[geeks] can't wait for Vista

[Mike Meredith]

On Wed, 8 Nov 2006 02:03:13 -0500 (EST), der Mouse wrote:
> Well, with the possible exception of the tiniest, such as Vatican City
> (though in its case I doubt for other reasons that it even tries to be

Well, as the Pope is elected (although the electorate is somewhat
restricted) you could claim that the Vatican City is a representative
democracy, although I think most people would laugh.

> a democracy).  Maybe some of the smaller islands - is the Isle of Man
> considered a country of its own?  The Faroe Islands?  

Isle of Man? Yes. It's a representative democracy with the current
British Monarch as the head of state with the title "Lord of Mann"
(*not* "Queen"). There's a few others with the British monarch as head
of state under a title other than that of "Queen" ... they are
independent "fiefdoms".

Faroe Islands is part of the Kingdom of Denmark so isn't a separate
country, although it has some historical claims to being so.

Possibly the oddest example is Andorra which has two heads of state ...
the French head of state (inherited from the French monarchs) and the
Bishop of Urgell. It is also a representative democracy.


-- 
Mike Meredith (http://zonky.org/)
  "Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any 
   good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats." Howard Aiken