The World's Smallest Kingdom

choi

艾略特·斯坦, 地中海探奇：世界上最小的王国. BBC Chinese, Apr 8, 2016
http://www.bbc.com/ukchina/simp/ ... ds-smallest-kingdom

, which is translated from

Eliot Stein, The World's Smallest Kingdom; When he's not fishing for squid or gardening outside his squat bungalow, the king of Tavolara lords over this tiny island's 11 part-time residents and 100 nimble mountan goats. BBC, Mar 8, 2016.
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/ ... ds-smallest-kingdom

Note:
(a) Before you read the text, read this first before deciding whether it is worth your while, or consign the notion to a joke.

Tavolara Island
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tavolara_Island
(introduction: A cove and beach can be found at each end of the island, Spalmatore di Fuori at the northeast, and Spalmatore di Terra at the southwest; section 2 History)

Italian English dictionary
* spalmatore (n; from verb spalmare to spread, to smear + -tore): a tool used to spread
* fuori (noun masculine): "outside"
http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/italian-english/fuori

(b) "This is where I found Antonio Bertoleoni as our ferry sputtered to a float. Better known as 'Tonino,' the 83-year-old former fisherman owns Tavolara's only restaurant and is the reigning ruler of the island, which happens to be the smallest inhabited kingdom in the world."
(i) float (n): "something that floats in or on the surface of a fluid: as * * *"
(ii) Tonino
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonino
(a diminutive of the Italian and Spanish Antonio)

(c) "Carlo Alberto, the King of Sardinia * * * confirmed that the far-flung island [Tavolara] had never officially been part of the Kingdom of Sardinia, and he sent Paolo [son of the first settler in the Tavolara island] a scroll from Carlo Alberto's royal family, the House of Savoy, that certified the monarchy's [kingdom of Tavolara's] status."
(i) Kingdom of Sardinia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Sardinia
(1324–1861; acquired by the Duke of Savoy in 1720; was the predecessor state of today's Italy [because it led unification of Italy; when it morphed into Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946 -- see (d))]
(ii) The duke was head of Duchy of Savoy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchy_of_Savoy
(Capital: Turin 1562–1713; "The Duchy was a state in the northern part of the Italian Peninsula [straddling present-day Italy and Switzerland], with some territories that are now in France" -- otherwise view map only in this Weki page)
(iii) Savoy (proper name): "of unknown origin" and meaning
www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Savoy

(d) "the King of Sardinia at the time, Vittorio Emanuele II, went so far as to sign a peace treaty with the stamp-sized island’s 33 residents in 1903."
(i) This is a typo. The King of Italy in 1903 was Vittorio Emanuele III (1869 – 1947; King of Italy 1900-1946 abdicated three weeks before a successful referendum to abolish the monarchy), the only child of Umberto I (assassinated) and a grandson of Vittorio Emanuele II.
(ii) Vittorio Emanuele II
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Emmanuel_II_of_Italy
(1820 – 1878; King of Sardinia 1849 - 1861; King of Italy 1861- 1878)

(e) "Tonino's restaurant [is] adorned with the royal crest that King Paolo I first designed."
(i) crest (heraldry)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crest_(heraldry)
(the symbol or device borne on top of the helm)
(ii) However, my guess is: here, the crest means coat of arms.

crest (n):
"1a :  a showy tuft or process on the head of an animal and especially a bird [original meaning]
b :  the plume or identifying emblem worn on a knight's helmet * * *
c (1) :  a heraldic representation of the crest * * * (3) :  COAT OF ARMS"
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crest

(f) "like San Marino, Tavolara has never been formally annexed into modern Italy"

San Marino
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Marino
(The official date of the founding of what is now known as the Republic [of San Marino] is Sept 3, 301)

I stop here.