Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ),, or Vatican, is a

landlocked A landlocked country is a country that has no territory connected to an ocean or whose coastlines lie solely on endorheic basins. Currently, there are 44 landlocked countries, two of them doubly landlocked (Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan), and t ...

sovereign state A sovereign state is a State (polity), state that has the highest authority over a territory. It is commonly understood that Sovereignty#Sovereignty and independence, a sovereign state is independent. When referring to a specific polity, the ter ...

and

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world throughout history, including cities such as Rome, ...

. It is an

enclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is so ...

within

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, and serves as the administrative centre of the Catholic Church. It became independent from the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

in 1929 with the

Lateran Treaty The Lateran Treaty (; ) was one component of the Lateran Pacts of 1929, agreements between Italy under Victor Emmanuel III and Benito Mussolini and the Holy See under Pope Pius XI to settle the long-standing Roman question. The treaty and ass ...

. Vatican City is governed by the See of

, commonly known as the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

, itself a sovereign entity under international law, which maintains its temporal power, governance, diplomacy, and spiritual independence. ''Vatican'' is also used as a

metonym Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something associated with that thing or concept. For example, the word "wikt:suit, suit" may refer to a person from groups commonly wearing business attire, such ...

for the Holy See, which is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City, comprising the pope and the

Roman Curia The Roman Curia () comprises the administrative institutions of the Holy See and the central body through which the affairs of the Catholic Church are conducted. The Roman Curia is the institution of which the Roman Pontiff ordinarily makes use ...

. With an area of and a population of about 882 in 2024, it is the smallest sovereign state in the world both by area and by population. It is among the least populated capitals in the world. As governed by the Holy See, Vatican City State is an

ecclesiastical {{Short pages monitor is served by an independent, modern telephone system named the Vatican Telephone Service. The Vatican controls its own Internet top-level domain, which is registered as (.va). Broadband service is widely provided within Vatican City. Vatican City has a radio ITU prefix, HV, and this is sometimes used by amateur radio operators. Vatican Radio, which was organized by Guglielmo Marconi, broadcasts on Shortwave, short-wave, Medium wave, medium-wave and FM frequencies and on the Internet. Its main transmission antennae are located in Italian territory, and exceed Italian environmental protection levels of emission. For this reason, the Vatican Radio has been Vatican Radio lawsuit, sued. Television services are provided through another entity, the Vatican Television Center. ''L'Osservatore Romano'' is the multilingual semi-official newspaper of the Holy See. It is published by a private corporation under the direction of Catholic laymen, but reports on official information. The official texts of documents are in the ''Acta Apostolicae Sedis'', the Gazette, official gazette of the Holy See, which has an appendix for documents of the Vatican City State. Vatican Radio, the Vatican Television Center, and L'Osservatore Romano are organs of the Holy See. They are listed in the ''Annuario Pontificio'', which places them in the section "Institutions linked with the Holy See", ahead of the sections on the Holy See's diplomatic service abroad and the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See, after which is placed the section on the State of Vatican City. In 2015, these organisations were brought together under the Dicastery for Communication.

Postal service

A Mail, postal system (Poste Vaticane) was created on 13 February 1929. On 1 August, the state started to release its own postal stamps, under the authority of the Philatelic and Numismatic Office of the Vatican City State. The city's postal service is sometimes said to be , and faster than the postal service in Rome. The Postal code#Country code prefixes, international postal country code prefix is ''SCV''. The postal code is ''00120'' – altogether ''SCV-00120''.

Healthcare

Sustainability

The Vatican has implemented several environmental initiatives aimed to reduce its ecological footprint. Since 2008, the Vatican has expanded its solar energy systems, including the installation of photovoltaic panels at various locations such as the roof of the Paul VI Audience Hall. The city-state has introduced 35 electric vehicle charging stations to promote the use of electric vehicles and intends to gradually replace State-owned cars with electric vehicles. Well before the European Union's 2021 deadline, Vatican City successfully banned single-use plastics in 2019, reducing plastic waste. The Vatican's waste management system has improved, achieving a recycling rate of 55 per cent for municipal solid waste, with a goal of reaching the EU standard of 70–75 per cent. Energy-efficiency measures, such as installing LED lighting in St Peter's Basilica and transitioning to digital document management, have been implemented to reduce energy consumption and paper use. These efforts reflect the Vatican's commitment to the vision of Pope Francis's encyclical ''Laudato si''' and the Apostolic Exhortation Laudate Deum, ''Laudate Deum''.

