QUEER REPUBLICS | AdventAI

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Mar 11, 1897

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 23, No. 10.

QUEER REPUBLICS.

The queer little Italian republic of San Marino, with its 33 square miles of territory and its population of 6,000, lies up in the eastern spurs of the Apennine Mountains. It is governed by a grand council of 60, who are elected for life, and 2 presidents, one of whom is appointed by the council, the other elected by the people. The little republic has an army of 650 men, who are employed only as policemen. San Marino is the only country in the world that prohibits the introduction of the printing press. The city of San Marino, with a population of 1,700, is one of the queerest old towns in the world. It has undergone no change in 500 years. This republic began in 1631. A bit larger than San Marino in population, but 6 times as large in area, is the republic of Andora. It lies in a valley of the eastern Pyrenees, between France and Spain. It became a free State 790. It is governed by a sovereign council of 24 members, elected by the people, and a syndic, or president, chosen for life by the council. It has an army of 1,100 men, and 1 big gun, planted in the center of the republic. This gun carries a ball 20 miles, and Europe trembles at the thought of its being fired. In Andora, the capital, is the palace—a stone building several hundred years old. Here the councilmen meet. The ground floor is the stable where their horses are kept and fed by their masters themselves.—Harper’s Round Table.