San Marino is a 61-square-kilometer enclave within Italy, sitting on and around Mount Titano in the Apennines. It observes Central European Time: UTC+1 in winter, UTC+2 during daylight saving. The IANA identifier is Europe/San_Marino.

Being entirely surrounded by Italy, San Marino follows Italian time perfectly. There would be no practical alternative.

The world’s oldest republic

San Marino claims to be the world’s oldest republic, founded on September 3, 301 CE, by a Christian stonemason named Marinus who fled religious persecution on the island of Rab (in modern-day Croatia) and established a small community on Monte Titano. Marinus became Saint Marinus, the patron saint of the country named after him.

The republic has survived for over 1,700 years in its current form, largely by being too small and too poor to be worth conquering. When Napoleon swept through the Italian peninsula in 1797, he was reportedly charmed by San Marino’s antiquity and guaranteed its independence. When Italy unified in the 19th century, San Marino negotiated treaties that kept it outside the new Italian state.

During World War II, San Marino remained neutral and provided refuge to an estimated 100,000 Italian refugees.

Tiny but real

San Marino has all the apparatus of a state. It has two heads of government called Captains Regent, who serve simultaneously for six months, an arrangement designed by the founders to prevent tyranny through shared and time-limited power. When their term ends, they face a three-day period during which any citizen can bring a grievance against them for actions taken while in office before they become eligible for reelection.

The country has a population of about 34,000. It has a football team that plays in UEFA qualifying. It has its own stamps, which are popular with collectors.

It is surrounded by a country whose timezone it necessarily shares.

For developers

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