San Marino

San Marino is a small, landlocked republic on the slopes of Mount Titano, located in central Italy on the Adriatic side, between the regions of Emilia-Romagna and Marche, and bordered on all sides by the Italian Republic. After Vatican City and Monaco, it is the smallest independent state in Europe and was the smallest republic in the world until Nauru became independent. The country is named after Saint Marinus, a stonemason who came from the island of Rab in present-day Croatia. Marinus, born in 275 AD, helped rebuild the city walls of Rimini after they were destroyed by Liburnian pirates. Marinus then founded an independently ruled monastic community on Monte Titano in 301 AD, making San Marino the oldest surviving sovereign state and the oldest constitutional republic. The economy is mainly based on finance, industry, services, retail trade and tourism. The main tourist attractions of the city of San Marino, the country's most popular destination, and the rest of the country, include Palazzo Pubblico, Basilica di San Marino, Museo di Stato and the Monte Titano and The Three Towers of San Marino. San Marino has an irregular rectangular shape, up to 13 km long in a northeast-southwest direction. The scenery is dominated by the giant central limestone mass of Mount Titano. The mountain's silhouette, with its three peaks crowned by an ancient triple fortress, can be seen from afar. Mount Titano and the historic center of San Marino were designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2008.