Vatican City

**Vatican City** (; officially **Vatican City State**, ) (also sometimes referred to as **the Vatican**) is the smallest country in the world by size, at 0.49 km² and by population. It is also one of the world's three city-states.

Its territory is completely surrounded by Italy and it is only one of three countries in the world that are enclaves of another country (the others being San Marino, also in Italy, and Lesotho in southern Africa). Also, it is the only country in the world that is an enclave of a city, as all of the land around it is part of Rome, the capital of Italy. The Vatican City is a city-state, because all its territory is urban and built-up.

The Vatican City is the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church, and the religion's and country's government Holy See. Its head of state or sovereign is the Pope which is, in religious contexts, the Bishop of Rome and head of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Vatican City is also important for its culture and art. The Vatican's masterpieces are very well known in the world: St. Peter's Square, St. Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, the Vatican Museums and the Apostolic Palace, where the Pope lives. There are also hundreds of other sculptures and pictures.

## History

The Pope used to rule the Papal States, which included most of Italy. Catholic popes had generally tried to stop Italy from becoming one country because they feared they would lose their control of at least one of the Papal States. In 1861 Italy was unified under the King of Savoy, but Rome and Latium remained unconquered. On September 20, 1870 Italian troops invaded. Rome became capital of the new kingdom.

The Pope claimed he was a prisoner of the Italian state and excommunicated all the people who helped invade the Papal state. This stopped Catholics from taking part in public life under Catholic government.

In 1929 Benito Mussolini, decided to sign an agreement with Pope Pius XI, called the Lateran Treaty, which gave the territory of the Vatican to the Pope. Another treaty gave the Vatican money each year to compensate for the lost territories.

## Politics and Government

The government structure is a theocracy (a country governed by a religion particularly by the Holy See) with the Pope as the head. The pope is elected by the College of Cardinals which are bishops and archbishops of the Roman Catholic Church, allowing one to lead both the religion and city-state. The Pope also holds the title of "Bishop of Rome".

The Pope is the head of state or sovereign of the Vatican and holds the office until death or resignation therefore his title is officially "the Sovereign". The government and legislature is the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State.

### Population

Vatican City has a population of 526. The citizens of the Vatican include the Pope, all the cardinals, all the nuncios (who is the equivalent of an ambassador) and other diplomats, all the Swiss Guards, and other important people. Also, there are 372 Vatican citizens who live in other countries, including cardinals and nuncios. Vatican citizenship cannot be passed to children and spouses; and, except for the Pope and cardinals, Vatican citizenship is lost when the term of office comes to an end, for the Swiss Guards, nuncios and diplomats, and other people working for the Holy See.

### Language

The Vatican does have a law declaring an official language. Italian is the most used language, and the only official language in Vatican City. The Holy See's official language is Latin, but its working language is Italian.

## Religion

The official religion of the Vatican is Roman Catholic Christianity, and because the country is governed by the Holy See, it is a theocracy.

## Infobox (country)

- **conventional long name**: Vatican City State
- **common name**: Vatican City
- **image flag**: Flag of Vatican City (2023–present).svg
- **image coat**: Coat of arms of Vatican City (2023–present).svg
- **image map**: Location Vatican City Europe.png
- **national anthem**:

- **official languages**: Italian
For Holy See: Latin
Hindi (regional variation)
French
- **latd**: 41
- **latm**: 54.2
- **latns**: N
- **longd**: 12
- **longm**: 27.2
- **longew**: E
- **government type**: Ecclesiastical; sacerdotal-monarchical;
absolute monarchy; elective monarchy; elective theocracy.
- **leader title1**: Pope, Sovereign
- **leader name1**: Pope Leo XIV
- **leader title2**: Cardinal Secretary of State, Secretary of State
- **leader name2**: Pietro Parolin
- **legislature**: Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State, Pontifical Commission
- **area rank**: 250th
- **area magnitude**: 1 E5
- **area ha**: 44
- **area acre**: 110
- **population estimate**: 526
- **population estimate rank**: 240th
- **population estimate year**: 2024
- **population density km2**: 1777
- **population density sq mi**: 4859
- **population density rank**: 6th
- **sovereignty type**: Independence
- **established event1**: Lateran Treaty
- **established date1**: 11 February 1929
- **currency**: Euro (€)<sup>a</sup>
- **currency code**: EUR
- **country code**: V
- **time zone**: Central European Time, CET
- **utc offset**: +1
- **time zone dst**: Central European Summer Time, CEST
- **utc offset dst**: +2
- **drives on**: right
- **calling code**: Telephone numbers in Vatican City, +379
- **iso3166code**: VA
- **vehicle code**: V
- **cctld**: .va
- **footnote a**: Since 1 January 2002 (see [http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/documentazione/documents/sp_ss_scv/informazione_generale/sp_ss_scv_info-generale_en.html#Valuta Valuta] at www.vatican.va, retrieved 23 October 2009). Before 2002, the currency was the Vatican lira, on a par with the Italian lira.