Monaco Country Profile - BBC News

Some key dates in Monaco's history:

1297 - A member of the exiled Grimaldi family from Genoa - Francois - seizes the fortress of the incumbent Genoese rulers of Monaco.

Late 1400s - Monaco's sovereignty is recognised by the duke of Savoy, the Pope and the king of France.

1524-1641 - Grimaldi family allies itself with Spain and Monaco comes under Spanish protection.

1793 - French Revolution - the Grimaldis are deposed and unification with France follows.

1814 - Monaco is returned to the Grimaldis and becomes a Sardinian protectorate until 1860.

1861 - Monaco's independence restored under the Franco-Monegasque treaty.

1911 - Monaco's first constitution drafted, providing for an elected National Council to share legislative power with the prince.

1929 - First Monaco Grand Prix, won by Britain's William Williams.

1949 - Death of Louis II; Prince Rainier III succeeds his grandfather.

1956 - Prince Rainier marries Hollywood actress Grace Kelly. The couple met at the Cannes film festival in 1955.

1959 - Prince Rainier suspends Monaco's elected National Council because of a row over the budget.

1962 - The prince restores the National Council and introduces a new, more liberal constitution.

1982 - Princess Grace dies following a car accident near Monte-Carlo.

1993 - Monaco joins the United Nations, becoming one of its smallest member states.

2002 - Monaco takes delivery of a huge floating jetty, set to double the capacity of its port.

2004 - OECD places Monaco on blacklist of uncooperative tax havens.

2005- Prince Rainier dies at the age of 81. In July Prince Albert is sworn in as head of state.

2008 - Monaco scraps plans to expand into the sea through an ambitious land reclamation project, citing the international financial crisis and environmental concerns.

2009 - OECD removes Monaco from blacklist of uncooperative tax havens.

2011 - Prince Albert marries Charlene Wittstock.

2014 - European Court of Human Rights rules that French magazine Paris Match was wrongly prosecuted in 2005 for revealing that Prince Albert II had fathered a child out of wedlock. The prince later admitted paternity.

2014 - Princess Charlene, wife of Prince Albert, gives birth to twins. Following the tradition of male precedence in Monaco Jacques will be next in line to the throne, despite being younger than his sister Gabriella.

2016 - Monaco's government joins a probe led by UK investigators into alleged corruption by a number of multinational oil companies. Monaco-based UNA-OIL, which allegedly delivered millions of dollars in bribes to Middle Eastern oil chiefs, is among the companies.

EU and Monaco sign tax transparency agreement and agree to automatically exchange information on financial accounts of each other's residents.