Cre8tive Play: Travel the World

This is the 13th week in my Travel the World personal challenge. Each week I am randomly choosing one country (there are 195 countries in the world) and doing a little research on that country. I then select one tidbit of information about the country as inspiration for the card I make.

This week's country is...

Monaco

Located in Europe, Monaco, is surrounded by France with the exception of the Mediterranean Sea to its east.

Monaco has a total population upward of 30,645 (July 2016 est.) and a total land area of 2.02 sq. km. This makes it the most densely populated and second smallest country in the world. Wondering which is the world’s smallest country? It’s Vatican City.

Monaco is a city state. It does not have a separate capital. This is mainly due to its small size.

At an average walking pace, you can walk across the width of the country from one side to the other in 56 minutes.

Almost 30% of the population of Monaco was a millionaire in 2014.

Monaco does not have airports though it has heliports. One can also say that Monaco is not large enough to have airports. During the busy season, the heliports receive helicopters at an interval of every 20 minutes.

Monaco is simply too small to have its own airport since an airport would take up a large portion of its total size.

Monaco is rated as the most expensive city in terms of real estate prices. A 15-square meter of luxury property can be bought with $1 million USD.

The country sees more than 1.5 million visitors each year

The Oceanographic Museum (built in 1910) is one of Monaco's most famous tourist attractions. It is one of the largest oceanographic museums in the world. It displays many aquarium specimens. Its advanced laboratories are used by the scientist from all over the world.

Monaco does not have its own major defense force. France is responsible for the country’s defense.

The crime rate in Monaco is very low. This could mainly be because Monaco has more policemen per person than any other country.

The Monaco Grand Prix is one of the most famous races in the world. Drivers take to the streets of Monaco, tackling its tight corners, narrow streets and famous tunnel.

The economy of this tiny nation is supported by the revenue generated from radio, television, and the casino and state monopolies on stamps and tobacco.

The country's population more than doubles as more than 50,000 workers arrive daily from France and Italy.

Monaco has a zero income tax, which is probably the fact the country is most known for.

Monaco is famous for its casino in Monte Carlo (Casino de Monte-Carlo opened in 1863). Natives of Monaco are not allowed to gamble or even visit the casino.

The law that says the inhabitants of Monaco aren't allowed to gamble or visit the Casino was imposed by the country's government because they didn't want its citizens to gamble away their money.

The unemployment rate of Monaco is 2% (as of 2012) but many claim it is really a zero-unemployment rate, due to the fact that many of its inhabitants just don't need to work if they don't want to, and therefore might make the choice of not working.

The only natural resource Monaco has are fishes.

Monaco has the highest life expectancy (89.5 years) in the world.

I decided to let this Monaco fact be the inspiration for this week's card... Monaco benefits from a mild and pleasant Mediterranean climate and averages about 300 days of sunshine a year.