I really like San Marino. It has one of the oldest political system in the world, is the first democracy, and is best friend with the newly established US. Also democratically elected a communist leader. And it is known historically as a safe spot for political refugees. So many cool stuff about the country.
I also like Malta for some reason.
Wonder why Liechtenstein is so popular? I only knew it as a rich tax haven.
Liechtenstein is probably because of the fact that you used to be able to rent the entire thing. Also lol, did they actually elect a communist damn. Also yeah you look at the last time places weren’t monarchies in Europe and they’re all in the 20th century and then boom, France in like 1880, Switzerland in like 1305 and then San Marino with goddamn 305CE. Also i think them, japan, iran, china, india, and greece are like the only remaining countries from the roman era
I actually learned about communist San Marino on r/Polandball lol.
[Comic](https://www.reddit.com/r/polandball/comments/vtigay/from_san_marino_with_love/if7bwg7?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3)
Don't know much about the rest, but I know that Japan willfully change their political system after a US ship arrived. And then China has changed their system from absolute monarchy to republic then to monarchy and finally two republics. Both have rich history but not exactly an unchanged political system. But San Marino on the other hand managed to make a system so advanced that it can be kept relatively unchanged for so many years. It's just so cool.
>I really like San Marino
I have a friend who lives nearby and last time I went to visit her I asked to visit it. She and a friend who we have in common were puzzled by my request, because for locals San Marino is a very bland place with nothing interesting, you only go there because shopping is cheaper. At home I catch San Marino TV and zapping sometimes I watched it. It is soooo boring, an average local TV doesn't have more irrelevant news and low quality programs imho.
Something also interesting about San Marino is that during Mussolinis rule of Italy it remained de jure independent and had its own little fascist party to boot. Always thought that was an interesting tidbit about the country.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sammarinese_Fascist_Party
Went hiking in the Alpine (or should I say Pyrenean?) meadows of Andorra once. Absolutely lovely. Whenever my foot touched the ground, beautiful butterflies would fly in the air, and settle again. A magical experience.
My boys from San Marino: arguably one of the oldest states out there and almost undisputedly the oldest Republic. They have a cool legend about their foundings, they refused to accept lands Napoleon was giving them to not anger other states around them, they elected a comunist goverment two times that relinquished power peacefully and so on. Pretty cool nation
Yeah the only countries that have also been around the entire time are greece, iran, iraq, india, china, egypt, japan and maybe a few others. Not to mention the top 3 earliest switches still in place from being a monarchy in europe were france around 1880, switzerland in about 1300 and then good old san marino at 305
I wouldn’t even consider Malta to be a microstate, because it is an island nation and just physically cannot be bigger, while the others decided or were forced to stay that small!
Imho the main difference is not size or population, but Malta is a "full" country, meanwhile the others have to rely on their neighbours (eg Malta is a full member of EU, the others not, Malta had its own currency, the others not, Malta has its own armed forces, the others not,...). I don't know how to call this "incompleteness", they are all independent countries, but Vatican City, Andorra, Monaco, Liechtenstein, and San Marino aren't fully working countries without Italy, Spain, France, and Switzerland.
The imcompleteness you are talking about is called "semi-sovereignty", which means they don't fulfill all the necessary requesites to be considered sovereign states.
Although if u don’t include islands then the only microstates become these six but replace malta with belize which is under 500000 population so it technically qualifies
Maybe it’s just me, but being in Monaco is a strange yet great experience. There a sense of classiness, history, excitement and bewilderment. To an extent, I felt out of place but in a good way. No other place can recreate that feeling I had so I have to choose Monaco (plus the weather is always amazing)
J'étais jamais allé dans le Sud jusqu'à il y a 2 semaines et on a passé une journée à Nice et Monaco et franchement c'était vraiment sympa, je trouve que Nice avait une atmosphère vraiment tranquille alors que Monaco était un peu plus bondée mais dans tous les cas la vue est stylée
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If ur wandering heres the translation:
I had never been to the South until 2 weeks ago and we spent a day in Nice and Monaco and frankly it was really nice, I think Nice had a really quiet atmosphere whereas Monaco was a little more crowded but either way the view is stylish
Malta is the only one that should be its own country. It has a distinct culture and language, and isn’t really near any other country.
If you can’t survive without municipal utilities from another country or if your sole industry is tax evasion, you’re not a real country.
