San Marino (country)

San Marino is a member of the United Nations (UN), the Council of Europe (CE), and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

According to tradition, San Marino was founded in ad 301 by a Christian stonecutter, Marinus, who sought refuge on Mount Titano from religious persecution. The commune that developed was recognized as an independent state by Pope Nicholas IV in 1291. Today it is the sole survivor of the many independent city-states which existed in Italy prior to its unification in the 19th century. Its independence is guaranteed by a friendship treaty with Italy, first signed in 1862 and revised in 1939 and 1971. The later revisions provided for the establishment of a customs union and for an annual subvention from Italy to support San Marino’s budget. The governing laws of the republic were promulgated during the Middle Ages.

From 1945 to 1957 the republic was ruled by a left-wing coalition of Communists and Socialists. In 1957 a coalition of the Christian Democratic and Social Democratic parties took control of the government. The coalition survived until 1973 when policy disputes led to a period of short-lived governments.

In 1978 a coalition led by the Communists again came to power. It was re-elected in 1983 but collapsed in 1986 after a financial scandal. In July 1986 a Christian Democrat-Communist coalition was formed. In March 1992 the Christian Democrats changed partners to form a coalition with the Socialists who were returned to power after the May 1993 general election. San Marino became a member of the United Nations in 1992. In 1996 San Marino and Sweden formally ended the state of war which, owing to an oversight in the Peace of Westphalia, had continued between them since the end of the Thirty Years’ War in 1648. In February 2002, San Marino signed up to an Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) agreement regarding taxation, whereby the country agreed to provide greater transparency in its taxation and banking matters with the aim of combating tax evasion.