Demographics

Vatican City has a population of 882 residents, regardless of citizenship. There are 372 Vatican citizens residing elsewhere, consisting of diplomats of the Holy See to other countries and cardinals residing in Rome. The population is composed of clergy, other religious members, laypeople serving the state (such as the

Swiss Guard The Pontifical Swiss Guard,; ; ; ; , %5BCorps of the Pontifical Swiss Guard%5D. ''vatican.va'' (in Italian). Retrieved 19 July 2022. also known as the Papal Swiss Guard or simply Swiss Guard,Swiss Guards , History, Vatican, Uniform, Require ...

) and their family members. In 2013 there were 13 families of the employees of the Holy See living in Vatican City. In 2019 there were 20 children of the Swiss Guards living at the Vatican. All citizens, residents, and places of worship in the city are Catholic Church, Catholic. The city receives thousands of tourists and workers every day.

Languages

Vatican City has no formally enacted official language, but, unlike the Holy See which most often uses

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for the authoritative version of its official documents, Vatican City uses only Italian in its legislation and official communications. Italian is the everyday language used by most of those who work in the state. In the Swiss Guard, Swiss German is the language used for giving commands. Individual guards take their oath of loyalty in their own languages: German, French, Italian or Romansh language, Romansh. The official websites of the Holy See and of Vatican City are primarily in Italian, with versions of their pages in a large number of languages, to varying extents.

Citizenship

Unlike citizenship of other states, which is based either on ''jus sanguinis'' (birth from a citizen, even outside the state's territory) or on ''jus soli'' (birth within the territory of the state), citizenship of Vatican City is granted on ''jus officii'', namely on the grounds of appointment to work in a certain capacity in the service of the Holy See. It usually ceases upon the cessation of the appointment. Citizenship is extended to the spouse and children of a citizen, provided that they are living together in the city. Some individuals are authorized to reside in the city but do not qualify or choose not to request citizenship. Anyone who loses Vatican citizenship and does not possess other citizenship automatically becomes an Italian citizenship, Italian citizen, as provided in the Lateran Treaty. The Holy See, not being a country, issues only diplomatic passport, diplomatic and service passport, service passports, whereas Vatican City issues ordinary passport, ordinary Vatican and Holy See passports, passports for its citizens.

Statistical oddities

In statistics comparing countries in per capita, ''per capita'' or per area metrics, Vatican City is often an outlier these stem from the state's small size and ecclesiastical function. For example, as most of the roles which would confer citizenship are reserved for men, the gender ratio of Vatican City citizenship is several men per woman. Further oddities are petty crimes against tourists, resulting in a very high per-capita crime rate, and the city-state leading the world in per-capita wine consumption due to its Sacraments of the Catholic Church, sacramental use. A jocular illustration of these anomalies is sometimes made by calculating a "popes per km²" statistic, which is greater than two because Vatican City is less than half a square kilometre in area.

Culture

Cultural heritage

Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano September 2015-1a

The Vatican City is home to some of the most famous art in the world.

St Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican (), or simply St. Peter's Basilica (; ), is a church of the Italian Renaissance architecture, Italian High Renaissance located in Vatican City, an independent microstate enclaved within the cit ...

, designed by a succession of architects including Bramante, Michelangelo, Giacomo della Porta, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, is a renowned work of Renaissance architecture. The

Sistine Chapel The Sistine Chapel ( ; ; ) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the pope's official residence in Vatican City. Originally known as the ''Cappella Magna'' ('Great Chapel'), it takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who had it built between 1473 and ...

is famous for its frescos, which include works by Perugino, Domenico Ghirlandaio and Sandro Botticelli, as well as the Sistine Chapel ceiling, ceiling and Last Judgment by Michelangelo. The interiors of the Vatican were decorated by artists including Raphael and Fra Angelico. The Vatican Apostolic Library and the collections of the

Vatican Museums The Vatican Museums (; ) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of the best-known Roman sculptures and ...

are of the highest historical, scientific and cultural importance. Added by UNESCO to the List of World Heritage Sites in 1984, the Vatican is the only site to consist of an entire state. It is the only UNESCO site registered 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.

