Monaco

Monaco, a small European principality lying between the French Alpes-Maritimes and the Mediterranean; and formerly containing 53 square miles, but now much contracted, as in 1861 the reigning prince sold Mentone and Roccabruna to France for £160,000. So the principality now consists only of the towns of Monaco and Monte Carlo, with a surrounding district of eight square miles. Monaco, the capital, is on a peninsula, and is a celebrated watering-place, prettily situated amid olive, orange, and lemon groves. The exports are olive-oil, lemons, oranges, perfumes, liqueurs, and pottery. There is an army of 126 men. The Emperor Otho I. in the 10th century gave Monaco to the Grimaldi family, and a descendant of this family still reigns.