In the mountainous microstate of San Marino, on the slopes of Mount Titano, surrounded by the republic of Italy

 Of Earth's 196 independent countries, San Marino is the fifth smallest and – perhaps – the most curious.

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(on the slopes of Mount Titano, on the Adriatic side of central Italy between the Emilia-Romagna and Marche regions) Surrounded on all sides by the republic of Italy, San Marino was the smallest independent stat in Europe after Vatican City and Monaco  -- i.e., until the independence of Nauru (i 1968), the smallest republic in the world.

+ How San Marino exists at all is something of an enigma. A sole survivor of Italy's once powerful city-state network, this landlocked micronation clung on long after the more powerful kingdoms of Genoa and Venice folded. And it still endures, secure in its status as the world's oldest surviving sovereign state and its oldest republic (since 301 CE). San Marino also enjoys one of the planet's highest GDP per capita, though some argue that it retains a curious absence of heart and soul (whatever that means).

+ San Marino has an irregular rectangular form with a maximum length of 8 miles (13 km), northeast to southwest. It is crossed by the Marano and Ausa (Aussa) streams, which flow into the Adriatic Sea, and by the stream of San Marino, which falls into the Marecchia River. The landscape is dominated by the huge, central limestone mass of Mount Titano (at 739 meters); hills spread out from it on the southwest, whereas the northeastern part gently slopes down toward the Romagna plain and the Adriatic coast. The silhouette of Mount Titano, with its three summits crowned by ancient triple fortifications, may be seen from many miles away. (In 2008 Mount Titano and the historic center of San Marino were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.)

+ The climate is mild and temperate, with maximum temperatures in the high 70s F (about 26 °C) in summer and the high teens F (about −7 °C) in winter. Annual rainfall ranges between about 22 inches (560 mm) and 32 inches (800 mm). Vegetation is typical of the Mediterranean zone, and includes olive, pine, oak, ash, poplar, fir, and elm, as well as many kinds of grasses and flowers. Besides domestic and farmyard animals, moles, hedgehogs, foxes, badgers, martens, weasels, and hares are found. Indigenous birds and birds of passage are plentiful.

+ Though traces of human presence from both prehistoric and Roman times exist in the territory, Mount Titano and its slopes are known to have been populated, with certainty, only after the arrival of St. Marinus and his followers. San Marino citizens, or Sammarinesi, make up more than 80% of the country’s population, with Italians composing most of the remainder. Thousands of Sammarinesi reside abroad, principally in Italy, the USA, France, and Argentina. Nearly 90% of San Marino’s citizens are Roman Catholics, although there is no official religion. The official language is Italian. A widely spoken dialect has been defined as Celto-Gallic, akin to the Piedmont and Lombardy dialects (as well as to that of Romagna).