Its funny to me that in europe all the official languages are all ‘european’ ones (Celtic, Indo-European, Uralic, Armenian and Hellenic) with the exception of Turkic and then you just got maltese, an afro-arabian language like wtf lol
The celtic languages, armenian and hellenic are indo-european, so you didn't have to mention them specifically. Also, you forgot about the basque language.
I'm not familiar with the term "afro-arabian" to refer to a language family, but Maltese is derived from maghrebi arabic and so it is a semitic and afro-asiatic language, so it's technically a correct name, I guess? Just not one of the names people usually use to refer to any family.
As an Icelander I feel like my country should be on this list if Malta is there. We don't actually inhabit much more territory than the Maltese, we just have a lot of extra space that's uninhabited.
Regardless of projection, 103,000 sq km is larger than lots of countries inhabited by millions. I expect that microstate definition relies on the sq km number more than eyeballing a Mercator world map.
There is no 100% definition but the widely excepted ones in Europe are Liechtenstein, Monaco, Andorra, San Marino, The Vatican and a-lot of the time Malta, although technically iceland qualifies too
Some fun facts about Liechtenstein:
You were able to rent the entire country for 70 thousand per night on Airbnb back in 2011
Before Alaska was sold to the US, the tsar actually offered it to the Prince of Liechtenstein
It’s one of the only double land locked countries
It’s the world leading manufacturer of false teeth
It was once accidentally invaded by Switzerland and didn’t notice the invasion until Switzerland informed them
They didn’t recognize the existence of the Czech Republic or Slovakia until 2009 because of a property dispute
Once a year all the residents are invited to a party by the Prince
The only time that they went to war, they returned with one additional soldier who came to Liechtenstein to search for work
No criteria?
From a tourist's view or as a local. Malta wins as opportunity as a tourist.
As a location to live, Monguesque citizens get free housing and if no job a pension and no income tax. It is the most sort over passport on the planet. Only down-side is citizens cannot enter the casinos.
It's not a downside lol the casinos are tourist traps
Also it depends on your nationality, I'm French and if I went to live in Monaco I would have to pay taxes whereas everybody else doesn't
*Finally* got to San Marino in June having visited every other European country during my lifetime and was left with the distinct impression I might well have left the best for last. Loved it.
San marino and the Vatican are my favorites. San marino was offered a lot of land by Napoleon since the leaders knew each other and were friends, but they didn't want land in fear of retaliation if Napoleon managed to lose they would be attacked by the coalition. And he did lose, and their bet paid off. I like the Vatican since its the seat of Roman Christianity.
Got me with this, I may say I am surprised 😯
Here's a world map from Wikipedia with microstates ~~highlighted~~ pointed out
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/BlankMap-World-v5_small_states.PNG/1280px-BlankMap-World-v5_small_states.PNG
Out of the 5,847 Votes the most voted, and therefore winner is… LIECHTENSTEIN 🇱🇮💙❤️ With 1,391 Votes!!!
Followed by Malta with 1,204 Votes, Monaco with 1,068 Votes, San Marino with 863 Votes, Andorra with 722 Votes and Vatican City with 599 Votes!!!
All the Principalities are out of consideration, like how lame would it be ruled by a prince.
Vatican, pfff.
Hard choice between Malta and San Marino I'll go with San Marino it's less British.
Liechtenstein is a nice country in the mountains and it′s rich. Thats why it got a vote from me. I don′t like Monaco because there are too many people in this small area. In my opinion is Andorra the secound best microstate. San Marino looks like Italy. The Maltese Language is weird for me.
I really like San Marino. It has one of the oldest political system in the world, is the first democracy, and is best friend with the newly established US. Also democratically elected a communist leader. And it is known historically as a safe spot for political refugees. So many cool stuff about the country. I also like Malta for some reason. Wonder why Liechtenstein is so popular? I only knew it as a rich tax haven.
