City-state
A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory.[1] They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as Rome, Carthage, Athens and Sparta and the Italian city-states during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, such as Florence, Venice, Genoa and Milan.
For administrative divisions that cover only cities, see Independent city.
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]
Several non-sovereign cities enjoy a high degree of autonomy and are often confused for city-states. Hong Kong, Macau,[4][5] and members of the United Arab Emirates—most notably Dubai and Abu Dhabi—are often cited as such.[6][7][8]
States with similar characteristics[edit]
A number of other small states share many of these characteristics, and are sometimes cited as modern city-states. Luxembourg, Djibouti,[27] Qatar,[28][29] Brunei,[6] Kuwait,[6][28][30] Bahrain,[6][28] and Malta[31][32][33] 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) with autonomous municipal authorities, and may also include substantial rural areas (such as the sparsely-populated Éislek forest of northern Luxembourg).
Occasionally, microstates with high population densities such as San Marino are cited as city-states, despite lacking a large urban centre.[6][7][34]
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.
Some non-sovereign cities which have a high degree of autonomy which 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:
