Vatican City

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The **Vatican City State** (in Latin Status Civitatis Vaticanæ  ), commonly abbreviated as **Vatican City** or even simply in the **Vatican** , is an independent state  of Europe That uses Latin has the official language .
It is an enclave of the territory of the Italian Republic, being included in the urban fabric of the city of Rome.

The Vatican City is an elective monarchy, the current pontiff (head of state) is Pope Francis and the head of the civic administration of the State is the President of the Pontifical Commission for the State of Vatican City, Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello.

It is the smallest independent state in the world, both in terms of population and territorial extension.

The Vatican City is an ecclesiastical or sacerdotal-monarchical state (a type of theocracy) ruled by the pope who is the bishop of Rome and head of the Catholic Church. The highest state functionaries are all clergy of various national origins. Since the return of the popes from Avignon in 1377, they have generally resided at the Apostolic Palace within what is now Vatican City, although at times residing instead in the Quirinal Palace in Rome or elsewhere.

## Physical geography

The heart of the Vatican City is St. Peter's Square, in which its splendid basilica, whose dome (familiarly called dome and cuppolone in Roman dialect) dominates the territory of the small state.

Inside the medieval and Renaissance walls that surround, except for St. Peter's Square, the whole area, there are also the Apostolic Palace , the Governorate's Palace , the Vatican Museums , the Vatican Gardens and many other buildings, instrumental to the activity of the State.

## Territory

The Vatican hill, which is not part of the traditional Seven hills of Rome, was inserted into the city limits under the pontificate of Leo IV , proponent of the enlargement of the city walls ( 848 - 852 ), in order to protect the basilica of San Pietro . Until the formation of the Vatican City State (established with the Lateran Pacts in 1929 ), the Vatican Hill was included within the Borgo district.

## Monuments and places of interest

### Religious architecture

In the territory of the Vatican City State there are several sacred buildings, some of very ancient origin.

* basilicas
	+ St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican (Papal Chapel, beyond the Chapels of the Palace)
* Chapels
	+ Pauline Chapel in the Vatican
	+ Sistine Chapel
* Churches
	+ Church of San Pietro in Borgo (in the Italian area, subject to extraterritoriality in favor of the Vatican)
	+ Church of Sant'Anna dei Palafrenieri
	+ Church of Santo Stefano degli Abissini
	+ Church of Sant'Egidio in Borgo
	+ Church of Santa Maria della Pietà in Camposanto dei Teutonici (in the Italian area, subject to extraterritoriality in favor of the Vatican)
	+ Church of San Pellegrino
	+ Church of Saints Martin and Sebastian of the Swiss

## Notes

1. ↑ 0.44 km², 799 inhabitants as of 23 April 2009 , capital of Vatican City

## References

1. ↑ The Motu Proprio, "Where are the rights of the citizens," su vatican.va.
2. ↑ The 10 Smallest Countries In The World
3. ↑ "Holy See (Vatican City)". CIA—The World Factbook.
4. ↑ "Vatican City". Catholic-Pages.com. Retrieved 12 August 2013.