Yup that's why I voted for San Marino
Liechtenstein is probably because of the fact that you used to be able to rent the entire thing. Also lol, did they actually elect a communist damn. Also yeah you look at the last time places weren’t monarchies in Europe and they’re all in the 20th century and then boom, France in like 1880, Switzerland in like 1305 and then San Marino with goddamn 305CE. Also i think them, japan, iran, china, india, and greece are like the only remaining countries from the roman era
I actually learned about communist San Marino on r/Polandball lol. [Comic](https://www.reddit.com/r/polandball/comments/vtigay/from_san_marino_with_love/if7bwg7?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3) Don't know much about the rest, but I know that Japan willfully change their political system after a US ship arrived. And then China has changed their system from absolute monarchy to republic then to monarchy and finally two republics. Both have rich history but not exactly an unchanged political system. But San Marino on the other hand managed to make a system so advanced that it can be kept relatively unchanged for so many years. It's just so cool.
You got to make a distinction between what political system Countries "call" themselves and the actual Truth about their political systems.
As a Swiss I think Liechtenstein is ok but i don’t like that the „Fürst“ has a veto and can decide on laws
1848 for France
Napoleon iii tho
Then 1870 but it's not a king
I was also wondering ab Liechtenstein
>I really like San Marino I have a friend who lives nearby and last time I went to visit her I asked to visit it. She and a friend who we have in common were puzzled by my request, because for locals San Marino is a very bland place with nothing interesting, you only go there because shopping is cheaper. At home I catch San Marino TV and zapping sometimes I watched it. It is soooo boring, an average local TV doesn't have more irrelevant news and low quality programs imho.
Something also interesting about San Marino is that during Mussolinis rule of Italy it remained de jure independent and had its own little fascist party to boot. Always thought that was an interesting tidbit about the country. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sammarinese_Fascist_Party
Went hiking in the Alpine (or should I say Pyrenean?) meadows of Andorra once. Absolutely lovely. Whenever my foot touched the ground, beautiful butterflies would fly in the air, and settle again. A magical experience.
[удалено]
Might have been the altitude 😉
😉
Htown: it was roaches
😵💫lol
I had a big hailstorm when I was there (am from the UK so my definition of a big hailstorm probably differs to an American)
Damn that sucks. Also nice name lol
Luckily I was inside at the time!
Oh thats good
It was nice to see what is a pretty rare event where I live
😊
That sounds amazing, I’ll maybe go there in the future 😊
Absolutely love Andorra. What a beautiful country.
However anything that isn't natural in Andorra is absolutely hideous
My boys from San Marino: arguably one of the oldest states out there and almost undisputedly the oldest Republic. They have a cool legend about their foundings, they refused to accept lands Napoleon was giving them to not anger other states around them, they elected a comunist goverment two times that relinquished power peacefully and so on. Pretty cool nation
Yeah the only countries that have also been around the entire time are greece, iran, iraq, india, china, egypt, japan and maybe a few others. Not to mention the top 3 earliest switches still in place from being a monarchy in europe were france around 1880, switzerland in about 1300 and then good old san marino at 305
‘…the entire time.’ Interesting
If Malta is (still) a microstate, than so are Luxembourg (which still is) & Iceland..
Luxembourg doesn’t qualify for either but it is close
ok, fair enough.. but Iceland is ;) (source: [wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microstate))
Yes i know but the others make alot more sense and u can only put 6 in the pole
Malta ❤️🤍
This is the correct answer.
Malta & Monaco ❤️🤍 San Marino 💙🤍 Andorra ❤️💛💙 Vatican 💛🤍 Liechtenstein ❤️💙
Luxembourg
Luxembourg is actually surprisingly big, and doesn't actually qualify as a microstate. Still an incredible country, though
Richest too I think
I wouldn’t even consider Malta to be a microstate, because it is an island nation and just physically cannot be bigger, while the others decided or were forced to stay that small!
Imho the main difference is not size or population, but Malta is a "full" country, meanwhile the others have to rely on their neighbours (eg Malta is a full member of EU, the others not, Malta had its own currency, the others not, Malta has its own armed forces, the others not,...). I don't know how to call this "incompleteness", they are all independent countries, but Vatican City, Andorra, Monaco, Liechtenstein, and San Marino aren't fully working countries without Italy, Spain, France, and Switzerland.
The imcompleteness you are talking about is called "semi-sovereignty", which means they don't fulfill all the necessary requesites to be considered sovereign states.
If andorra is then malta is cause andorra is bigger.
Congratulations, you responded to my comment while completely ignoring my point!
That’s cause I don’t understand how thats a valid point, most microstates are ISLANDS
[удалено]
I didnt get it from wikipedia
Where did you get it from then?
