San Marino Map

• During World War II, San Marino remained neutral, although it had been wrongly reported on to have declared war on the United Kingdom on 17 September 1940.

• Three days after the fall of Benito Mussolini in Italy, PFS rule collapsed and the new government declared neutrality in the conflict. The Fascists regained power on 1 April 1944 but kept neutrality intact. Despite that, on 26 June 1944 San Marino was bombed by the Royal Air Force, which mistakenly believed that the country had been overrun by German forces and was being used to amass stores and ammunition. At least 35 people were killed in the operation. San Marino accepted thousands of civilian refugees when Allied forces went over the Gothic Line. In September 1944, it was briefly occupied by German forces, who were attacked by Allied forces in the Battle of San Marino. Allied troops withdrew from the country shortly afterward.

• The head of state is a committee (council) of two captains-regent. San Marino had the world's first democratically elected communist government, which held office between 1945 and 1957 and again between 2006 and 2008.

• San Marino is the world's smallest republic, although when Nauru gained independence in 1968 it challenged that claim, Nauru's land mass being only 21 km . However Nauru's jurisdiction over its surrounding waters (431,000 km) is thousands of times greater than the territory of San Marino.

• San Marino became a member of the Council of Europe in 1988 and of the United Nations in 1992. It is not a member of the European Union.

• The corporate profits tax rate in San Marino is 19 percent. Capital gains are subject to a five percent tax; interest is subject to a 13 percent withholding tax.

• In 1972, a value added taxation (VAT) system was introduced in Italy, and was applied in San Marino, in accordance with the 1939 friendship treaty. In addition, a tax on imported goods, to be levied by San Marino, was established. Such taxes, however, were not, and are not, applied to national products. Until 1996, goods manufactured and sold in San Marino were not subject to indirect taxation.

• Under the European Union customs agreement, San Marino continues to levy taxes, the equivalent of an import duty, on imported goods. Also, a general VAT was introduced, in replacement of the Italian VAT.

• The Guard of the Council Great and General commonly known as The Guard of the Council or locally as the 'Guard of Nobles', formed in 1740, is a volunteer unit with ceremonial duties. Due to its striking blue, white, and gold uniform, it is perhaps the best-known part of the Sammarinese military, and appears on countless postcard views of the republic. The functions of the Guard of the Council are to protect the Captains Regent, and to defend the Great and General Council during its formal sessions. They also provide a ceremonial bodyguard to government officials on festivals of both state and church.

• San Marino has one of the smallest military forces in the world. National defence is, by arrangement, the responsibility of Italy's armed forces. Different branches have varied functions, including: performing ceremonial duties; patrolling borders; mounting guard at government buildings; and assisting police in major criminal cases.

• San Marino, along with Italy, enjoy sports and football (soccer) is its most popular sport. Basketball and volleyball are also popular. The three sports have their own federations, the San Marino Football Federation, the San Marino Basketball Federation and the San Marino Volleyball Federation.

• The San Marino Championship, founded under the auspices of the FSGC (San Marino Football Federation), is the premier footballing competition in San Marino. The fifteen teams that take part in the competition are split into two groups of eight and seven teams. The top three from each section at the end of the regular season progress into a semi-knockout style Championship Playoff. Prior to 2007, the playoff champion earned a spot in the preliminary rounds of the UEFA Cup. In 2007, UEFA granted San Marino a spot in the 1st Qualifying Round of the Champions League. The domestic cup winner also gets a spot in the UEFA Cup qualifying stages. 2007 league champions S.S. Murata was the first team to represent San Marino in the Champions League when they participated in the 2007–08 competition, losing to Finnish team Tampere United. San Marino also has a representative in the Italian system, with San Marino Calcio playing in the fourth tier of Italian football, Serie C2/B. San Marino play their home matches in the Sanmarinese at the Stadio Olimpico of Serravalle.

• The San Marino national football team played its first unofficial international match in 1986, in which it suffered a 0–1 defeat to the Canadian Olympic team. Its first competitive outing was on 14 November 1990, a 0–4 loss against Switzerland in the European Championship qualifier. These defeats set the tone for most of the following outings of the team, who are regarded as easy victories in the qualifying sections of the European Championship and the World Cup.

• They had a brief moment of glory when they faced England in a World Cup qualifier on 17 November 1993 and took the lead through Davide Gualtieri after just 8.3 seconds—still the fastest goal in World Cup competition. Until recently, San Marino's international record was one of almost total failure, with famous draws against Turkey and Latvia being the only partial successes in an international career that contains over seventy defeats. However, on the 29 April 2004, San Marino recorded their first ever win, with a 1–0 victory over Liechtenstein in an international friendly. Andy Selva scored the only goal in a close game that finally gave this tiny republic a footballing victory.

• On 6 September 2006, San Marino suffered their biggest ever defeat, losing 13–0 to world giants Germany in the Stadio Olimpico. It was also the largest goal margin defeat in European Championship Qualifying history. In the same competition on 7 February 2007, they came within eight seconds of the best result in their history. They were level at 1–1 with the Republic of Ireland after ninety-four minutes when Stephen Ireland scored within eight seconds of the final whistle. The goal scored by San Marino was their European Qualifying first goal since losing 4–1 to Austria in 1998.

• A Formula One race, the San Marino Grand Prix, was named after the state, although it did not take place there. It was held at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in the Italian town of Imola, about 100 km northwest of San Marino, along the Via Emilia. The race was etched in infamy after two fatal accidents occurred at the 1994 Grand Prix, when Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger were killed. The race was removed from the calendar in 2007.

• The San Marino and Rimini's Coast motorcycle Grand Prix was reinstated in the schedule in 2007 and takes place at the Misano World Circuit, as does San Marino's round of the World Superbike Championship.

• Manuel Poggiali is one of San Marino's most successful sportsmen. He has won two motorcycle World Championships, in 2001 with 125 cc bikes and in 2003 with 250 cc bikes. Another successful San Marino motorcycle rider is Alex De Angelis, a race winner in the 250 cc class, who is currently racing in the Moto2 class, with the country of San Marino itself being his main sponsor.

• San Marino has a professional baseball team, T & A San Marino, which plays in the top division of Italian professional baseball, the Serie A1. It has participated in the European Cup tournament for the top European professional baseball teams several times, hosting the event in 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2007. It won the championship in 2006 and was a runner-up in 2010.

• The long climb up to the top of San Marino has become a mecca for thousands of recreational road cyclists who train in nearby Misano every spring and autumn.

• San Marino has had little success at the Olympic Games, winning no medals. At the 2004 and 2008 games, three clay target shooters achieved the highest positions. In this sport, San Marino also hosted a competition in the 2009 ISSF World Cup.