Like many people my age, I have a grandfather who came to America through Ellis Island in search of a better life. Only he didn’t come from a big country like Italy, Ireland, or Russia as many other immigrants did. He traveled from a small country known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino.
I am a citizen of this tiny country, which is entirely surrounded by Italy, thanks to San Marino’s relaxed citizenship laws. In San Marino, citizenship is passed down from generation to generation no matter where you are born.
While being a citizen of such a small country has its perks, most people have no idea what country I am talking about when I bring it up in conversation. I’m sure 90 percent of you are scratching your heads right now. Usually the only people who do know about San Marino are students in the School of Foreign Service, and to them, it is often that stupid country that caused them to fail their Map of the Modern World test.
But San Marino is actually one of the world’s hidden gems. San Marino is the oldest surviving sovereign state in the world. Its founding dates back to the year 301 C.E. Written in 1600, San Marino’s constitution is the longest standing in the world. The country is only 24 square miles in size, about a third of the size of Washington, D.C. Its citizens aren’t cramped though, as there are only approximately 30,000 people residing in the European microstate. An additional 30,000 people, myself included, are citizens but don’t live within the republic’s borders. That is a major reason why it is so easy to retain citizenship—given San Marino’s population size, the government isn’t exactly in the position to reject people.
How could a country so small hold on to its independence for hundreds of years? It wasn’t easy, and it definitely took a fair amount of luck. The closest call came during Napoleon’s conquest. When the French leader reached San Marino, his respect for the independent state trumped his ambition. Not only did he leave it in peace, he offered to form an alliance and give the state future assistance if necessary. So the republic that stood for so long continued to be prosperous. As a sign of their pride, the Three Towers of San Marino located at the three peaks of Monte Titano still light up every night.
Not only is the country’s history unique, its government is one-of-a-kind as well. San Marino is the only country in the world that has two heads of state—the Capitani Reggenti, or Captains Regent (San Marino’s native language is Italian, and its culture mimics that of its larger neighbor). With new Captains Regent elected every six months, though, the position is a mere figurehead—the 60-person Grand Council is primarily responsible for making and enacting laws.
Up until this past year, I didn’t know much about this part of my heritage. I had visited San Marino a few times to reconnect with family, but I had never learned about its history—Hell will freeze over before San Marino makes its way into any Georgetown curriculum. I finally learned more about San Marino this summer on a three-week trip sponsored by the government. I learned a lot on the trip, but the most significant experience for me was actually meeting other citizens of San Marino from the United States. People typically know others who share their nationality, but when a country only has around 60,000 citizens worldwide, it is pretty rare to find someone else who shares that common bond.
After coming back from my trip, I realized how special my situation was. Although it’s nice to share your national heritage with others, I enjoy being different—even if that necessitates many five-minute conversations to explain what San Marino is.
“You’re from where? Where is that? Isn’t San Marino a town in California?”
“No. It’s a small landlocked country in Italy…but it’s not part of Italy.” Then I get tired of explaining.
Once in a while my friends will compare me to Anne Hathaway in The Princess Diaries, but I don’t mind. Unfortunately San Marino has no kings or queens, so my dream of being a prince is squashed. However, my cousin was a Captain Regent 10 years ago, so if politics don’t work out for me in America, I know I can always be President somewhere else. It seems a little easier to win over 30,000 people than 350 million.
Although San Marino doesn’t show up on most maps and its land mass is less than one percent of Rhode Island’s, I couldn’t be more proud of where I come from. I may not add to the diversity statistics here at Georgetown, but I think I bring something to the table in terms of diversity that all the other Italian Roman Catholics don’t.