Science

Following in the footsteps of the Accademia dei Lincei, Pontifical Academy of New Lincei founded by

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

in 1847,

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

founded the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in 1936, which, located in the Casina Pio IV, guarantees academic freedom to contribute to mathematical sciences, mathematical, Outline of physical science, physical (including astronomy, Earth sciences, physics and chemistry) and natural sciences (e.g., medicine, neuroscience, biology, genetics, biochemistry), and confront epistemology, epistemological issues, with interests also in the history of science. Among the academicians, there are or were the astrophysicist Martin John Rees, the mathematician Cédric Villani, the theoretical physics, theoretical physicist Edward Witten, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureates Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier, and Ernest Rutherford, the genetics, geneticists Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza and Francis Collins, the head transplant pioneer Robert J. White, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Alexander Fleming. The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences is another pontifical academy of the

located in the Vatican City, which deals with anthropology, communication studies, information sciences, cybernetics, economics, education, geography, history, law, linguistics, political science, psychology, behavioral sciences, sociology and demography. The seat of the Pontifical Academy for Life, whose domains are bioethics and ethics of technology, is at Palazzo San Callisto, San Callisto complex, a Vatican Properties of the Holy See#Outside Vatican City but inside Rome, extraterritorial property. The Vatican Observatory, whose origins date back to the 16th century, continues to contribute to astronomical research, especially through a partnership with the University of Arizona and the Infrared astronomy, infrared and Visible-light astronomy, optical Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope in Arizona, and to astronomical education and "popular science" projects. As a member of the International Astronomical Union and the International Center for Relativistic Astrophysics, it deals with research on physical cosmology, cosmological models, stellar classification, binary stars, and nebulae. It has contributed to philosophy, philosophical interdisciplinary studies at the Graduate Theological Union, Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences in Berkeley, California and research on the history of astronomy thanks to its extensive library, which includes a meteorite collection (museum), collection. Some of the Vatican telescopes of the astronomy, astronomical institution named Vatican Observatory participated in creating the Carte du Ciel, but they have progressively become useless or limited for research purposes due to light pollution in their locations: Vatican City (the Gardens of Vatican City and near St. Peter's Basilica) and the Vatican Properties of the Holy See#Outside Rome, extraterritorial Palace of Castel Gandolfo.

Sport

The Vatican City is not a member of the International Olympic Committee and does not compete in the Olympic Games, though it has participated in some international sporting events, including the World Cycling Championships, the Championships of the Small States of Europe and the Mediterranean Games. Vatican City has its own athletics association, Athletica Vaticana. Association football, Football in Vatican City is organized by the Vatican Amateur Sports Association, which holds the national championship, called the Vatican City Championship, with eight teams, including, for example, the Swiss Guard's FC Guardia and police and museum guard teams. The association organizes the Coppa Sergio Valci and the Supercoppa (Vatican City), Vatican Supercoppa. It controls the Vatican City national football team, which is neither affiliated with UEFA nor FIFA.

References

Footnotes

Citation notes

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

*
Official website of the Holy See

Vatican TV Channel
on YouTube
Vatican News
* *
Inside the Vatican
on National Geographic YouTube channel
Vatican Chief of State and Cabinet Members

Holy See (Vatican City)
''The World Factbook''. Central Intelligence Agency.
Holy See (Vatican City)
from ''UCB Libraries GovPubs''
Vatican
from BBC News
''The Vatican: spirit and art of Christian Rome''
a book from Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available on the Internet as PDF) {{Coord, 41, 54, 09, N, 12, 27, 09, E, type:city, display=title Vatican City, States and territories established in 1929 1929 establishments in Vatican City, World Heritage Sites in Europe Countries in Europe Christian states Catholic pilgrimage sites Holy cities Countries and territories where Italian is an official language Properties of the Holy See Monarchies of Europe Catholic Church in Europe Catholic Church in Italy City-states Enclaved countries Landlocked countries Duty-free zones of Europe Enclaves and exclaves Religion and politics Theocracies Microstates in Europe