Monaco, Monte Carlo
Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco (French: Principauté de Monaco; Monégasque: Principatu de Múnegu; Italian: Principato di Monaco; Occitan: Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city state on the Côte d'Azur (French Riviera). It is surrounded on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about 16 km (9.9 mi) from Italy. Its area is 1.98 km2 (0.76 sq mi) with a population of 35,986 as of 2011. Monaco boasts the world's highest GDP nominal per capita at $215,163 and is the most densely populated country in the world. Monaco also has the world's highest life expectancy at almost 90 years, and the lowest unemployment rate.
Monaco is a principality governed under a form of constitutional monarchy, with Prince Albert II as head of state. The House of Grimaldi has ruled Monaco since 1297, and the state's sovereignty was officially recognized by the Franco-Monegasque Treaty of 1861. Despite Monaco being independent and pursuing its own foreign policy course, its national defence is the responsibility of France.
Sport and entertainment
Formula One
Formation lap for the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix
Since 1955, the Monaco Grand Prix has been held annually in the streets of Monaco. It is widely considered to be one of the most prestigious automobile races in the world. The erection of the Circuit de Monaco takes six weeks to complete, and the removal after the race another three weeks. The circuit has many elevation changes and tight corners, along with a tunnel. This together with being incredibly narrow and tight makes it perhaps the most demanding Formula One track. Only two drivers have ever crashed into the harbour, the most famous being Alberto Ascari in the 1955 Monaco Grand Prix, just four days before losing his life at Monza. The other was Paul Hawkins, during the 1965 Monaco Grand Prix.
Monte Carlo Rally
The Monte Carlo Rally has been held since 1911, having originally been held at the behest of Prince Albert I and is, like the principality's Grand Prix, organised by the Automobile Club de Monaco. It has long been considered to be one of the toughest and most prestigious events in rallying and from 1973 to 2008 was the opening round of the World Rally Championship. Since 2009, the rally has served as the opening round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, having most recently been run on the 19th-22 January 2011 in celebration of the event's centenary.
Football
Monaco hosts two major football teams in the principality; men's football club AS Monaco FC and women's football club OS Monaco. AS Monaco plays at the Stade Louis II and competes in the Ligue 2, the second division of French football. The club is historically one of the most successful clubs in France, however suffered relegation in the 2010–11 season. Because of the popular appeal of living in Monaco and the lack of income tax, many international stars have played for the club, such as Marcelo Gallardo, Jürgen Klinsmann, Oliver Bierhoff, George Weah, John Collins, Fernando Morientes, Thierry Henry, Fabien Barthez, Rafael Márquez, Javier Saviola, David Trezeguet, John Arne Riise, Patrice Evra, Shabani Nonda, Emmanuel Adebayor, Eiður Guðjohnsen, Jan Koller, Victor Ikpeba, Park Chu-Young and Mahamadou Diarra.
The club reached the 2004 UEFA Champions League Final, led by the likes of Dado Pršo, Fernando Morientes, Akis Zikos, and Ludovic Giuly, losing 3–0 to Portuguese team F.C. Porto. The Stade Louis II also plays host to the annual UEFA Super Cup, which is played between the winners of the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League. The women's team, OS Monaco, competes in the women's French football league system. The club currently plays in the local regional league deep down in the league system, however once played in the Division 1 Féminine in the 1994–95 season, but were quickly relegated. Current French women's international goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi had a short stint at the club before going to the Clairefontaine academy.
Rugby
Monaco's national rugby team, as of March 2010, is 91st in the International Rugby Board rankings.
Other sports
The Monte-Carlo Masters is currently held annually in neighbouring Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, as a professional tournament for men as part of tennis' ATP Masters Series. The tournament has been held since 1897. Golf's Monte Carlo Open was also held at the Monte Carlo Golf Club at Mont Agel in France between 1984 and 1992. Monaco has also competed in the Olympic Games, although, as of 2008, no athlete from Monaco has ever won an Olympic medal.
In 2009, the Tour de France, the world's premier bicycle race, started from Monaco with a 15 km closed-circuit individual time trial starting and finishing there on the first day (4 July) and the 182 km second leg starting there on the following day and ending in Brignoles, France.
Monaco also stage part of the Global Champions Tour (International Show-jumping). Acknowledged as the most glamorous of the series, Monaco will be hosting the world's most celebrated riders, including Monaco's own Charlotte Casiraghi, in a setting facing out over the world's most beautiful yachts, and framed by the Port Hercule and Prince's palace. In 2009, the Monaco stage of the Global Champions tour took place between 25 – 27 June.
The Monaco Marathon is the only marathon in the world to pass through three separate countries, those of Monaco, France and Italy. The 2010 event took place on 21 March. Runners complete the race by returning to the Stade Louis II.
The Monaco Ironman 70.3 triathlon race is an annual event with over 1000 athletes competing and attracts top professional athletes from around the world. The race includes a 1.9 km swim, 90 km bike ride and 21.1 km run.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.
Post new comment