rimini.
The capital city, the City of San Marino, is located atop Monte Titano, while its largest settlement is Dogana within the largest municipality of Serravalle. San Marino covers a land area of just over 61 km2 (24 sq mi), and has a population of 33,562. The 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. Born in AD 275, Marinus participated in the rebuilding of Rimini’s city walls after their destruction by Liburnian pirates. After the Diocletianic Persecution following his Christian sermons, he escaped to the nearby Monte Titano, where he built a small church and went on to found an independently ruled monastic community on Monte Titano on September 3, 301 AD in what is now the city and state of San Marino. San Marino lays claim to being the oldest sovereign state, as well as the oldest constitutional republic. In 1320, the community of Chiesanuova chose to join the country. San Marino was extended with 4 additional communities in 1463; its borders have remained unchanged since then..
The country’s economy is mainly based on finance, industry, services and tourism. It is one of the wealthiest countries in the world in GDP per capita, with a figure comparable to the most developed European regions.
