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47 free Monaco trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Monaco is two square kilometres of the French Riviera that has been ruled by the same family since a Grimaldi disguised as a monk seized its fortress in 1297. It is the second-smallest country on Earth, the most densely populated, and home to more millionaires per head than anywhere else, and it has not charged its citizens income tax since 1869. This quiz covers the whole principality: the Rock of Monaco-Ville, Monte Carlo and its 1858 casino, the Franco-Monégasque treaties, the 1910 revolution, the wartime occupation, Rainier III's 56-year reign and Prince Albert II's bobsleigh career. It also takes in the things everyone knows Monaco for: the Grand Prix run through the streets since 1929, Ayrton Senna's six wins, Grace Kelly's Oscar and her 1956 wedding, AS Monaco's eight French titles despite not being French, the Oceanographic Museum that Jacques Cousteau ran, the Café de Paris, and the red-and-white flag that is nearly identical to Indonesia's. Easy questions ask which country surrounds Monaco; hard ones want the price France paid for Menton and Roquebrune and the year Italian stopped being the official language. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on Monaco, the Grand Prix, Grace Kelly, the flag, AS Monaco, Prince Albert II and the Oceanographic Museum, and each question carries the sentence that supports it.
30 of 47 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Monaco is bordered on three sides by which country?
France
The Mediterranean forms the fourth side, and Italy is about 15 km to the east.
Q 02Monaco is the second-smallest sovereign state in the world; which is the smallest?
Vatican City
Vatican City covers about 0.44 square kilometres, against Monaco's 2.08; both are far smaller than the third-smallest state, Nauru, at 21 square kilometres.
Q 03Which family has ruled Monaco, with brief interruptions, since 1297?
Grimaldi
Grimaldi rule began in 1297; the family lost the principality to the French revolutionary republic from 1793 to 1814 and regained it under the Treaty of Paris.
Q 04How did Francesco 'Malizia' capture the fortress of Monaco in 1297?
Disguised as a Franciscan friar
Disguised as a Franciscan friar, he was admitted to the fortress on 8 January 1297 and opened the gates to his men; Monaco's coat of arms shows two armed friars in his memory.
Q 05Monaco was refounded in 1215 as a colony of which maritime republic?
Genoa
Genoa had been granted the site in 1191 in return for cracking down on pirates.
Q 06In 1419 the Grimaldis purchased Monaco outright from which crown?
Aragon
Aragon's crown sold its rights in 1419 to the brothers Ambroise, Antoine and Jean, which is why 1419 is usually given as Monaco's date of independence.
Q 07Which prince first styled himself 'Prince of Monaco' in 1612?
Honoré II
Honoré II, who reigned 1604-62, adopted the princely title in 1612 and swapped Spanish for French protection under the 1641 Treaty of Péronne, being received by Louis XIII.
Q 08Which two towns did Charles III cede to France in 1861, shrinking Monaco by about 95 percent?
Menton and Roquebrune
Menton and Roquebrune had broken away in 1848 and sat under Sardinian protection; under the 1861 treaty Charles III sold his claim for about 4 million francs and won recognition of Monaco's sovereignty.
Q 09Monaco stopped collecting income tax from its residents in which year?
1869
In 1869 Charles III abolished personal income tax, the Monte Carlo casino having made the treasury independent of it; only French nationals living in Monaco pay income tax, under a 1963 convention.
Q 10Which French gambling entrepreneur took over Monaco's casino concession in 1863?
François Blanc
François Blanc, who had made his fortune running the casino at Bad Homburg, bought the concession in 1863 and founded the Société des Bains de Mer, the company that runs the casino and its hotels.
Q 11Which French architect designed the ornate 1878-79 gaming hall of the Monte Carlo casino?
Charles Garnier
Charles Garnier, architect of the Paris Opéra, designed the casino's gaming rooms and the adjoining opera house, the Salle Garnier, which opened in January 1879.
Q 12Who is barred from gambling in Monaco's casino unless they work there?
Monégasque citizens
Monégasque citizens have been banned from the gaming rooms since Charles III's day, to keep locals from losing their money; they may enter only as employees.
Q 13Roughly what share of Monaco's residents are millionaires?
Over 30%
Q 21Princess Grace won her Academy Award for Best Actress for which film?
