A country within a country within the Republic of South Africa, at the southern tip of the African continent, is surrounded by a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the Kingdom of Lesotho. The Kingdom of Lesotho is one of the least developed countries in the world, it once was

A country within a country

At the southern tip of the African continent, the Republic of South Africa is surrounded by a member of the Commonwealth, the Kingdom of Lesotho.

The Kingdom of Lesotho is one of the least developed countries in the world, a former British colony, and became a member of the British Commonwealth on October 4, 1966. A constitutional monarchy is introduced.

Lesotho covers an area of 30,344 square kilometers and has a population of 268,000 in Maseru, the capital

On April 30, 1983, China and the Kingdom of Lesotho established diplomatic relations.

On the Apennine Peninsula in southern Europe, there is an Italian state within a state, San Marino.

San Marino is steeped in history. With an area of 61.2 square kilometers, the capital city of San Marino has a population of more than 30,000 Catholics

On May 4, 1971, China and the Republic of San Marino established each other's consulates, which were upgraded to diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level on July 5, 1991.

There is also a country within the city in the Italian capital, Rome, which is the seat of the Vatican Holy See, a theocratic sovereign state with religion as the monarch.

The Vatican covers an area of 0.44 square kilometers with a permanent population of more than 800 people, most of whom are clergy, and is the smallest and least populous country in the world, with the capital, Vatican City.

China and the Vatican currently have no diplomatic relations.