Countries inside another country.
There are exactly three countries in the world completely surrounded by one other country. Two are inside Italy, one is inside South Africa, and each survived for a completely different reason.
The short version, from my channel. Watch it on YouTube.
Vatican City: what was left of an empire
For more than a thousand years the Popes ruled the Papal States, a large territory across central Italy. As Italy unified in the 19th century, it took them piece by piece, and in September 1870 Italian troops captured Rome itself. The Pope refused to accept it and considered himself a prisoner in the Vatican for almost sixty years.
The standoff ended with the Lateran Treaty, signed on 11 February 1929 by the Holy See and Mussolini's government. Italy recognised Vatican City, less than half a square kilometre in the middle of Rome, as an independent state. It is the smallest country in the world.
San Marino: a republic on a mountain
According to tradition, San Marino was founded in 301 AD by Marinus, a Christian stonemason who took refuge on Monte Titano. The community on the mountain governed itself and stayed out of the way of the powers around it.
It survived by being small, defensible and careful: when Italy was unified in the 19th century, San Marino was left alone, partly because it had sheltered people fleeing the fighting. It claims to be the oldest surviving republic in the world.
Lesotho: a kingdom in the mountains
In the 1820s southern Africa was torn by wars and upheaval. A leader named Moshoeshoe gathered refugees and built a stronghold on the flat-topped mountain of Thaba Bosiu, which enemies repeatedly failed to take. That was the beginning of the Basotho nation.
Under pressure from Boer settlers, Moshoeshoe asked Britain for protection, and in 1868 his land became the British protectorate of Basutoland. That kept it separate when South Africa was formed. Basutoland became independent as Lesotho on 4 October 1966, a mountain kingdom entirely surrounded by South Africa.
- 301 AD Traditional founding of San Marino
- 1820s Moshoeshoe founds his stronghold at Thaba Bosiu
- 1868 Basutoland becomes a British protectorate
- 1870 Italy captures Rome
- 11 February 1929 Lateran Treaty creates Vatican City
- 4 October 1966 Lesotho becomes independent
Sources
- Lateran Treaty, Wikipedia
- Capture of Rome, Wikipedia
- San Marino, Wikipedia
- Moshoeshoe I, Wikipedia
- Lesotho, Wikipedia