The Country Girl
The Country Girl (1954), in which she played the careworn wife of Bing Crosby's alcoholic singer, won her the 1955 Best Actress Oscar over Judy Garland in A Star Is Born.
Q 22How did Princess Grace die in 1982?
A car crash
A car crash on 13 September 1982, after she suffered a stroke at the wheel on the road above the principality, left her in a coma; she died the next day aged 52.
Q 23In which US city was the future Princess Grace born?
Philadelphia
Philadelphia was her birthplace; her father, John B. Kelly, an Olympic rowing champion turned brick magnate, narrowly lost the city's 1935 mayoral race.
Over 30% of residents are reckoned to be millionaires, the highest proportion of any country; the absence of personal income tax is the main draw for the wealthy.
Q 14How many of Monaco's roughly 38,000 residents are actually Monégasque nationals?
Fewer than 10,000
Fewer than 10,000 residents hold Monégasque nationality, under a quarter of the population; the rest are foreign nationals, led by the French, and citizenship passes mainly by descent.
Q 15Monaco holds which world record among non-landlocked nations?
Shortest coastline
Shortest coastline of any coastal state, at about 3.8 km, much of it artificial quays and the man-made Larvotto beach; Monaco's land border with its neighbour is about 5.5 km.
Q 16What is the highest point in Monaco?
The entrance to a residential building
The entrance to a residential building, the Patio Palace on the Chemin des Révoires, is the highest point at about 164 metres; the principality has no natural summit of its own.
Q 17Which Monaco district was built on land reclaimed from the sea in the 1970s?
Fontvieille
Fontvieille was built on land won from the sea in the 1970s and holds the national stadium, a marina and light industry; the Mareterra project added six more hectares in 2024.
Q 18The old town and seat of government sits on a promontory known as what?
The Rock
The Rock (Le Rocher) is the 60-metre headland where the old town, Monaco-Ville, holds the Prince's Palace, Saint Nicholas Cathedral and the Oceanographic Museum.
Q 19Which prince reigned over Monaco from 1949 to 2005?
Rainier III
Rainier III succeeded his grandfather Louis II in May 1949 and reigned for nearly 56 years, until his death in April 2005; he was then Europe's longest-reigning monarch.
Q 20Which American film star did the Prince of Monaco marry in April 1956?
Grace Kelly
Grace Kelly, star of High Noon and Rear Window, married the prince in a civil ceremony on 18 April 1956 and a cathedral wedding the next day, watched by some 30 million television viewers.
Q 24What are the names of Princess Grace's three children?
Caroline, Albert and Stéphanie
Caroline, Albert and Stéphanie were born in 1957, 1958 and 1965; Albert, the middle child, succeeded his father in 2005, and Caroline holds the title Princess of Hanover.
Q 25Prince Albert II competed at five Winter Olympics in which sport?
Bobsleigh
Bobsleigh took him to five Winter Games from Calgary 1988 to Salt Lake City 2002, in two-man and four-man sleds; he had joined the International Olympic Committee in 1985.
Q 26Prince Albert II's wife, Princess Charlene, was an Olympic competitor for South Africa in which sport?
Swimming
Swimming was her sport: as Charlene Wittstock she swam the backstroke leg of South Africa's medley relay at the Sydney 2000 Olympics, finishing fifth, and married the prince in July 2011.
Q 27The Monaco Grand Prix was first run in which year?
1929
In 1929 the inaugural race, organised by Antony Noghès and the Automobile Club de Monaco, was won by William Grover-Williams in a Bugatti, racing under the pseudonym 'Williams'.
Q 28Which driver has won the Monaco Grand Prix more times than any other?
Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna won six times, in 1987 and then five years in a row from 1989; in 1988 he crashed at Portier while leading by almost a minute.
Q 29Which British driver was nicknamed 'Mr Monaco' after five wins in the 1960s?
Graham Hill
Graham Hill won in 1963, 1964 and 1965 for BRM and again in 1968 and 1969 for Lotus; he was world champion in 1962 and 1968.
Q 30The Monaco Grand Prix forms the Triple Crown of Motorsport with Le Mans and which other race?
The Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, first run in 1911 on the Brickyard oval, completes the set with the Le Mans endurance race (first run 1923) and the Monaco street race.