A
city-state is an independent country whose territory consists of a city which is not administered as part of another
local government.
Whereas the nation-states rely on a common heritage, be it linguistic, historical, economic, etc., the city-state relies on the common interest in the function of the urban center. The urban center and its activity supplies the livelihoods of all urbanites inhabiting the city-state.
Historical city-states
Examples include the city-states of
ancient Greece (the
poleis such as
Athens,
Sparta,
Thebes, and
Corinth), the
Phoenician cities of
Canaan (such as
Tyre and
Sidon), the
Sumerian cities of
Mesopotamia (such as
Babylon and
Ur), the
Mayans of pre-Columbian
Mesoamerica (including
sites such as
Chichen Itza and
El Mirador), the
central Asian cities along the
Silk Road (which includes
Samarkand and
Bukhara), and the
city-states of Italy (especially
Florence,
Genoa,
Siena and
Venice) and
Croatian city-state of
Ragusa (Dubrovnik).
Within the transalpine part of the
Holy Roman Empire the
Free Imperial Cities enjoyed a considerable autonomy, buttressed legally by the
Lübeck law which was emulated by many other cities. Some cities - though also members of different
confederacies at that time - officially became sovereign city-states in the
19th century - such as the
Canton of Basel City (1833-1848), the
Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (1806-1811 and again 1813-1871), the
Free City of Frankfurt upon Main (1815-1866), the
Canton of Geneva (1813-1848), the
Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (1806-1811 and again 1814-1871) and the
Free and Hanseatic City of Lübeck (1806-1811 and again 1813-1871). Another city-state, though lacking sovereignty, was
West Berlin (1948-1990), being a state legally not belonging to any other state, but ruled by the
Western Allies. They allowed - not withstanding their overlordship as occupant powers - its internal organisation as one state simultaneously being a city, officially called Berlin (West). Though West Berlin held close ties to the West German
Federal Republic of Germany, it was legally never part of it. A number of the afore-mentioned city-states - though partly with altered borders - continue to exist as city-states within today's
Federal Republic of Germany and today's
Swiss Confederation (see below: 'Cities that are component states of federations').
Among the most well-known periods of city-state culture in human history include ancient Greek city-states, and the merchant city-states of
Renaissance Italy, who organised themselves in small independent centres. The success of small regional units coexisting as
autonomous actors in loose geographical and cultural unity, as in
Italy or
Greece, often prevented their
amalgamation into larger national units. However, such small political entities often survived only for short periods because they lacked the resources to defend themselves against incursions by larger states. Thus they inevitably gave way to larger organisations of society, including the
empire and the
nation-state.
Contemporary city-states
Today there are only a handful of cities that exercise authority akin to a sub-regional state, and even fewer that are
sovereign states in their own right.
Sovereign city-states
Monaco
The
Principality of Monaco is an independent city-state.
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. On 28 June 1919, a
treaty was signed providing for limited French protection over Monaco. The treaty, part of the
Treaty of Versailles, established that
Monegasque policy would be aligned with French political, military, and economic interests. Only in 1993 did Monaco become a member of the
United Nations, with full voting rights. In 2002, a new treaty between France and Monaco clarifies that if there are no heirs to carry on the
dynasty, the
principality will remain an independent nation rather than revert to France (which were the terms of the previous arrangement). Monaco's military defence, however, is still the responsibility of France. Monaco did not receive its first foreign
ambassador, the French ambassador, until 16 February 2006.
Singapore
Singapore is an island city-state in
Southeast Asia. About 4.8 million people live and work within , making Singapore the
3rd-most-densely populated country in the world. The entire island functions as a single
metropolitan area. The
city centre in the south of the island is surrounded by
satellite towns,
parks,
reservoirs and
industrial estates, which are connected to the centre and each other by a dense network of
roads,
expressways and
metro railway lines. Singapore has a highly centralised,
unitary government with a
unicameral legislature. While there are
town councils and
mayors in Singapore, these are essentially
property managers in charge of the maintenance of
public housing within their
constituency boundaries. They do not represent
local authorities with any
legislative or
executive autonomy from the national government.
Prior to the 19th century, Singapore was a minor part of various regional empires, including
Srivijaya,
Majapahit,
Malacca and
Johor. From 1826 to the
Battle of Singapore in 1942, Singapore was the
capital of the
Straits Settlements, a British colony that included the Settlements of
Malacca and
Penang along the
Straits of Malacca. After the
Second World War, Singapore was hived off as a separate colony while the other two Settlements joined the
Malay States to form the
Federation of Malaya. In 1963, Singapore merged with Malaya,
Sabah and
Sarawak to form
Malaysia. However, because of a number of
problems, Singapore left the federation in 1965, becoming an independent
republic.
