Location: Southern Europe, a closed-society in central Italy.
Language: Italian
History: The people of San Marino live in a completely independent nation and are called the Sammarinese. According to tradition, their nation has been celebrating their independence since 301 A. D. Marinus, a Christian stonemason, fled the island of Arbe to escape the anti-Christian Roman Emperor named Diocletian on the peak of the beautiful and easily defended Mount Titano. San Marino is comprised of native Sammarinese and Italian citizens.
Religion: Of the total population of San Marino, more than 90% are Roman Catholics.
Daily Life: Crop farming, sheep farming and the working of stone from the quarries formed the early backbone of San Marino's economy. San Marino has no mineral resources and today most of the land is cultivated or covered by woods. The Sammarinese rely mainly on tourism accounting for over 50% of the GDP. In 1995, more than 3.3 million tourists visited San Marino. Aside from tourism, Sammarinese work in textiles, electronics, ceramics, cement and wine. The historical obsession with independence has produced a nation which, according to the Sammarinese, "breathes politics". In the restaurants and cafes and markets at the foothills of Mount Titano, away from the pageantry of the Old City, citizens talk, argue and occasionally yell about politics. Domestic voter turn out is near 99%. Only 25,000 Sammarinese and ethnic Italians comprise the population of San Marino.
Links to other sites on the Sammarinese:
History of San MarinoWelcome to the Republic of San Marino
Background notes of San Marino
Resources:
CIA World Fact Book (1998)
U.S. Department of State Background Notes: San Marino. November (1998)
Gale Research, Cities of the World 5th Edition, vol. 3: Europe and the Middle East (1999)
David Levinson, Ethnic Groups Worldwide, Oryx Press (1998)
Worldmark Chronology of the Nations, vol. 4: Europe, The Gale Group (1999)
Brian Melby