Portal:Vatican City

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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 flag of Vatican City was adopted on June 7, 1929, the year Pope Pius XI signed the Lateran Treaty with Italy, creating a new independent state governed by the Holy See. The Vatican flag is modeled on the flag of the earlier Papal States.

The flag consists of two vertical bands, one of gold (hoist side) and one of white with the crossed keys of Saint Peter and the Papal Tiara centered in the white band. The crossed keys consist of a golden and a silver key, in which the silver key is placed in the dexter position. The flag is one of only two square country flags in the world, the other being the flag of Switzerland. The yellow and white stripes break the heraldic rule of tincture.

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Credit: Владимир Шеляпин

The Gallery of Maps is a gallery located on the west side of the Belvedere Courtyard in the Vatican containing a series of painted topographical maps of Italy based on drawings by friar and geographer Ignazio Danti.

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The following are images from various Vatican City-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1View of Vatican City in the evening (from Vatican City)
Image 2Vatican City's post office was established in February 1929. (from Vatican City)
Image 3A view of St. Peter's Square from the top of Michelangelo's dome (from Vatican City)
Image 4Map of the Italian peninsula in 1796, showing the Papal States in central Italy coloured purple (from Vatican City)
Image 5Part of the Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 6Armenian cross monument (Khatchkar) inside the Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 7Musicians of the British Army's 38th (Irish) Brigade playing in front of St. Peter's Basilica in June 1944 (from Vatican City)
Image 8The Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Casina Pio IV (from Vatican City)
Image 9The basilica as seen from the gardens. (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 10Tourists 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)
Image 11A souvenir shop on the roof of St. Peter's Basilica (from Economy of Vatican City)
Image 12Members 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)
Image 13A 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)
Image 14Map of Vatican City (from Geography of Vatican City)
Image 15The Fountain of the Eagle "Fontana dell'Aquilone" in the Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 16An early interpretation of the relative locations of the circus, and the medieval and current Basilicas of St. Peter (from Vatican City)
Image 17Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 18Cesare Orsenigo (left, with Hitler and Ribbentrop), nuncio to Germany, also served as de facto nuncio to Poland. (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 19The crowds of tourists in St. Peter's Square are a target for pickpockets. (from Crime in Vatican City)
Image 20The Palace of the Governorate of Vatican City State (from Vatican City)
Image 21The territory of Vatican City State according to the Lateran Treaty (from Vatican City)
Image 22Pope 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)
Image 23A map of Vatican City, highlighting notable buildings and the Vatican gardens (from Vatican City)
Image 24A guard of the Vatican at his sentry box (from Vatican City)
Image 25Polish ambassador to the Vatican, Kazimierz Papée, was critical of Pius XII's pre-war mediation efforts. (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 26The Vatican City came into existence in 1929, a decade before the start of World War II (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 271€-Vatican_Franciscus-Revers (from Economy of Vatican City)
Image 28President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama meet with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican on July 10, 2009. (from Women in Vatican City)
Image 29A map of the United Nations member states (from Vatican City)
Image 30One possible modern interpretation (from Vatican City)
Image 31Empress 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)
Image 32A pay phone in the Vatican City (from Vatican City)
Image 33The Ingresso di Sant'Anna, an entrance to Vatican City from Italy (from Vatican City)
Image 34Torre 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)
Image 35Bernardino Nogara, the chief Vatican financier during the war (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 36The 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)
Image 37A view of the Gardens of Vatican City (from Geography of Vatican City)
Image 38An ATM in Vatican City with Latin instructions (from Economy of Vatican City)
Image 39The Seal of Vatican City. Note the use of the Italian language (from Vatican City)
Image 40Vatican Museums' "New Wing", built by Raffaele Stern (1774–1820) (from Vatican City)
Image 41Enlargeable, detailed map of Vatican City (from Geography of Vatican City)
Image 42Italian Garden (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 43The crowds of tourists in St. Peter's Square are a target for pickpockets (from Vatican City)
Image 44The 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)
Image 45A Vatican gendarmerie car (from Vatican City)
Image 46The shortest national railway system in the world (from Vatican City)
Image 47St. Peter's Basilica is one of the most renowned works of Renaissance architecture (from Vatican City)
Image 48The Vatican obelisk in St. Peter's Square was brought to Rome from Egypt by Caligula. (from Vatican City)
Image 49Pope Leo XIV, 2025 (from Vatican City)
Image 50Palace of the Governorate of Vatican City State (from Gardens of Vatican City)

Did you know?

... that sport in Vatican City has included cricket, calcio fiorentino, and taekwondo?
... that some Catholics considered Tom Lehrer's "The Vatican Rag" (audio featured) to be blasphemous?
... that Karl Malte von Heinz designed the Vatican, Pakistani, Yugoslav and Thai diplomatic missions in India?
... that Vatican Cycling is the first Vatican sports governing body to be recognized by a world governing body?
... that Antiqua et nova is a Vatican document that expresses serious ethical concerns surrounding the usage of artificial intelligence?
... that Vatican Taekwondo has no registered athletes or coaches?

...that the 22 Bodmer Papyri from a fifth-century Egyptian monastic library near Nag Hammadi contain three plays by Menander and fragments of the Iliad, as well as early versions of the Gospel of Luke and Gospel of John?"