Vatican City, formally State of the Vatican City, or Vatican City State, is a sovereign polis whose territory consists of a landlocked enclave within the city of Rome, Italy.The entire state is about 44 hectares, thereby considered as a European microstate. It is the smallest independent nation in the world.
Since it is governed by the Bishop of Rome (the Pope), its government can be described as ecclesiastical and the highest state functionaries are clergymen.
The state is the sovereign territory of the Holy See and the location of the Apostolic Palace – the Pope’s official residence – and the Roman Curia.
Although the principal ecclesiastical seat of the Holy See (Basilica of St. John Lateran) is located in Rome itself, the Vatican City can be said to be the governmental capital of the Catholic Church of both East and West.
The Vatican City is situated on the Vatican Hill in the north-western part of Rome, several hundred meters west of the Tiber river, on the latter’s right bank. Its borders (3.2 km or 2 miles in total), closely follow the city wall.
The situation is more complex at the famous St. Peter’s Square in front of the St. Peter’s Basilica, where the correct border is just outside the ellipse formed by Bernal’s colonnade.
Vatican City has its own constitution, postal system, seal, flag, and other symbols of statehood. The Vatican also has its own army, the Swiss Guard, numbering about 100 soldiers. Vatican Radio is the official radio station, and powerful transmitters beam "the Pope’s Voice" to a global audience.
Vatican City is the last remnant of the Papal States, a swath of territories in central Italy acquired over the centuries by the Catholic Church and governed by the Pope. Vatican City was established in 1929 under terms of the Lateran Treaty concluded by the Italian government and the papacy after many years of controversy.
Under the treaty, the Catholic Church ceded all claims to the Papal States in return for financial compensation and sovereignty over the Holy See within the state of Vatican City.
We congratulate the people of Vatican City and His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, on the occasion of their National Day.
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Sotto Voce
(Source: MBO)