Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is a semi-enclave bordered by France to the north, east and west. The principality is home to 38,682 residents, of whom 9,486 are Monégasque nationals; it is recognised as one of the wealthiest and most expensive places in the world. The official language is French; Monégasque, English and Italian are spoken and understood by many residents.
Transport in Monaco is facilitated with road, air (helicopter), rail, and water networks. Rail transport is operated by SNCF with only Monaco Monte Carlo station seeing passenger service and the total length of the line inside the Principality is 1.7 km (1.1 mi). Monaco has five bus routes operated by Compagnie des Autobus de Monaco. There are also two other bus routes which connect Monaco with neighboring regions such as Nice and Menton.
Monte Carlo is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to a larger district, the Monte Carlo Quarter, which besides Monte Carlo/Spélugues also includes the wards of La Rousse/Saint Roman, Larvotto/Bas Moulins and Saint Michel. The permanent population of the ward of Monte Carlo is about 3,500, while that of the quarter is about 15,000. Monaco has four traditional quarters. From west to east they are: Fontvieille, Monaco-Ville, La Condamine, and Monte Carlo.
The French Riviera, known in French as the Côte d'Azur, is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is considered to be the coastal area of the Alpes-Maritimes department, extending from the rock formation Massif de l'Esterel to Menton, at the France–Italy border, although some other sources place the western boundary further west around Saint-Tropez or even Toulon. The coast is entirely within the Alpes-Maritimes, a department within Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France. The Principality of Monaco is a semi-enclave within the region, surrounded on three sides by France and fronting the Mediterranean. The French Riviera contains the seaside resorts of Cap-d'Ail, Beaulieu-sur-Mer, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, Villefranche-sur-Mer, Antibes, Juan-les-Pins, Cannes, and Theoule-sur-Mer.
The Opéra de Monte-Carlo is an opera house which is part of the Monte Carlo Casino located in the Principality of Monaco.
Fontvieille is the southernmost ward in the Principality of Monaco. It was developed by Italian engineer Gianfranco Gilardini and designed by architect Manfredi Nicoletti, between the 1970s and the 1990s.
The Monte Carlo Casino, officially named Casino de Monte-Carlo, is a gambling and entertainment complex located in Monaco. It includes a casino, the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, and the office of Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo.
Camille Blanc, was a French municipal leader, with many interests in Monaco. From 1904 to 1925, he was founding mayor of Beausoleil, a town adjacent to Monte Carlo, which had previously formed part of La Turbie and had been known as Monte-Carlo-Supérieur.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Monaco:
The Société des Bains de Mer, officially the Société Anonyme des Bains de Mer et du Cercle des Etrangers à Monaco, is a publicly traded company registered in the Principality of Monaco. SBM owns and manages the Monte Carlo Casino, the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, and the Hôtel de Paris in Monte Carlo.
The Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo is a luxury hotel that is located at Place du Casino in Monte Carlo, Monaco. It was opened in 1864 as part of the development of Monaco by the Société des Bains de Mer. In March 2019, the hotel reopened after undergoing a $280 million renovation, which took more than four years to complete.
François Blanc, nicknamed "The Magician of Homburg" and "The Magician of Monte Carlo", was a French entrepreneur and operator of casinos, including the Monte Carlo Casino in Monaco. His daughter, Marie-Félix, married Prince Roland Bonaparte.
The Hôtel Hermitage Monte-Carlo is a palace style Belle Époque in the heart of Monaco on the French Riviera. It belongs to the Société des bains de mer de Monaco. It was built in 1890 and 1896 the architect Nicolas Marquet with the participation of Gustave Eiffel.
Matéo Mornar is a French sculptor of contemporary art. He lives and works in the Principality of Monaco.
A Look at Monaco was a CBS television special and documentary broadcast in the United States on 17 February 1963. The film featured a tour of the Principality of Monaco conducted by the former American actress Grace Kelly, who had become the Princess of Monaco following her 1956 marriage to Prince Rainier III. The couple's children, Princess Caroline and Prince Albert, were also featured in the film.
The Monte Carlo Casino was inaugurated in 1863. Since then the bank has been broken on a number of occasions. The expression "breaking the bank" is used when a gambler wins more money than the reserve held at that particular table in the casino. At the start of each day, every table was funded with a cash reserve of 100,000 francs – known as "the bank". If this reserve was insufficient to pay the winnings, play at that table was suspended while extra funds were brought out from the casino's vaults.
The 1922 Women's Olympiad was the second international women's sports event, a 7-day multi-sport event organised by Alice Milliat and held on 15– April 23 1922 in Monte Carlo at the International Sporting Club of Monaco. The tournament was formally called "Deuxiéme Meeting International d'Éducation Physique Féminine". It was also the second of three Women's Olympiads or "Monte Carlo Games" held annually at the venue in Monaco, and the second forerunner of the quadrennial Women's World Games, organised in 1922–34 by the International Women's Sports Federation founded by Milliat in late 1921.
Monaco is known for its wide range of architecture for a small country. The geography of Monaco, which consists of sharp hills and narrow coastline, influences the Monacan architecture. The narrow roads have led to architectural construction being built into the hills in limited amounts of space. This limited space has, more recently, the issue of construction in Monaco has created social disruption.
The Café de Paris is a coffeehouse and restaurant in the Belle Époque style of the 1900s, located in Monte Carlo and next to the Casino de Monte-Carlo, on the Place du Casino, facing the Hôtel de Paris. It is owned and managed by the Société des bains de mer de Monaco.
