Vatican City

This article is about the city-state in Europe. For the city-state's government, see Holy See.

Vatican City State
  • Stato della Città del Vaticano (Italian)
  • Status Civitatis Vaticanae (Latin)
Anthem: Inno e Marcia Pontificale (Italian)
"Pontifical Anthem and March"
noicon
National Seal
  • Sigillo dello Stato della Città del Vaticano (Italian)
    Sigillum Status Civitatis Vaticanae (Latin)
National Seal of Vatican City
CapitalVatican City (city-state)
41°54.2′N 12°27.2′E / 41.9033°N 12.4533°E / 41.9033; 12.4533
Official languagesItalian[1][2]
National languageLatin (de jure) Italian (de facto)[a]
Religion
Catholicism
(state religion)
Demonym(s)None (de jure)[4]
Vatican (de facto)
GovernmentUnitary theocratic Catholic elective absolute monarchy[5][6][7][8]
Holy See
• Pope
Francis
Pietro Parolin
Fernando Vérgez Alzaga
LegislaturePontifical Commission[b]
Independence 
from the Kingdom of the Franks and Italy
754 (1270 years ago)
11 February 1929 (95 years ago)
Area
• Total
0.49[c] km2 (0.19 sq mi) (195th)
Population
• 2023 estimate
764[13] (234th)
• Density
1,559/km2 (4,037.8/sq mi) (2nd)
GDP (PPP)2021 estimate
• Total
€14,859,970
• Per capita
€19,450.22
CurrencyEuro (€) (EUR)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)
UTC+2 (CEST)
Drives onright[d]
Calling code+379[e]
ISO 3166 codeVA
Internet TLD.va
Website
Official website
Vatican City
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Vatican City
CriteriaCultural: i, ii, iv, vi
Reference286
Inscription1984 (8th Session)

Vatican City (/ˈvætɪkənˈsɪti/ ⓘ), officially the Vatican City State (Italian: Stato della Città del Vaticano;[f] Latin: Status Civitatis Vaticanae),[g][h] is a sovereign country,[16][17] city-state, microstate, and enclave surrounded by, and historically a part of, Rome, Italy.[18][19] It became independent from Italy in 1929 with the Lateran Treaty, and is a distinct territory under "full ownership, exclusive dominion, and sovereign authority and jurisdiction" of the Holy See, which is itself a sovereign entity under international law, maintaining the city-state's temporal power, governance, diplomatic, and spiritual independence. The Vatican is also a metonym for the pope, the Holy See, and the Roman Curia.[i][20]

With an area of 49 hectares (121 acres)[c] and as of 2023 a population of about 764,[13] it is the smallest state in the world both by area and by population.[21] It is also the second-least populated capital in the world. As governed by the Holy See, Vatican City State is an ecclesiastical or sacerdotal-monarchical state ruled by the Pope, who is the bishop of Rome and head of the Catholic Church.[6][22] The highest state functionaries are all Catholic clergy of various origins. After the Avignon Papacy (1309–1377) the popes have mainly resided at the Apostolic Palace within what is now Vatican City, although at times residing instead in the Quirinal Palace in Rome or elsewhere.

The Holy See dates back to early Christianity and is the principal episcopal see of the Catholic Church, which has approximately 1.329 billion baptised Catholics in the world as of 2018 in the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches.[23] The independent state of Vatican City, on the other hand, came into existence on 11 February 1929 by the Lateran Treaty between the Holy See and Italy, which spoke of it as a new creation,[24] not as a vestige of the much larger Papal States (756–1870), which had previously encompassed much of Central Italy.

Vatican City contains religious and cultural sites such as St. Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, the Vatican Apostolic Library, and the Vatican Museums. They feature some of the world's most famous paintings and sculptures. The unique economy of Vatican City is supported financially by donations from Catholic believers, by the sale of postage stamps and souvenirs, fees for admission to museums, and sales of publications. Vatican City has no taxes, and items are duty-free.

  1. ^ Reuters Staff (6 October 2014). "Pope ditches Latin as official language of Vatican synod". Reuters. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  2. ^ "What language is spoken at the Vatican?". Visiting The Vatican. 13 April 2023. Archived from the original on 5 November 2023. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  3. ^ Solemn oath of the Vatican Swiss guards. 6 May 2014. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021 – via YouTube.
  4. ^ "Vatican City :: Italy Explained". Archived from the original on 29 May 2023. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  5. ^ "Internet Portal of Vatican City State". Vatican City State. Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  6. ^ a b "Holy See (Vatican City)". CIA—The World Factbook. 22 September 2021. Archived from the original on 26 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  7. ^ Robbers, Gerhard (2006) Encyclopedia of World Constitutions Archived 29 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 978-0-81606078-8. p. 1009
  8. ^ Nick Megoran (2009) "Theocracy" Archived 4 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine, p. 226 in International Encyclopedia of Human Geography, vol. 11, Elsevier ISBN 978-0-08-044911-1
  9. ^ "Legislative and Executive Bodies". Vatican City State. Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  10. ^ Pope John Paul II (26 November 2000). "Fundamental Law of Vatican City State" (PDF). Vatican City State. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 February 2008. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  11. ^ De Agostini Atlas Calendar Archived 3 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine, 1930, p. 99. (in Italian)
  12. ^ De Agostini Atlas Calendar Archived 3 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine, 1945–1946, p. 128. (in Italian)
  13. ^ a b "Population" (in Italian). Vatican City State. 16 March 2024. Archived from the original on 17 May 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  14. ^ "Stato della Città del Vaticano". Archived from the original on 19 January 2020. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  15. ^ "La Santa Sede". Vatican.va. Archived from the original on 8 December 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  16. ^ Ray, Michael (20 May 2023). "Vatican City". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 18 March 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  17. ^ Duignan, Brian (31 March 2023). "nation-state". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 17 May 2023. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  18. ^ "Vatican City". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 18 March 2015. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  19. ^ "Vatican country profile". BBC News. 17 November 2018. Archived from the original on 25 August 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  20. ^ "Text of the Lateran Treaty of 1929". Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  21. ^ "Europe :: Holy See (Vatican City) — The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency". www.cia.gov. 22 September 2021. Archived from the original on 26 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  22. ^ "Vatican City". Catholic-Pages.com. Archived from the original on 22 March 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  23. ^ "Catholics increasing worldwide, reaching 1.329 billion". AsiaNews. 26 March 2020. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  24. ^ Cite error: The named reference Preamble was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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