Portal:Monaco

The Monaco Portal
Welcome! — Bienvenue! — Benvegnüu!

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: 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 still wields significant political power and is not merely a ceremonial figure like most modern monarchies. 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...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Selected location article

Grimaldi Forum Monaco in 2021

The Grimaldi Forum Monaco, inaugurated in 2000 and named after the historical reigning family of Monaco, the House of Grimaldi, is an international event venue located in the Larvotto ward of Monaco. It hosts approximately 120 events and sees 250,000 visitors annually. (Full article...)

List of articles
Casino Gardens and Terraces Avenue Princesse Grace Columbus Hotel Monaco Fort Antoine Theatre Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo Hôtel Hermitage Monte-Carlo Hotel Metropole, Monte Carlo Japanese Garden, Monaco Jardin Exotique de Monaco Museum of Prehistoric Anthropology New National Museum of Monaco Oceanographic Museum Odeon Tower St Martin Gardens Zoological Garden of Monaco

Selected pictures

Image 1
Land reclamation in Monaco since 1861
(from Monaco)
Image 2Port Hercules (from Outline of Monaco)
Image 3Cathedral of Our Lady Immaculate (from Monaco)
Image 4Satellite view of Monaco, with the France–Monaco border shown in yellow (from Monaco)
Image 5Palace guards in Monaco (from Monaco)
Image 6Rainier I, victor of the naval battle at Zierikzee and first sovereign Grimaldi ruler of Monaco (from Monaco)
Image 7Prince Albert I of Monaco (from Outline of Monaco)
Image 8Japanese Gardens (from Outline of Monaco)
Image 9Albert II, Prince of Monaco (from Monaco)
Image 10Saint Martin Gardens (from Outline of Monaco)
Image 11Satellite view with border (from Outline of Monaco)
Image 12Fontvieille and its harbour (from Monaco)
Image 13Prince's Palace of Monaco (from Outline of Monaco)
Image 14Monte Carlo (from Outline of Monaco)
Image 15The location of Monaco (from Outline of Monaco)
Image 16Seaside façade of the Salle Garnier, home of the Opéra de Monte-Carlo (from Outline of Monaco)
Image 17Wards of Monaco (from Monaco)
Image 18Prince's Palace of Monaco (from Monaco)
Image 19Monaco's flag and its coat of arms (from Monaco)
Image 20Monte Carlo Casino (from Outline of Monaco)
Image 21Seaside façade of the Salle Garnier, home of the Opéra de Monte-Carlo (from Monaco)
Image 22Formation lap for the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix (from Monaco)
Image 23Lamarck intersection, Les Moneghetti (from Monaco)
Image 24View of the Rock of Monaco (from Outline of Monaco)
Image 25Poster for the Exposition De Monaco (1920) (from Monaco)
Image 26Monaco (as part of the Republic of Genoa) in 1494 (from Monaco)
Image 27Logo of the princely government of Monaco (from Monaco)
Image 28Photochrom of Monaco circa 1900 (from Monaco)
Image 29Benjamin Balleret (from Outline of Monaco)
Image 30Monaco's team competes in the two-man bobsled at the 2014 Olympics (from Monaco)
Image 31Walkway in the jardin exotique de Monaco (Exotic Gardens) (from Monaco)
Image 32The division of the Empire after the death of Theodosius I, c. 395 AD, superimposed on modern borders.
Western Roman Empire

Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire)
(from Monaco)
Image 33Ville ruelle in Monaco (from Monaco)
Image 34Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort overlooks the Mediterranean Sea (from Monaco)
Image 35Enlargeable, detailed map of Monaco (from Monaco)
Image 36Tall buildings in Monaco (from Monaco)
Image 37The Monaco harbour during the days of the 2016 Monaco Grand Prix (from Outline of Monaco)
Image 38Lycée Albert Premier of Monaco (from Outline of Monaco)
Image 39Espresso at Café de Paris, Monte Carlo (from Monaco)
Image 40Monte Carlo Casino (from Monaco)
Image 41Monaco-Ville (from Outline of Monaco)
Image 42Atrium in Monte Carlo Casino (from Monaco)
Image 43Embassy of Monaco, Paris, France (from Monaco)
Image 44Hotel de Paris lobby ceiling: Monaco draws tourist for its late 19th and early 20th century buildings and glamor (from Monaco)
Image 45In the centre is La Condamine. At the right with the smaller harbour is Fontvieille, with The Rock (the old town, fortress, and Palace) jutting out between the two harbours. At the left are the high-rise buildings of La Rousse/Saint Roman. (from Monaco)
Image 46Oceanographic Museum (from Monaco)
Image 47Pedestrian crossing on Avenue de la Costa (from Monaco)
Image 48The Rock of Monaco in 1890 (from Monaco)
Image 49Genovese coin from 1655 (from Monaco)
Image 50Saint Nicholas Cathedral, Monaco (from Outline of Monaco)
Image 51La Condamine (from Outline of Monaco)
Image 52The marriage of Hollywood actress Grace Kelly to Prince Rainier III brought media attention to the principality. (from Monaco)
Image 53Boulevard des Moulins meets Avenue Saint-Michel (from Monaco)
Image 54A map of the County of Nice showing the area of the Italian kingdom of Sardinia annexed in 1860 to France (light brown). The area in red had already become part of France before 1860 (from Monaco)
Image 55Lycée Albert Premier of Monaco (from Monaco)
Image 56Fontvieille (from Outline of Monaco)
Image 57Jacques I, Prince of Monaco (from Outline of Monaco)
Image 58Stade Louis II, home of AS Monaco FC (from Monaco)
Image 59Hôtel de Paris (from Outline of Monaco)
Image 60Monaco's Japanese Gardens (from Monaco)
Image 61Public art in Monaco (from Outline of Monaco)
Image 62Charles Leclerc (from Outline of Monaco)

