With the rise of nation states worldwide, there remains some disagreement on the number of modern city-states that still exist; Singapore, Monaco and Vatican City are the candidates most commonly discussed. Out of these, Singapore is the largest and most populous, and is generally considered to be the last real city-state left in the world, with full sovereignty, international borders, its own currency, a robust military, and substantial international influence in its own right.[2]The Economist refers to the nation as the "world's only fully functioning city-state".[3]
In Cyprus, the Phoenician settlement of Kition (in present-day Larnaca) was a city-state that existed from around 800 BC until the end of the 4th century BC.
Some of the most well-known examples of city-state culture in human history are the ancient Greek city-states and the merchant city-states of Renaissance Italy, which organised themselves as independent centers. The success of regional units coexisting as autonomous actors in loose geographical and cultural unity, as in Italy and Greece, often prevented their amalgamation into larger national units.[citation needed] However, such small political entities often survived only for short periods because they lacked the resources to defend themselves against incursions by larger states (such as Roman conquest of Greece). Thus they inevitably gave way to larger organisations of society, including the empire and the nation-state.[11][need quotation to verify]
In Northern and Central Italy during the medieval and Renaissance periods, city-states — with various amounts of associated land — became the standard form of polity. Some of them, despite being de facto independent states, were formally part of the Holy Roman Empire. The era of the Italian states, in particular from the 11th to the 15th centuries, featured remarkable economic development, trade, manufacture, and mercantile capitalism, together with increasing urbanization, with remarkable influence throughout much of the Mediterranean world and Europe as a whole. During this time, most of the Italian city-states were ruled by one person, such as the Signoria or by a dynasty, such as the House of Gonzaga and the House of Sforza.[12]
Examples of Italian city-states during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance
In the history of Mainland Southeast Asia, aristocratic groups, Buddhist leaders, and others organized settlements into autonomous or semi-autonomous city-states. These were referred to as mueang, and were usually related in a tributary relationship now described as mandala or as over-lapping sovereignty, in which smaller city-states paid tribute to larger ones that paid tribute to still larger ones—until reaching the apex in cities like Ayutthaya, Bagan, Bangkok and others that served as centers of Southeast Asian royalty. The system existed until the 19th century, when colonization by European powers occurred. Siam, a regional power at the time, needed to define their territories for negotiation with the European powers so the Siamese government established a nation-state system, incorporated their tributary cities (Lan Xang, Cambodia and some Malay cities) into their territory and abolished the mueang and the tributary system.[14][need quotation to verify][15][16]
In early Philippine history, the barangay was a complex sociopolitical unit which scholars have historically[17] considered the dominant organizational pattern among the various peoples of the Philippine archipelago.[18] These sociopolitical units were sometimes also referred to as barangay states, but are more properly referred to using the technical term polity.[18][19] Evidence suggests a considerable degree of independence as city states ruled by Datus, Rajahs and Sultans.[20] Early chroniclers[21] record that the name evolved from the term balangay, which refers to a plank boat widely used by various cultures of the Philippine archipelago prior to the arrival of European colonizers.[18]
20th-century cities under international supervision
The Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous city-state that existed between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) and nearly 200 towns in the surrounding areas. It was created on 15 November 1920[22][23] under the terms of Article 100 (Section XI of Part III) of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles after the end of World War I.
