European dwarf states

European dwarf states

The term European dwarf states (also called micro-states ) is used to summarize the states that have emerged from European history with a particularly small land area, but whose independence is fully recognized: Andorra , Liechtenstein , Malta , Monaco , San Marino and the State of Vatican City .

European mini states with special EU legal status

The six European dwarf states

Aerial view of Monaco

country	Area (km²)	Residents	Inhabitants per km²	was standing
Vatican city	0.44	800	1,818	without a time
Monaco	2.03	37,550	18,497	December 2016
San Marino	61, 00	33,031	541	May 2016
Liechtenstein	160, 00	37,850	236	December 2016
Malta	316, 00	415.196	1.314	July 2016
Andorra	468, 00	73.105	156	December 2016

• The Vatican City is the resurrected remnant of the former Papal States , those central Italian lands that were directly subordinate to the Pope until 1870 . It was founded in 1929 by the Lateran Treaty between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy , in which the Pope recognized the Italian state and in return was guaranteed sovereignty over a tiny area within the city of Rome , which consists of the enclosed Vatican Hill with St. Peter's Square. Other extraterritorial areas such as the Roman patriarchal churches and Castel Gandolfo do not belong to Vatican City, but are owned by the Holy See, a subject of international law, which is not identical to Vatican City .
• The Principality of Andorra is a remnant of feudalism in the Pyrenees . The feudal estate , which was initially controversial, is administered jointly by the Bishop of Urgell and the French President as co-princes . Previously, the French had entrusted the Counts of Foix and later the French king with it. The principality has been independent since 1278.
• The Principality of Liechtenstein became independent in 1806 after the abolition of the Holy Roman Empire with continued strong domestic and foreign policy ties to the Austrian Empire and later Austria-Hungary . From 1919 onwards it was strongly oriented towards Switzerland (customs treaty and currency union); Since around 1970 it has intensified its foreign policy activities (accession to the Council of Europe, the UN and the EEA). It was created between 1699 (acquisition of the first territories) and 1719 (elevation to imperial principality) as a feudal estate for the wealthy House of Liechtenstein from the lords of Vaduz and Schellenberg . Thanks to its geographical location between Switzerland and Austria , it did not go under during the upheavals in Germany when the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved and in later times.
• The Republic of San Marino is the last survivor of a large number of self-governed Italian communities of the Middle Ages . It survived the consolidation of Italy into medium-sized states in the 15th century and the unification of Italy in the 19th century - also thanks to its position on a high Apennine ridge, which was difficult to access at the time . At least formally, it also survived the Napoleonic era and the era of fascism in Italy, although the latter also had domestic political effects in San Marino.
• The Principality of Monaco on the French Riviera has been ruled by the House of Grimaldi since the 13th century . It reached its full independence after the assignment, the area around Nice through the Piedmont to France in the year 1860th
• The Republic of Malta is a southern European island state in the Mediterranean. Malta gained independence from the United Kingdom on September 21, 1964 . On May 1, 2004, Malta became a member of the European Union ; since then it has been the smallest state in terms of area and population. With 420,000 inhabitants, Malta surpasses the other miniature states many times over and it even has a larger population than Iceland , which is not counted among the European miniature states.

Because of their small size, which limits natural resources and population, most dwarf states have adopted special economic measures tailored to their small size - mostly lowering taxes and attracting investment. Many of the dwarf states have concluded customs unions with their large neighbors in order to improve their economic situation (Vatican City and San Marino with Italy, Liechtenstein with Switzerland and Monaco with France). Thanks to these unions, Monaco, Andorra, the Vatican and San Marino can enjoy some of the advantages of the European Union (EU) without having joined it. The dwarf states use z. B. the euro as currency and mint their own euro coins; only in Liechtenstein is there another currency, the Swiss franc . Since, with the exception of Andorra, no border controls are carried out with neighboring countries, they are - mostly indirectly - also part of the Schengen area . Liechtenstein has more formal ties to the European Union. The country is part of the European Economic Area and directly acceded to the Schengen Agreement. Malta, on the other hand, is a full member of the EU.

Small states with limited sovereignty

Furthermore, there are some areas in Europe that, although z. B. Do not take on foreign policy and defense themselves, but are largely autonomous domestically:

• Channel Islands Guernsey and Jersey (directly connected to the Crown, not part of the United Kingdom but remnants of the former Duchy of Normandy)
• Isle of Man (like the Channel Islands not part of the United Kingdom since ancient times, but directly under the Crown)
• Gibraltar is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom. It has its own government, which performs the tasks of self-government.
• Akrotiri and Dhekelia are British overseas territories on the island of Cyprus that are used as military bases.
• Autonomous Monastic Republic of Holy Mountain (Athos) is an Orthodox monastic republic with autonomous status under Greek sovereignty in northern Greece .
• Faroe Islands (autonomous archipelago in the North Atlantic under Danish sovereignty)
• Åland (archipelago belonging to Finland, which has extensive autonomy)

Games for the small states of Europe

There is a regular sporting event of European small and miniature states , the Games of the Small States of Europe (GSSE). The usual participants are Andorra , Iceland , Liechtenstein , Luxembourg , Malta , Monaco , Montenegro , San Marino and Cyprus .

Dwarf States in History

In many European countries there have historically been structures that one would consider today as miniature states. The Germany before Napoleon consisted of a large number of small geographical units with each other enclaves and exclaves had.

Other European dwarf states that existed for some time in the 20th century:

• Neutral-Moresnet , 1816-1919
• Free State of Schwenten , 1919
• Free State of Fiume (Rijeka) , 1919 / 20–1924
• Memelland , 1920–1923
• Free City of Danzig , 1920–1939
• Free Territory of Trieste , 1947–1954

literature

• Thomas Eccardt: Secrets of the Seven Smallest States of Europe: Andorra, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City . New York, NY 2005, ISBN 0-7818-1032-9
• Katrin Friese: The European micro-states and their integration into the European Union. Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City on the way to the EU? (= Chemnitz European Studies , Volume 13). Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-428-13519-6 (Dissertation at Chemnitz University of Technology 2010, 598 pages, online).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ population . Vatican City website vaticanstate.va , accessed June 10, 2017.
2. ^ The official population figures . From: monacostatistics.mc , accessed June 10, 2017
3. ↑ Bilancio Demografico ( Memento of July 8, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 200 kB). From the website of the Ufficio Informatica, Tecnologia, Dati e Statistica of the Republic of San Marino, accessed on July 8, 2016
4. ↑ Population statistics December 31, 2016 . On the website of the Office for Statistics, State Administration of the Principality of Liechtenstein, accessed on June 10, 2017
5. ↑ Malta . In: CIA World Factbook , accessed June 10, 2017
6. ↑ Últimes dades ( Memento of the original dated December 10, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . From the Govern d'Andorra statistics website , accessed June 10, 2017