Seborga is a small town in the region of Liguria in northwest Italy, near the French border. Administratively, it is a comune of the Italian province of Imperia. The main economic activities are horticulture and tourism.
The town is notable for its claim of independence from Italy as the sovereign Principality of Seborga. You see, in the year 954, Seborga’s territory was ceded by the counts of Ventimiglia to the Benedictine monks of Lérins, and in 1079 its abbots were made Princes of the Holy Roman Empire, temporally in charge of the principality of Seborga.
In 1729 Seborga was annexed to the Savoy dynasty’s Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, except no written act or international treaty recorded the annexation at the time. Seborga’s existence has since been omitted from a succession of treaties, including Italy’s Act of Unification of 1861.
So its residents are claiming that they live in a sovereign state. It has never been recognized by any state or admitted to an international organization. It’s good for tourism, and they also get to sell their own minted gold coin, the Luigino.
