Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (Italian: Stato della Città del Vaticano; Latin: Status Civitatis Vaticanae), often shortened as the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state. 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.
With an area of 48.99 hectares (121 acres) 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 the only country in the world with a population of under 1,000 people. It is among the least populated capitals 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; the highest state functionaries are all Catholic clergy of various origins. The Holy See dates to early Christianity and is the principal episcopal see of the Catholic Church, which in 2018 had about 1.329 billion baptized Catholics in the world, in the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches. 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. (Full article...)
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The state of Vatican City has established no official language by law. However, in accordance with paragraph 2 of the Legge sulle fonti del diritto of 7 June 1929, it promulgates its laws and regulations by publishing them in the Italian-language Supplemento per le leggi e disposizioni dello Stato della Città del Vaticano attached to the Acta Apostolicae Sedis. [1]
On its official website Vatican City uses Italian, English, French, German, and Spanish, but not Latin or Portuguese, which are found on the official website of the Holy See.
The Quirinal Palace (known in Italian as the Palazzo del Quirinale or simply Quirinale) is a historic building in Rome, Italy, the current official residence of the President of the Italian Republic. It is located on the Quirinal Hill, the tallest of the seven hills of Rome. It housed thirty popes, four kings and eleven presidents of the Italian Republic.
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Vatican City Vatican City-related lists Buildings and structures in Vatican City Education in Vatican City Environment of Vatican City Geography of Vatican City Government of Vatican City Organizations based in Vatican City
The following are images from various Vatican City-related articles on Wikipedia.
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Image 1The Apostolic Palace ( Palazzo Apostolico), the official residence of the pope. Here, Benedict XVI is at the window marked by a maroon banner hanging from the windowsill at centre. (from Vatican City)
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Image 3Pope Pius XI decree and conferment of Saint Therese of France to be Patroness of the gardens, flanked by Cardinal Louis Billot. The Leonine walls, 17 May 1927. (from Gardens of Vatican City)
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Image 4Bernardino Nogara, the chief Vatican financier during the war (from Vatican City during World War II)
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Image 5Tourists try out a seat cut from a stump, said to have been the favorite relaxing spot of Pope John Paul II. (from Gardens of Vatican City)
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Image 61€-Vatican_Franciscus-Revers (from Economy of Vatican City)
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Image 8A view of St. Peter's Square from the top of Michelangelo's dome (from Vatican City)
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Image 9Part of the Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
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Image 10The Loggia of the Casino of Pius IV, a Renaissance building located in the Vatican Gardens. The Casino of Pius IV was built in the mid-16th century by architect Pirro Ligorio for Pope Pius IV. (from Gardens of Vatican City)
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Image 13Italian Garden (from Gardens of Vatican City)
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Image 15Members of the Canadian Royal 22nd Regiment in audience with Pope Pius XII, following the 1944 Liberation of Rome. (from Vatican City during World War II)
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Image 16Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
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Image 17An early interpretation of the relative locations of the circus, and the medieval and current Basilicas of St. Peter (from Vatican City)
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Image 18Vatican Museums' "New Wing", built by Raffaele Stern (1774–1820) (from Vatican City)
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Image 19Empress Saint Helena of Constantinople carrying the One True Cross laying the grounds for the gardens using the sacred soil from Mount Calvary. (from Gardens of Vatican City)
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Image 20A map of Vatican City, highlighting notable buildings and the Vatican gardens (from Vatican City)
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Image 21Torre San Giovanni, on an ancient wall originally built by Pope Nicholas III. The tower fell into disuse in the 16th century but was rebuilt in the early 1960s by Pope John XXIII. (from Gardens of Vatican City)
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Image 22The Vatican City came into existence in 1929, a decade before the start of World War II (from Vatican City during World War II)
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Image 23President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama meet with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican on July 10, 2009. (from Women in Vatican City)
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Image 24The Ingresso di Sant'Anna, an entrance to Vatican City from Italy (from Vatican City)
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Image 25Enlargeable, detailed map of Vatican City (from Geography of Vatican City)
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Image 26The Fountain of the Eagle " Fontana dell'Aquilone" in the Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
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Image 27A pay phone in the Vatican City (from Vatican City)
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Image 28The Seal of Vatican City. Note the use of the Italian language (from Vatican City)
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Image 29View of Vatican City in the evening (from Vatican City)
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Image 30Musicians of the British Army's 38th (Irish) Brigade playing in front of St. Peter's Basilica in June 1944 (from Vatican City)
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Image 31One possible modern interpretation (from Vatican City)
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Image 32St. Peter's Basilica is one of the most renowned works of Renaissance architecture (from Vatican City)
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Image 33An ATM in Vatican City with Latin instructions (from Economy of Vatican City)
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Image 34Polish ambassador to the Vatican, Kazimierz Papée, was critical of Pius XII's pre-war mediation efforts. (from Vatican City during World War II)
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Image 35Vatican City's post office was established in February 1929. (from Vatican City)
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Image 36A monument to Fr. Maximilian Kolbe, among the estimated 3,000 members (18%) of the Polish clergy who were killed by the Nazis; of these, 1,992 died in concentration camps. (from Vatican City during World War II)
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Image 37Map of the Italian peninsula in 1796, showing the Papal States in central Italy coloured purple (from Vatican City)
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Image 38Map of Vatican City (from Geography of Vatican City)
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Image 39A guard of the Vatican at his sentry box (from Vatican City)
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Image 41The crowds of tourists in St. Peter's Square are a target for pickpockets. (from Crime in Vatican City)
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Image 42The territory of Vatican City State according to the Lateran Treaty (from Vatican City)
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Image 45Cesare Orsenigo (left, with Hitler and Ribbentrop), nuncio to Germany, also served as de facto nuncio to Poland. (from Vatican City during World War II)
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Image 46The basilica as seen from the gardens. (from Gardens of Vatican City)
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Image 47The crowds of tourists in St. Peter's Square are a target for pickpockets (from Vatican City)
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Image 48A map of the United Nations member states (from Vatican City)
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Image 50Armenian cross monument ( Khatchkar) inside the Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
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