Monaco, at just over 2 square kilometres, is the second-smallest country in the world after Vatican City, and its modern wealth traces directly back to a single 19th-century decision, facing financial collapse after losing territory and tax revenue, the ruling Grimaldi family opened the Monte Carlo Casino in 1863, a gamble, in the most literal sense, that transformed the principality’s fortunes so completely that Monaco abolished income tax for residents entirely in 1869, funded almost solely by casino revenue.

That tax-free status, still in effect today alongside broader low-tax policies, has made Monaco one of the wealthiest nations per capita in the world, and one of the most densely populated, its lack of available land forcing the principality to expand not outward but upward and, increasingly, into the sea itself through ambitious land reclamation projects.

A Palace That Survived Occupation and a Princess Who Became a Fairy Tale

Monaco’s royal family, the Grimaldis, have ruled continuously since 1297, when Francois Grimaldi famously seized the Rock of Monaco’s fortress disguised as a Franciscan monk, a founding story so improbable it remains celebrated on the principality’s own coat of arms centuries later. American actress Grace Kelly’s 1956 marriage to Prince Rainier III captured global attention and cemented Monaco’s glamorous modern image, a genuine Hollywood-to-royalty story that shaped much of the world’s perception of the principality for decades afterward.

The Monaco Grand Prix, first held in 1929, remains one of the most prestigious races in Formula One, run through the principality’s actual public streets rather than a purpose-built circuit, drivers navigating tight corners between the same buildings residents pass every day.

Painting Yachts Against a Cliffside Skyline

Monaco’s dense, luxurious skyline rising steeply above its harbour gives a watercolourist striking vertical scale and Mediterranean light to work with. We’ve captured that glamour in our own Monaco Watercolor Print, painted first by hand and printed to order on archival paper, a small piece of the French Riviera for a wall at home.

Saved from bankruptcy by a casino and ruled by the same family for over 700 years, Monaco remains proof that a country’s size has very little bearing on how much history it can pack into it.