After a prolonged period where the city of Fiume enjoyed considerable autonomy under Habsburg rule (see Corpus separatum (Fiume)), The Free State of Fiume was proclaimed as a fully independent free state which existed between 1920 and 1924. Its territory of 28 km2 (11 sq mi) comprised the city of Fiume (now in Croatia and, since the end of World War II, known as Rijeka) and rural areas to its north, with a corridor to its west connecting it to Italy.[citation needed]
The Klaipėda Region or Memel Territory was defined by the Treaty of Versailles in 1920 when it was put under the administration of the Council of Ambassadors. The Memel Territory was to remain under the control of the League of Nations until a future day when the people of the region would be allowed to vote on whether the land would return to Germany or not. The then predominantly ethnic German Memel Territory (Prussian Lithuanians and Memellanders constituted the other ethnic groups), situated between the river and the town of that name, was occupied by Lithuania in the Klaipėda Revolt of 1923.[citation needed]
The international zone within the city of Tangier, in North Africa was approximately 373 km2 (144 sq mi). It was at first under the joint administration of France, Spain, and the United Kingdom, plus later Portugal, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States. The international zone was initially attached to Morocco. It then became a French-Spanish protectorate from 1923 until 29 October 1956, when it was reintegrated into the state of Morocco.[citation needed]
The Free Territory of Trieste was an independent territory situated in Central Europe between northern Italy and Yugoslavia, facing the north part of the Adriatic Sea, under direct responsibility of the United Nations Security Council in the aftermath of World War II, from 1947 to 1954. The UN attempted to make the Free Territory of Trieste into a city state, but it never gained real independence and in 1954 its territory was divided between Italy and Yugoslavia.[citation needed]
West Berlin
In the 20th century West Berlin, though lacking sovereignty, functioned from 1948 until 1990 as a state legally not belonging to any other state, but ruled by the Western Allies. They allowed – notwithstanding their overlordship as occupant powers – its internal organisation as one state simultaneously being a city, officially called Berlin (West). Though West Berlin maintained close ties to the West German Federal Republic, it never legally formed a part of it.[citation needed]
Modern city-states
Vatican City
Vatican City, a city-state well known for being the smallest country in the world
Because he could not travel without effectively acknowledging the authority of the king, Pius IX and his successors each claimed to be a "Prisoner in the Vatican", unable to leave the 0.44 km2 (0.17 sq mi) papal enclave once they had ascended the papal throne.
The Principality of Monaco is a very small independent city-state bordering France. Monaco-Ville (the ancient fortified city) and Monaco's well-known area Monte Carlo are districts of a continuous urban zone, not distinct cities, though they were three separate municipalities (communes) until 1917. The Principality of Monaco and the city of Monaco (each having specific powers) govern the same territory. Though they maintain a small military, largely for ceremonial purposes, they would still have to rely on France for defence in the face of an aggressive power.[citation needed]
Singapore is an island city-state in Southeast Asia bordering Malaysia to the north and Indonesia to the south. 6 million people live and work within 728.3 square kilometres (281.2 sq mi),[26] making Singapore the 2nd-most-densely populated country in the world after Monaco. Singapore was part of the Federation of Malaysia for two years before it was expelled from the federation in 1965, becoming an independent republic, a city and a sovereign country. The Economist refers to the nation as the "world's only fully functioning city-state".[3] In particular, it has its own currency, a large commercial airport, one of the busiest trans-shipment maritime ports in the world, and fully fledged armed forces to safeguard the nation's sovereignty against potential regional aggressors.[3][27][28]
States with similar characteristics
A number of other small states share many of these characteristics, and are sometimes cited as modern city-states. Luxembourg, Djibouti,[29]Qatar,[30][31]Brunei,[6]Kuwait,[6][30][32]Bahrain,[6][30] and Malta[33][34][35] are each politically and economically centered on a single city; in the cases of Luxembourg, Djibouti and Kuwait, this primate city is so dominant as to give its name to the country. These countries are distinct from true city-states such as Singapore in that they comprise both their primate city (such as Luxembourg City) and a number of peripheral cities and towns (such as Esch-sur-Alzette and ten other towns in Luxembourg) with autonomous municipal authorities, and may also include substantial rural areas (such as the sparsely-populated Éislek forest of northern Luxembourg).[citation needed]
Occasionally, microstates with high population densities such as San Marino are cited as city-states, despite lacking a large urban centre.[6][7][36]
Non-sovereign city-states
The city of Hong Kong enjoys a high degree of autonomy, and is sometimes considered a city-state.
