A European Informational Website
learn more
A city-state is a region controlled exclusively by a city, usually having sovereignty. Historically, city-states have often been part of larger cultural areas, as in the poleis of ancient Greece (such as Athens, Sparta and Corinth), the Phoenician cities of Canaan (such as Tyre and Sidon), the Mayans of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica (including sites such as Chichen Itza and El Mirador), the central Asian cities along the Silk Road (which includes Samarkand and Bukhara), or the city-states of Northern Italy (especially Florence and Venice).