Although if u don’t include islands then the only microstates become these six but replace malta with belize which is under 500000 population so it technically qualifies
Buthan, Lesotho and Eswatini?
All too big
Oh and brunei
I misunderstood what u meant so i kinda did lol
Maybe it’s just me, but being in Monaco is a strange yet great experience. There a sense of classiness, history, excitement and bewilderment. To an extent, I felt out of place but in a good way. No other place can recreate that feeling I had so I have to choose Monaco (plus the weather is always amazing)
And being able to walk on the f1 starting grid anytime you want
Definitely, the moment I got out of the train station to see the view of the city is something I’ll never forget.
Yes but nearby Nice is a better city to spend time in I think. I'm not saying that cause I'm from Nice :)
J'étais jamais allé dans le Sud jusqu'à il y a 2 semaines et on a passé une journée à Nice et Monaco et franchement c'était vraiment sympa, je trouve que Nice avait une atmosphère vraiment tranquille alors que Monaco était un peu plus bondée mais dans tous les cas la vue est stylée
I know you went to Nice :) You're the 16yo college student who made a post on r/france about being shy and you talked about your trip to Nice :)
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Ouiii c'est ça exact :)
If ur wandering heres the translation: I had never been to the South until 2 weeks ago and we spent a day in Nice and Monaco and frankly it was really nice, I think Nice had a really quiet atmosphere whereas Monaco was a little more crowded but either way the view is stylish
but san marino is the og
Yes indeed, they survived the romans, the hre, the byzantines, the mongols and the italians
For all the naysayer.. do some research before you vote, look up Italian guy goes to Malta
Add SMoM.
Luxembourg.
i like lichtenstein bc you used to be able to rent it and i think that’s hilarious
I love Malta, its such a beautiful place with a very rich history and beaches, full of old cathedrals and big palaces. I’d love to visit it someday.
Lichtenstein GAINED a soldier during a war. How can you top that?
Brno
Vatican gang 😎🇻🇦
Sealand
Malta is the only one that should be its own country. It has a distinct culture and language, and isn’t really near any other country. If you can’t survive without municipal utilities from another country or if your sole industry is tax evasion, you’re not a real country.
Its funny to me that in europe all the official languages are all ‘european’ ones (Celtic, Indo-European, Uralic, Armenian and Hellenic) with the exception of Turkic and then you just got maltese, an afro-arabian language like wtf lol
The celtic languages, armenian and hellenic are indo-european, so you didn't have to mention them specifically. Also, you forgot about the basque language. I'm not familiar with the term "afro-arabian" to refer to a language family, but Maltese is derived from maghrebi arabic and so it is a semitic and afro-asiatic language, so it's technically a correct name, I guess? Just not one of the names people usually use to refer to any family.
And yea its afro-asiatic i got confused
Oh yeah they are im stupid
Uralic languages are Asian
As an Icelander I feel like my country should be on this list if Malta is there. We don't actually inhabit much more territory than the Maltese, we just have a lot of extra space that's uninhabited.
Blame it on the Mercator projection
Regardless of projection, 103,000 sq km is larger than lots of countries inhabited by millions. I expect that microstate definition relies on the sq km number more than eyeballing a Mercator world map.
…perhaps I should have added a /s. But I appreciate your sincerity and providing more useful facts than my tongue-in-cheek comment did!
Heh, responding to humour by being needlessly factual is an awkward habit of mine.
I must confess that I can relate :)
Funnily enough it is a microstate via population (under 500000) but alot of people consider malta one so it got included despite being at 520k
Define best
The one you like the most or had the greatest experience in.
For me it's the Couto Misto.
That is extremely random but fair enough.
Andorra
Andorra looks especially lovely!
Joe Don baker made me love Malta.
Who are all these Liechtenstein heretics? San Marino über alles!
Yeah 💙🤍
What is the question supposed to mean?
I wouldn't consider Malta a microstate, but I'm wrong of course. What's the definition of microstate?
There is no 100% definition but the widely excepted ones in Europe are Liechtenstein, Monaco, Andorra, San Marino, The Vatican and a-lot of the time Malta, although technically iceland qualifies too
Interesting, thank you
Hank Scorpio: "No one ever says the Vatican."
Does Luxembourg count?