Some cities or urban areas, while not sovereign states, may nevertheless be constituent states of a federation, or enjoy a high degree of autonomy. As such, they function as "city-states" within the context of the sovereign state to which they belong. Historian Mogens Herman Hansen describes this aspect of self-government as: "The city-state is a self-governing, but not necessarily independent political unit."[6] A city with more limited self-government may be referred to as an independent city.[citation needed]
Some non-sovereign cities which have a high degree of autonomy, and have been described as city-states, include:
Some cities that are constituent states in a federation, and as such can be accurately described as non-sovereign city-states with a high degree of autonomy, include:
The Sovereign State of the Bektashi Order is a proposed city-state in Albanian capital of Tirana which will be established if approved by the Albanian Parliament and a national referendum.[44] The state, which would be led by the Bektashi Order, is planned to be similar in structure to the Vatican City. The idea has been proposed by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and leader of the Bektashi Order Baba Mondi in the hope that sovereignty would help promote moderate Muslim values instead of radical ideologies. The Sovereign State of the Bektashi Order would be surrounded by the suburbs of eastern Tirana and would be the smallest nation in the world.
^ abcdefghHansen, Mogens. 2000. "Introduction: The Concepts of City-States and City-State Culture." In A Comparative Study of Thirty City-State Cultures, Copenhagen: Copenhagen Polis Centre. Pg. 19
^Kotkin, Joel. 2010. "A New Era for the City-State?" In Forbes.
^Alcock, Antony Evelyn (1998). A short history of Europe: from the Greeks and Romans to the present day. Houndmills: MacMillan. p. 84. ISBN978-0-333-64830-8.
^Holm, Poul, "Viking Dublin and the City-State Concept: Parameters and Significance of the Hiberno-Norse Settlement" (Respondent: Donnchadh Ó Corráin), in Mogens Herman Hansen (ed.), A Comparative Study of Thirty City-State CulturesArchived 21 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Denmark: Special-Trykkeriet Viborg. (University of Copenhagen, Polis Center). 2000. pp. 251–62.
^Sri Aurobindo, "Ideal of Human Unity" included in Social and Political Thought, 1970.
^
Haney, John (1987). Cesare Borgia. World leaders past & present. New York: Chelsea House. p. 74. ISBN9780877545958. Retrieved 4 October 2020. [...] the duchy of Ferrara — a small but strategically important city-state situated between Venice and the Romagna.
^Junker, Laura Lee (1990). "The Organization of Intra-Regional and Long-Distance Trade in Pre-Hispanic Philippine Complex Societies". Asian Perspectives. 29 (2): 167–209.
^Quah, Euston (30 July 2015). Singapore 2065 : leading insights on economy and environment from 50 Singapore icons and beyond. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. ISBN978-9814663397.
^"Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs, Volume 2."Archived 9 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine United States Congress House Committee on Appropriations. Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs. April 15, 1992. Page 239: "The Republic of Djibouti is in effect a city - state, with few natural resources, few trained workers, no permanent streams and very little arable land. Some 75% of the population live in the capital city, the economy of which is focused on the port, airport, railway, the French garrison, and the re-export of consumer goods."
^ abcParker, Geoffrey. 2005. Sovereign City: The City-state Through History Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 219
^Roberts, David. 2014. Qatar: Securing the Global Ambitions of a City-state. London: C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd.
^El-Katiri, Laura, Bassam Fattouh and Paul Segal. 2011 Anatomy of an oil-based welfare state: rent distribution in Kuwait. Kuwait City: Kuwait Programme on Development, Governance and Globalisation in the Gulf States
^"Constitution of Mexico City"(PDF) (in Spanish). Gobierno de la Ciudad de México. Archived(PDF) from the original on 15 July 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
Mogens Herman Hansen (ed.), A comparative study of thirty city-state cultures : an investigation conducted by the Copenhagen Polis Centre, Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, 2000. (Historisk-filosofiske skrifter, 21). ISBN87-7876-177-8.
Mogens Herman Hansen (ed.), A comparative study of six city-state cultures : an investigation, Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, 2002. (Historisk-filosofiske skrifter, 27). ISBN87-7876-316-9.