Since 1965, Singapore rapidly industrialised and modernised, becoming one of the four "
Asian Tigers". In addition to the substantial
absolute and
per-capita size of its
economy, Singapore maintains a significant
armed forces. It ranks highly in terms of
defence spending and
troop size.
Despite its small land area, Singapore has a population, economy and armed forces that place it in a similar league to small, but full-fledged nations like
New Zealand,
Ireland,
Israel and the
Nordic countries (i.e.,
Denmark,
Finland,
Iceland,
Norway and
Sweden), rather than semi-dependent
microstates. Singapore also maintains a
diplomatic corps and has memberships in international organizations such as the United Nations, the
Commonwealth of Nations and the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Singapore places emphasis on self-sufficiency in basic needs, like water. The government also stockpiles other key resources, such as sand and oil. In this way, Singapore tries to avoid overdependence economically, politically or militarily on larger entities. As such, Singapore may represent the most-complete contemporary example of a city-state, meeting the full definitions of both a
city and a fully
sovereign state.
Vatican City
Until 1870, the city of
Rome had been controlled by the
pope as part of his "
papal states". When King
Victor Emmanuel II annexed the city in 1870,
Pope Pius IX refused to recognize the newly formed
Kingdom of Italy. Because he could not travel through a place that he did not admit existed, Pius IX and his successors each claimed to be a "
Prisoner in the Vatican", unable to leave the 0.44 km² (0.17-square mile) papal
enclave once they had ascended the
papal thrones.
The
impasse was resolved in 1929 by the
Lateran Treaties negotiated by the Italian
dictator Benito Mussolini between King
Victor Emmanuel III and
Pope Pius XI. Under this treaty, the Vatican was recognized as an independent state, with the pope as its head. The
Vatican City State has its own
citizenship,
diplomatic corps,
flag, and
postage stamps. With a population of less than 1,000, it is by far the smallest sovereign country in the world, and widely recognized internationally as such.
Others
Countries that have a very high proportion of their population within a single city, such as
Kuwait and
Djibouti, are sometimes referred to as virtual or near city-states, especially when they are relatively small in total land area; however, city-states are not small nation-states. Likewise, cities with their own quasi-sovereign states in larger nations or federations, like
Dubai in the
United Arab Emirates, do not technically qualify as city-states.
The United Nations lists seven small jurisdictions as having exclusively urban populations. Apart from Monaco and Singapore, the list contains
Nauru and four British overseas territories:
Anguilla,
Bermuda, the
Cayman Islands and
Gibraltar.
Non-sovereign city-states
Some cities or urban areas, while not sovereign states, may nevertheless enjoy such a high degree of autonomy that they function as "city-states" within the context of the sovereign state that they belong to.
Cities that are component states of federations
Some cities or metropolitan areas are component states of
federations. Examples include:
- Argentina - Buenos Aires (formally known in English as the "Autonomous City of Buenos Aires" (coterminous with the Argentine Federal Capital))
Federally-administered cities
A
federal country may also have one or more cities that are federally administered:
Washington, D.C.
Not being part of any U.S. state,
Washington, D.C.'s government operates under authority derived from the
U.S. federal government. The city (generally referred to as "the District") is run by an elected mayor and a
city council. The council is composed of 13 members: one elected from each of the eight
wards and five members, including the
chairman, elected
at large. The council conducts its work through
standing committees and special committees established as needed. District schools are administered by a
chancellor, who is appointed by the mayor; in addition, a
superintendent of education and a
board of education are responsible for setting some educational policies. There are 37 elected
Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners that provide the most direct access for residents to their local government. The commissioners are elected by small neighborhood districts, and their suggestions are given "great weight" by the city council and city agencies. However, the
U.S. Congress has the ultimate
plenary power over the District. It has the right to review and overrule laws created locally and has often done so. The
Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which grants to states all rights not belonging to the federal government, does not apply to the District. Residents of the District do not have voting representation in the U.S. Congress.
Autonomous cities in unitary states
In nations without a federal administrative structure, cities may sometimes enjoy a greater degree of
autonomy, e.g.:
Hong Kong and Macau
Because of
Hong Kong's and
Macau's long histories as colonies of the
British and
Portuguese empires, respectively, and the unique "
one-country, two-systems" policy, the two former city-states are given a high degree of autonomy even after being re-annexed into the
People's Republic of China. While geographically they are cities, having
legal systems,
police forces,
monetary systems,
customs policy,
immigration policy that are independent from
China, makes their status almost equivalent to independent nations.
Gaza
The
Gaza Strip has become effectively a city state under its de-facto Hamas government.
