The countries listed in this list are like a smaller nesting doll, they are inside another country, which is larger. How did this happen and what are people doing there?
Lesotho
It is located inside South Africa. Due to the fact that the Kingdom is located inside the Drakensberg Mountains, it has cold summers, and in winter, the temperature drops to 17 degrees Celsius. The inhabitants of Lesotho have mastered natural resources, but it cannot be said that it has everything for a comfortable life: poverty, AIDS and corruption reign in the kingdom, it is completely dependent on South Africa and foreign investments.
How is it that the Kingdom of Lesotho is surrounded by the Republic of South Africa? It all started in 1880 during the Basotho-Cape War. Then the British Cape Colony (it would later be called South Africa) wanted the Basut tribes to obey them, but they fought back. The war lasted a long time, it was expensive, and the Cape Colony abandoned this idea - it said that they would not touch the Basuts, and they, in turn, would take an oath.
Later, South Africa seceded from Britain and completely abandoned the occupation of the Kingdom of Lesotho.
Vatican
One of the most famous enclave countries. Only 764 people live on its territory. The Vatican is part of the Papal States, which controlled Italy for more than 12 years.
There were several other small countries next to Italy that united in 1861, but Pius IX was against this alignment and "barricaded" himself on Vatican Hill. For a long time, until 1929, the Holy See considered itself a "prisoner", but in fact they were free. Later, Benito Mussolini returned statehood to the Vatican, although it still has a formal character.
San Marino
It "grew" in the middle of Italy from the monastery of St. Marina: a religious community lived there for a long time, which was isolated for a long time, but later grew into a theocratic state. The authorities of the neighboring country recognized its autonomy. Now 34,000 people live here, who earn money from tourism and the banking sector. San Marino is not part of the EU, but is integrated with it.
