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Portrait of Vatican City

Geography · Records & extremes

Vatican City

founded 1929

Europe — an enclave within Rome, Italy

The smallest sovereign state in the world by both area and population: about 49 hectares — a fifth of a square mile — inside the walls on the right bank of the Tiber, with fewer than a thousand residents. It was created by the Lateran Treaty of 1929, which settled the "Roman Question" left over from Italian unification, and it is the only country that is itself a World Heritage site in its entirety.

How to spot them

  • ▸The smallest country in the world by both area and population
  • ▸Quiz clue: 'Lateran Treaty', 'Swiss Guard', 'Sistine Chapel', 'Holy See', 'Castel Gandolfo'
  • ▸An enclave entirely surrounded by one city
  • ▸The only state whose whole territory is inscribed on the World Heritage List

Key facts

The smallest sovereign state in the world, about 49 hectares

Roughly 0.49 km²; Monaco, the next smallest, is about four times larger

Created in 1929 by a treaty that settled the Roman Question (1929)

The Lateran Treaty, between Mussolini's Italy and Pope Pius XI

Its head of state is elected for life by a conclave, and is an absolute monarch

The only elective absolute monarchy in Europe

Its territory in its entirety is a single UNESCO World Heritage site

Inscribed in 1984 — no other state is listed whole

Its army is a corps of about 135 halberdiers recruited from one foreign country

The Pontifical Swiss Guard, founded in 1506, whose uniform is traditionally credited to Michelangelo — wrongly

Ceiling frescoes painted between 1508 and 1512 cover the chapel where its ruler is chosen

Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling; the Last Judgment on the altar wall came 25 years later

It is not a member of the United Nations, though it keeps a permanent observer there

The Holy See — the sovereign entity — holds the observer seat, not the city-state

Quick-fire facts

  • •Area about 0.49 km² (49 hectares), the smallest country in the world
  • •Its population is well under a thousand, most of them clergy and Swiss Guards
  • •It was established by the Lateran Treaty of 11 February 1929
  • •The Holy See and Vatican City State are distinct: the Holy See conducts diplomacy and holds the UN observer seat
  • •It was inscribed as a World Heritage site in 1984 — the only state listed in its entirety
  • •The Pontifical Swiss Guard, founded in 1506, is its only military force
  • •St Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums are all within it; the Lateran basilicas and Castel Gandolfo are extraterritorial properties outside it
  • •It issues its own euro coins, stamps and car plates, and has the world's only ATM with Latin as a menu language
  • •Common misconception: it is not the same thing as the Holy See, and the Swiss Guard uniform was not designed by Michelangelo

Drill it — 8 cards

1 / 8new card

Sources