Selected ward

A view of Monte Carlo

Monte Carlo (/ˌmɒnti ˈkɑːrloʊ/ MON-tee KAR-loh, Italian: [ˈmonte ˈkarlo]; French: Monte-Carlo, French: [mɔ̃te kaʁlo]; or colloquially Monte-Carl, French: [mɔ̃te kaʁl]; Monégasque: Munte Carlu, Ligurian: [ˈmuŋte ˈkaɾlu]; lit. 'Mount Charles') is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to a larger district, the Monte Carlo Quarter (corresponding to the former municipality of Monte Carlo), which besides Monte Carlo/Spélugues also includes the wards of La Rousse/Saint Roman, Larvotto/Bas Moulins and Saint Michel. The permanent population of the ward of Monte Carlo is about 3,500, while that of the quarter is about 15,000. Monaco has four traditional quarters, from west to east they are: Fontvieille (the newest), Monaco-Ville (the oldest), La Condamine, and Monte Carlo.

Monte Carlo is situated on a prominent escarpment at the base of the Maritime Alps along the French Riviera. Near the quarter's western end is the "world-famous Place du Casino, the gambling center ... that has made Monte Carlo an international byword for the extravagant display and reckless dispersal of wealth". It is also the location of the Hôtel de Paris, Café de Paris and Salle Garnier (the casino theatre which is the home of the Opéra de Monte-Carlo). The quarter's eastern part includes the community of Larvotto with Monaco's only public beach, as well as its new convention center (the Grimaldi Forum), and the Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort. At the quarter's eastern border, one crosses into the French town of Beausoleil (sometimes referred to as Monte-Carlo-Supérieur), and 8 kilometres (5 mi) to its east is the western border of Italy. (Full article...)

List of articles
La Condamine Fontvieille, Monaco Larvotto Jardin exotique Monaco-Ville Les Moneghetti Ravin de Sainte-Dévote La Rousse

Selected environment article

The Rock of Monaco (French: Rocher de Monaco; Monégasque: Roca de Mùnegu) is a 62-metre (203 ft) tall monolith on the Mediterranean coast of the Principality of Monaco. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea and the Port Hercules. (Full article...)

List of articles
Land reclamation in Monaco Mont Agel Port Hercules Tête de Chien

Selected arts article

The Eurovision Song Contest 1979 was the 24th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Jerusalem, following Israel's victory at the 1978 contest with the song "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA), the contest was held at the Menachem Ussishkin auditorium of the International Convention Centre on 31 March 1979, and was hosted by Israeli television presenter Daniel Pe'er and singer Yardena Arazi. This was the first time that the Eurovision Song Contest was held outside Europe.

Nineteen countries participated in the contest, with Turkey deciding not to participate after Arab countries had pressured it into not participating in a contest held in Israel. Yugoslavia, which had missed the 1977 and 1978 contests, also did not take part in or broadcast the contest this year for political reasons, despite an earlier public poll in which almost 100,000 people supported a Yugoslav return to the contest. (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 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The country didn't win any medals.

In sailing, a team consisting of Gérard Battaglia, Jean-Pierre Borro and Claude Rossi participated in the Soling class. They ended in 23rd place. (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

Elena in 2012.

Daniel Elena (born 26 October 1972) also known as "Danos" is a Monégasque rally co-driver working most notably with Sébastien Loeb. Between them the pair have won the World Rally Championship (WRC) nine times with Citroën, later competing with Hyundai. Their 79 wins together make him the co-driver with the most victories in the history of the WRC. (Full article...)