A sovereign and independent state, the Principality of Monaco has borders on its landward side with several communes of the French Department of the Alpes-Maritimes; from west to east these are Cap d`Ail, la Turbie, Beausoleil and Roquebrune Cap Martin. Seawards, Monaco faces the Mediterranean.
The population of the Principality consists of 29,972 inhabitants, 5,070 of whom are Monégasques, 12,047 French and 5,000 Italian (according to the last official census in 1990).
Its surface area is 195 hectares, of which nearly 40 were recovered from the sea during the course of the last twenty years.
It lies in a narrow coastal strip which sometimes rises vertically upwards with its highest point at 163 meters. Its width varies between 1050 meters and a mere 350 meters. Its coastline is 4100 meters long.
The Principality has only one commune, Monaco, whose limits are the same as those of the state.
 Every day at 11:55 am there is the changing of the « carabinier » on the « place du Palais ».
For several centuries, the citadel of Monaco was coveted by the enemies of the Grimaldi, resulting in many conflicts with the Genoese, the French and the Spanish. For this reason, for nearly 400 years, the Rock maintained its character as a fortress and was principally concerned to develop its defences. Towards the middle of the XVIIth century, Prince Honoré II (1597-1662) undertook the earliest steps to transform it into a palace. The military structures were retained, but the interior was totally altered so as to house the superb collections of paintings by master artists, tapestries and precious furniture. Towards 1690, Prince Louis I (1642-1700) had constructed the great gate which still exists today.
 The access to the Casino is refused if you are under 21 and there is also a certain dress code.
Famous the world over, its fabulous history was linked from the very beginning with that of the Belle Epoque. Its foundations were laid in 1861, in the reign of Charles III, on the isolated plateau of the Spélugues which was to become, five years later, the new town of Monte Carlo. Today it is the main building, the work of the architect Charles Garnier, surmounted by two pinnacles over a glass roof, with a neo-classical facade, opening on the Monte Carlo side on to a vast staircase leading to the entrance hall which lies in front of the Opera hall.
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The Principality of Monaco