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Vatican City, officially State of the Vatican City (Latin: Status Civitatis Vaticanae; Italian: Stato della Città del Vaticano), is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome. At approximately 44 hectares (109 acres), it is the smallest independent nation in the world.
It was created in 1929 by the Lateran Treaty as a vestige of the much larger Papal States (756 to 1870). Vatican City is a non-hereditary, elected monarchy that is ruled by the Bishop of Rome — the Pope. The highest state functionaries are all clergymen of the Catholic Church. It is the sovereign territory of the Holy See (Latin:Sancta Sedes) and the location of the Apostolic Palace — the Pope’s official residence — and the Roman Curia. Thus, while the principal ecclesiastical seat (Cathedral) of the Pope as Bishop of Rome (the Basilica of St. John Lateran) is located outside of its walls, in Rome, Vatican City can be said to be the governmental capital of the Catholic Church.
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The Vatican City, one of the European microstates, is situated on the Vatican Hill in the west-central part of Rome, several hundred metres west of the Tiber river. Its borders (3.2 km or 2 miles in total, all within Italy) closely follow the city wall constructed to protect the Pope from outside attack. The situation is more complex at the famous St. Peter’s Square in front of St. Peter’s Basilica, where the correct border is just outside the ellipse formed by Bernini’s colonnade, but where police jurisdiction has been entrusted to Italy. The Vatican City is the smallest sovereign state in the world at 0.44 square kilometres (108.7 acres).
The Vatican climate is the same as Rome’s; a temperate, Mediterranean climate with mild, rainy winters from September to mid-May and hot, dry summers from May to August. There are some local features, principally mists and dews, caused by the anomalous bulk of St Peter’s Basilica, the elevation, the fountains and the size of the large paved square.
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The unique, non-commercial economy is supported financially by contributions (part of which is known as Peter’s Pence) from Catholics throughout the world, the sale of postage stamps and tourist mementos, fees for admission to museums, and the sale of publications. The incomes and living standards of lay workers are comparable to, or somewhat better than, those of counterparts who work in the city of Rome.
The Vatican City issues its own coins. It has used the euro as its currency since January 1, 1999, owing to a special agreement with the EU (council decision 1999/98/CE). Euro coins and notes were introduced in January 1, 2002–the Vatican does not issue euro banknotes. Issuance of euro-denominated coins are strictly limited by treaty, though somewhat more than usual is allowed in a year in which there is a change in the papacy. Because of their rarity, Vatican euro coins are highly sought by collectors. Until the adoption of the Euro, Vatican coinage and stamps were denominated in their own Vatican lira currency, which was on par with the Italian lira. It also has its own bank, Istituto per le Opere di Religione (also known as the Vatican Bank, and with the acronym IOR). Budget: Revenues (2003) 252 million USD; expenditures (2003) 264 million USD. Industries: printing and production of few mosaics and staff uniforms; worldwide financial activities.
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Almost all of Vatican City’s 558 citizens either live inside the Vatican’s walls or serve in the Vatican’s diplomatic corps in embassies (called “nunciatures”; a papal ambassador is a “nuncio”) around the world. The Vatican citizenry consists almost entirely of two groups: clergy working as officials of the Vatican as a state or of the Catholic Church; and the Swiss Guard. Most of the 3,000 lay workers who comprise the majority of the Vatican work force reside outside the Vatican and are citizens of Italy, while a few are citizens of other nations. As a result, all of the City’s actual citizens are Catholic. Catholicism is the state religion. All the places of worship inside Vatican City are Catholic.
The Vatican has no set official language, it can be changed at any moment by the current Pope. The language most often used for the authoritative version of official documents of the Catholic Church or emanating from the Pope is Latin. However, Italian and, to a lesser extent, other languages are generally used for most conversations, publications, and broadcasts and most documents or other communications dealing directly with the Vatican as a state are most easily available in Italian. German is the official language of the Swiss Guard. The Vatican’s official website languages are Italian, German, English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.
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The Vatican City is itself of great cultural significance. Buildings such as St. Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel are home to some of the most famous art in the world, which includes works by artists such as Botticelli, Bernini and Michelangelo. The Vatican Library and the collections of the Vatican Museums are of the highest historical, scientific and cultural importance. In 1984, the Vatican was added by UNESCO to the List of World Heritage Sites; it is the only one to consist of an entire country. Furthermore, it is the only site to date registered with the UNESCO as a centre containing monuments in the “International Register of Cultural Property under Special Protection” according to the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict.
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