Nope, suprisingly too big
Luxembourg is not that small, it can contain all the other European microstates + Singapore https://brilliantmaps.com/luxembourg-microstate/
Maltas beautiful
*cry’s in Luxembourg*
i named my shiny luxray after the capital of liechtenstein :)
That’s honestly pretty creative
Torn between Malta and Liechtenstein
Some fun facts about Liechtenstein: You were able to rent the entire country for 70 thousand per night on Airbnb back in 2011 Before Alaska was sold to the US, the tsar actually offered it to the Prince of Liechtenstein It’s one of the only double land locked countries It’s the world leading manufacturer of false teeth It was once accidentally invaded by Switzerland and didn’t notice the invasion until Switzerland informed them They didn’t recognize the existence of the Czech Republic or Slovakia until 2009 because of a property dispute Once a year all the residents are invited to a party by the Prince The only time that they went to war, they returned with one additional soldier who came to Liechtenstein to search for work
No criteria? From a tourist's view or as a local. Malta wins as opportunity as a tourist. As a location to live, Monguesque citizens get free housing and if no job a pension and no income tax. It is the most sort over passport on the planet. Only down-side is citizens cannot enter the casinos.
It's not a downside lol the casinos are tourist traps Also it depends on your nationality, I'm French and if I went to live in Monaco I would have to pay taxes whereas everybody else doesn't
Ouch, did not know that. Thanks for the clarification.
Oof
Ya’ll got good opinions!
*Finally* got to San Marino in June having visited every other European country during my lifetime and was left with the distinct impression I might well have left the best for last. Loved it.
San Marino robbed They bring the football world too much joy
LUXEMBOURG!!!! (I know it doesn't technically fit the requirements, but it's still the best.)
You missed Luxembourg a great place to live.
Its surprisingly too big
Malta is much bigger. Visited both.
No it’s quite alot smaller actually
San marino and the Vatican are my favorites. San marino was offered a lot of land by Napoleon since the leaders knew each other and were friends, but they didn't want land in fear of retaliation if Napoleon managed to lose they would be attacked by the coalition. And he did lose, and their bet paid off. I like the Vatican since its the seat of Roman Christianity.
San Marino, the world's oldest republic!
Malta. Bitches and beaches! (Actually it's quite nice, better when is off season, without all the tourists)
Sealand.
Liechtenstein is fun to say so I chose it.
Not very fun to spell tho
Is very funny to spell. Funny way of spelling “lick”+ the end of “ben10” + common end of jewish last names = Liechtenstein
Well that’s one way to do that
Transnistria 💪
Lol, but sadly its too big, although i guess u could kinda include gibraltar, jersey, guernsey and the isle of man.
Why do you consider Malta to be a micro nation? Half a million people live there?
I’m pretty sure the qualifications are under 1,000km2 and under 500,000 people so yeah thats why.
Got me with this, I may say I am surprised 😯 Here's a world map from Wikipedia with microstates ~~highlighted~~ pointed out https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/BlankMap-World-v5_small_states.PNG/1280px-BlankMap-World-v5_small_states.PNG
I think they have like 520,000. If you remove the island of gozo it's just under 500,000
Oh
It depends who you ask also i think it prioritises land size.
I’ll have alook
What does this even mean? Leaving aside the uneven definition of 'microstate', how are you defining 'best'?
Just the one you like
Or had a good experience with
Out of the 5,847 Votes the most voted, and therefore winner is… LIECHTENSTEIN 🇱🇮💙❤️ With 1,391 Votes!!! Followed by Malta with 1,204 Votes, Monaco with 1,068 Votes, San Marino with 863 Votes, Andorra with 722 Votes and Vatican City with 599 Votes!!!
Im American so I just picked the one that sounded the coolest.
Which was..?
Malta
The Vatican is absolutely the worst.
All the Principalities are out of consideration, like how lame would it be ruled by a prince. Vatican, pfff. Hard choice between Malta and San Marino I'll go with San Marino it's less British.
The Prince of Andorra is the President of France and the Bishop of Urgell on a job share. That ain't lame.
It is.
Who is voting for the Vatican??? That den of depravity should be closed down
Liechtenstein is a nice country in the mountains and it′s rich. Thats why it got a vote from me. I don′t like Monaco because there are too many people in this small area. In my opinion is Andorra the secound best microstate. San Marino looks like Italy. The Maltese Language is weird for me.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s in the same language family as arabic.
Did billy football post this?
No
Monaco is the best because of lifespan