Geography
Monaco is a sovereign city state, with 5 Quartiers, 10 Wards, located on the French Riviera in Western Europe. Bordered by France on three sides, with one side bordering the Mediterranean Sea; its center is about 16 km (9.9 mi) from Italy, and is only 13 km (8.1 mi) south east of Nice, France. Its area is 1.98 km2 (0.76 sq mi) or 198 ha (490 acres), and a population of 36,371, making Monaco the second smallest and the most densely populated country in the world. Having a land border of only 4.4 km (2.7 mi), a coastline of 4.1 km (2.5 mi), a maritime claim that extends 22.2 kilometres (13.8 mi), and a width that varies between 1.7 km (1.1 mi), and 349 meters (382 yards), Monaco is unique.
The highest point in the country is a narrow pathway named Chemin des Révoires on the slopes of Mont Agel, in the Les Révoires district, it is 161 meters (528 feet) above sea level. While the lowest point in the country is the Mediterranean Sea, at sea level. Saint-Jean is the longest flowing body of water, around 0.19 km (0.12 miles) in length, and Fontvieille is the largest lake, approximately 0.5 ha (1.24 acres) in size. Monaco's most populated Quartier is Monte Carlo, and the most populated Ward is Larvotto/Bas Moulins. After a recent expansion of Port Hercules, Monaco's total area is 2.05 km2 (0.79 sq mi) or 205 ha (506 acres), with new plans to extend the district of Fontvieille, with land reclaimed from the Mediterranean Sea. There are two ports in Monaco, Hercules and Fontvieille, as well the neighboring French port of Cap d'Ail. Monaco's only natural resource is fishing, with almost the entire country being an urban area, Monaco lacks any sort of commercial agriculture industry.
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Famous quotes containing the word geography:
“The totality of our so-called knowledge or beliefs, from the most casual matters of geography and history to the profoundest laws of atomic physics or even of pure mathematics and logic, is a man-made fabric which impinges on experience only along the edges. Or, to change the figure, total science is like a field of force whose boundary conditions are experience.”
—Willard Van Orman Quine (b. 1908)
“At present cats have more purchasing power and influence than the poor of this planet. Accidents of geography and colonial history should no longer determine who gets the fish.”
—Derek Wall (b. 1965)
“Ktaadn, near which we were to pass the next day, is said to mean “Highest Land.” So much geography is there in their names.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)