PRINCIPALITY OF MONACO Official name: Principaute de Monaco (Principality of Monaco) Location: Western Europe International organisations: The Council of Europe, The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, The United Nations Borders: France Coastline: Mediterranean Sea Land area: 2 Km2 Population: 33,000 Ethnicity: Most of the population is mixed French and Italian descent.

Languages: French is the official language and generally used. English and Italian are widely understood.
Religion: Most of the population are Catholic Christians.
Form of government: Constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy.
Capital: Monaco
Constitution: The Constitution of Monaco came into effect on 17 December 1962.
Head of state: Prince Albert II came to the throne on 6 April 2005.
Head of government: The Prime Minister, appointed by the Prince from a list of three candidates presented by the French Government. The Prime Minister is the leader of the largest party in the legislature and is accountable to it.
Legislature: Monaco has a unicameral legislature, the National Council (Conseil National), which has 24 members elected for five-year terms, 16 members by list majority system, and eight by proportional representation.
Electoral authority: Elections Monaco administers national elections.
Freedom House rating: Political Rights 2, Civil Liberties 1

Political history

Monaco was established as a dependency of Genoa in 1215, and has been ruled by the Grimaldi family since 1297. It has been recognised as a principality since 1612. It was annexed by revolutionary France in 1793, and in 1815 was made a dependency of the Kingdom of Sardinia. In 1860, when Sardinia became the Kingdom of Italy, France refused to allow Monaco to pass under Italian control, and by the Franco-Monegasque Treaty of 1981 it became a semi-independent principality under French protection. Monaco is not a fully sovereign state. Under the terms of the treaty, its independence will end if there is no male heir to the throne, and the appointment of a Prime Minister is subject to the approval of the French Government. Under a 1918 extension of the treaty, France has control over Monaco's foreign policy.

The Princes ruled as absolute monarchs until 1911, when a system of limited constitutional government was established. A constitution was promulgated in 1962, giving women the vote and establishing a formal Monegasque citizenship. The dominant parties are the conservative coalition of the National Union for the Future of Monaco and the Rally for the Monegasque Family. Opposition is provided by the liberal National and Democratic Union.