Vatican City

The Vatican City, the heart of Rome

The Vatican City is located in the very heart of Rome, an independent, city- state within a country, with special privileges as the supreme authority and head of the Catholic Church (with 1.3 billion Catholics).

This catholic state became an independent city-state in 1929, and its head of state is the Pope. The population of the world´s smallest state is around 1.000 and pretty well all of them are employed by the Catholic Church. Here, there´s a bit of everything: a post office, business, a radio station which transmits in more than 20 languages, its own newspaper, the whole administrative apparatus, museums, and a book publisher.

From a historical perspective, what is interesting is that Vatican Hill is situated on the opposite side of the River Tiber to the ancient seven hills of Romeo n which the city was built. When the Pope returned from his exile in Avignon in 1377, his headquarters was moved to Vatican Hill and has remained there ever since.

Brief facts about the Vatican

The Vatican City is a city encompassing 44.2 hectares in the very heart of  Rome, Italy and it is the smallest sovereign state in the world (both in terms of area and population), that is accepted as such by the rest of the world. The Vatican City´s is a monarchical-state, ruled by the Pope as Head of the Roman Catholic Church.

Capital: Vatican City

Area: 44 hectares

Founded: 11 February 1929

Continent: Europe

Currency: Euro