Flag of Vatican City

Vatican City

VA / VAT   41.9°, 12.5°

Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State, often shortened as the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state in Southern Europe. Ruled by the pope, it is an enclave within the city of Rome, Italy, and serves as the administrative centre of the Catholic Church. Vatican City is governed by the See of Rome, commonly known as the Holy See, itself a sovereign entity under international law, which maintains its temporal power, governance, diplomacy, and spiritual independence. Vatican is also used as a metonym 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 independent state of Vatican City came into existence in 1929 via the Lateran Treaty between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy, which spoke of it as a creation, not as a vestige of the much larger Papal States (756–1870), which had previously encompassed much of Central Italy.

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Capital
Vatican City
Population
882
Area
0 km2
Climate
Temperate
Government
Ecclesiastical elective monarchy
Languages
Italian, Latin, French
Land borders
1: Italy
Drives on the
right
Calling code
+379
Founded
1929
Hemisphere
Northern

Languages

Share of the population that speaks each. Click one to see every country that speaks it.

Italianofficial
Latinofficial
Frenchofficial

What it sells, and to whom

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Largest cities

Vatican City  capital 829

Form of government

Ecclesiastical elective monarchy.

Climate and geography

temperate; mild, rainy winters (September to May) with hot, dry summers (May to September)

Climate zone

Highest point

Landlocked. Northern hemisphere.

Land borders (1)

Figures from its history

John Paul II
John Paul II Pope, 1978-2005 Pope John Paul II was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death in 2005.
Francis Pope, 2013-2025
Michelangelo
Michelangelo Painter of the Sistine Chapel Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance.