The Holy See dates back to early Christianity and is the principalepiscopal see of the Catholic Church, which has approximately 1.329 billion baptisedCatholics in the world as of 2018[update] in theLatin Church and 23Eastern Catholic Churches.[25] The independent state of Vatican City, on the other hand, came into existence on 11 February 1929 by theLateran Treaty between the Holy See and Italy, which spoke of it as a new creation,[26] not as a vestige of the much largerPapal States (756–1870), which had previously encompassed much ofCentral Italy.
Vatican City contains religious and cultural sites such asSt. Peter's Basilica, theSistine Chapel, theVatican Apostolic Library, and theVatican Museums. They feature some of the world's most famous paintings and sculptures. The uniqueeconomy of Vatican City is supported financially by donations from Catholic believers, by the sale ofpostage stamps and souvenirs, fees for admission to museums, and sales of publications. Vatican City has no taxes, and items are duty-free.
The nameVatican City was first used in theLateran Treaty, signed on 11 February 1929, which established the modern city-state named afterVatican Hill, the geographic location of the state within the city ofRome. "Vatican" itself is derived from the name of anEtruscan settlement,Vatica orVaticum, located in the general area the Romans calledAger Vaticanus, "Vatican territory".[27]
TheItalian name of the city isCittà del Vaticano or, more formally,Stato della Città del Vaticano, meaning 'State of Vatican City'. ItsLatin name isStatus Civitatis Vaticanae;[28][29] this is used in official documents by theHoly See, the Church and thepope.
The name "Vatican" was already in use in the time of theRoman Republic for theAger Vaticanus, a marshy area on the west bank of theTiber across from the city of Rome, located between theJaniculum, theVatican Hill andMonte Mario, down to theAventine Hill and up to the confluence of theCremera creek.[30] The toponymAger Vaticanus is attested until the 1st century AD: afterwards, another toponym appeared,Vaticanus, denoting an area much more restricted: the Vatican Hill, today'sSt. Peter's Square, and possibly today'sVia della Conciliazione.[30] Because of its vicinity to Rome's archenemy, theEtruscan city ofVeii (another naming for theAger Vaticanus wasRipa Veientana orRipa Etrusca), and for being subjected to the floods of theTiber, the Romans considered this originally uninhabited part of Rome dismal and ominous.[31]
The particularly low quality of Vatican wine, even after the reclamation of the area, was commented on by the poetMartial (AD 40 –c. AD 102).[32]Tacitus wrote that in AD 69, theYear of the Four Emperors, when the northern army that broughtVitellius to power arrived in Rome, "a large proportion camped in the unhealthy districts of the Vatican, which resulted in many deaths among the common soldiery; and the Tiber being close by, the inability of theGauls and Germans to bear the heat and the consequent greed with which they drank from the stream weakened their bodies, which were already an easy prey to disease".[33]
An early interpretation of the relative locations of the circus, and themedieval andcurrent Basilicas of St. PeterOne possible modern interpretation[34]
During theRoman Empire, many villas were constructed there, afterAgrippina the Elder (14 BC – 18 October AD 33) drained the area and laid out her gardens in the early 1st century AD. In AD 40, her son, EmperorCaligula (31 August AD 12 – 24 January AD 41; r. 37–41) built in her gardens a circus for charioteers (AD 40) that was later completed byNero, theCircus Gaii et Neronis,[35] usually called, simply, theCircus of Nero.[36]
Opposite the circus was a cemetery separated by theVia Cornelia. Funeral monuments and mausoleums, and small tombs, as well as altars to pagan gods of all kinds of polytheistic religions, were constructed lasting until before the construction of theConstantinian Basilica of St. Peter in the first half of the 4th century. A shrine dedicated to thePhrygian goddessCybele and her consortAttis remained active long after the ancient Basilica of St. Peter was built nearby.[40]Remains of this ancientnecropolis were brought to light sporadically during renovations by various popes throughout the centuries, increasing in frequency during theRenaissance until it was systematically excavated by orders ofPope Pius XII from 1939 to 1941. The Constantinian basilica was built in 326 over what was believed to be thetomb of Saint Peter, buried in that cemetery.[41]
From then on, the land mass became more populated in connection with activity at the basilica. A palace was constructed nearby as early as the 5th century during the pontificate ofPope Symmachus (reigned498–514).[42]
The Italian peninsula in 1796. The Papal States in central Italy are coloured purple.
Popes gradually came to have a secular role as governors of regions near Rome. They ruled thePapal States, which covered a large portion of theItalian peninsula, for more than a thousand years until the mid-19th century, when all the territory belonging to the papacy was seized by thenewly createdKingdom of Italy.
For most of this time, the popes did not live at the Vatican. TheLateran Palace, on the opposite side of Rome, was their habitual residence for about a thousand years. From 1309 to 1377, they lived atAvignon in France. On their return to Rome, they chose to live at the Vatican. They moved to theQuirinal Palace in 1583, after work on it was completed underPope Paul V (1605–1621), but on thecapture of Rome in 1870 retired to the Vatican, and what had been their residence became that of theKing of Italy.
In1870, the pope's holdings were left in an uncertain situation whenRome itself was annexed by Italian forces, thus bringing to completion theItalian unification, after a nominal resistance by the papal forces. Between 1861 and 1929 the status of the Pope was referred to as the "Roman Question".
Italy made no attempt to interfere with the Holy See within the Vatican walls. However, it confiscated church property in many places. In 1871, the Quirinal Palace was confiscated by the king of Italy and became the royal palace. Thereafter, the popes resided undisturbed within the Vatican walls, and certain papalprerogatives were recognised by theLaw of Guarantees, including the right to send and receive ambassadors. But the popes did not recognise the Italian king's right to rule in Rome, and they refused to leave the Vatican compound until the dispute was resolved in 1929;Pope Pius IX (1846–1878), the last ruler of the Papal States, was referred to as a "prisoner in the Vatican". Forced to give up secular power, the popes focused on spiritual issues.[43]
The Holy See, which governed the Vatican City, pursued a policy of neutrality duringWorld War II under the leadership ofPope Pius XII. AlthoughGerman troops occupied Rome after the September 1943Armistice of Cassibile, withAllied forces pushing them out in 1944, both sides respected the Vatican City's status asneutral territory.[47] One of the main diplomatic priorities of Pius XII was to prevent the bombing of the city; a high level of sensitivity led him to protest even the dropping of pamphlets over Rome by theRoyal Air Force, claiming that the few which landed within the Vatican City violated its neutrality.[48] The British government's policy towards the Vatican, as expressed in the minutes of a Cabinet meeting, was "that we should on no account molest the Vatican City, but that our action as regards the rest of Rome would depend upon how far the Italian government observed the rules of war".[48]
After the United States entered into the war, US officials were against bombing the Vatican City, fearful of offending Catholic members of theAmerican military, but said that "they could not stop the British from bombing Rome if the British so decided". The US military even exempted Catholic servicemembers from air raids on Rome and other areas with a significant Catholic presence, unless they voluntarily agreed to participate. Notably, with the exception of Rome, and presumably the possibility of the Vatican, no Catholic US servicemember refused a mission within German-held Italy. On the other hand, the British insisted "they would bomb Rome whenever the needs of the war demanded".[49]
In December 1942, the British envoy to the Holy See suggested that Rome be declared anopen city, a suggestion that the Holy See took more seriously than was probably meant by the envoy, who did not want Rome to be an open city, but Mussolini rejected the suggestion when the Holy See put it to him. In connection with theAllied invasion of Sicily, 500United States Army Air Forces aircraftbombed Rome on 19 July 1943, targeting the city's railway hub in particular. Approximately 1,500 people were killed, and Pius XII, who had been described in the previous month as "worried sick" about the possibility of Rome being bombed, toured the affected areas. Another Allied bombing raid took place on 13 August 1943, after Mussolini had beenousted from power.[50] On the following day, the new Italian government declared Rome an open city, after consulting the Holy See on the wording of the declaration.[51]
In 1984, a newconcordat between the Holy See and Italy modified certain provisions of the earlier treaty, including the position of Catholic Christianity as the Italian state religion, a position given to it by a statute of theKingdom of Sardinia of 1848.[44]
Construction in 1995 of a new guest house,Domus Sanctae Marthae, adjacent toSt Peter's Basilica was criticized by Italian environmental groups, backed by Italian politicians. They claimed the new building would block views of the Basilica from nearby Italian apartments.[54] For a short while the plans strained the relations between the Vatican and the Italian government. The head of the Vatican's Department of Technical Services robustly rejected challenges to the Vatican State's right to build within its borders.[54]
Map of Vatican City, highlighting notable buildings and the Vatican gardens
The name "Vatican" was already in use in the time of theRoman Republic for theAger Vaticanus, a marshy area on the west bank of theTiber across from the city of Rome, located between theJaniculum, theVatican Hill andMonte Mario, down to theAventine Hill and up to the confluence of theCremera creek.[30] The territory of Vatican City is part of the Vatican Hill, and of the adjacent former Vatican Fields. It is in this territory thatSt. Peter's Basilica, theApostolic Palace, theSistine Chapel, and museums were built, along with various other buildings. The area was part of the Romanrione ofBorgo until 1929. Being separated from the city, on the west bank of the river Tiber, the area was an outcrop of the city that was protected by being included within the walls ofLeo IV (847–855), and later expanded by the current fortification walls, built underPaul III (1534–1549),Pius IV (1559–1565), andUrban VIII (1623–1644).[56]
Territory of Vatican City State according to theLateran Treaty
When theLateran Treaty of 1929 that gave the state its form was being prepared, the boundaries of the proposed territory were influenced by the fact that much of it was all but enclosed by this loop. For some tracts of the frontier, there was no wall, but the line of certain buildings supplied part of the boundary, and for a small part of the frontier a modern wall was constructed.[57]
The territory includesSt. Peter's Square, distinguished from the territory ofItaly only by a white line along the limit of the square, where it touches Piazza Pio XII. St. Peter's Square is reached through theVia della Conciliazione which runs from close to the Tiber to St. Peter's. This grand approach was constructed byBenito Mussolini after the conclusion of the Lateran Treaty.
According to the Lateran Treaty, certainproperties of the Holy See that are located in Italian territory, most notably thePapal Palace of Castel Gandolfo and themajor basilicas, enjoy extraterritorial status similar to that of foreignembassies.[44][58] These properties, scattered all over Rome and Italy, house essential offices and institutions necessary to the character and mission of the Holy See.[58]
Castel Gandolfo and the named basilicas are patrolled internally bypolice agents of Vatican City State and not byItalian police. According to the Lateran Treaty (Art. 3) St. Peter's Square, up to but not including the steps leading to the basilica, is normally patrolled by the Italian police.[44]
There are no passport controls for visitors entering Vatican City from the surrounding Italian territory. There is free public access to Saint Peter's Square and Basilica and, on the occasion of papal general audiences, to the hall in which they are held. For these audiences and for major ceremonies in Saint Peter's Basilica and Square, tickets free of charge must be obtained beforehand.The Vatican Museums, incorporating the Sistine Chapel, usually charge an entrance fee. There is no general public access to the gardens, but guided tours for small groups can be arranged to the gardens and excavations under thebasilica. Other places are open to only those individuals who have business to transact there.[59]
St. Peter's Square, the basilica and obelisk, from Piazza Pio XII
Vatican City's climate is the same as Rome's: atemperate,Mediterranean climateCsa with mild, rainy winters from October to mid-May and hot, dry summers from May to September. Some minor local features, principally mists and dews, are caused by the anomalous bulk of St Peter's Basilica, the elevation, the fountains, and the size of the large paved square. The highest temperature ever recorded was 40.8 °C (105.4 °F) on 28 June 2022.[60]
Climate data for Vatican City(data of Aeroporto Roma-Ciampino "Giovan Battista Pastine")
Within the territory of Vatican City are theVatican Gardens (Italian:Giardini Vaticani),[71] which account for about half of this territory. The gardens, established during theRenaissance andBaroque era, are decorated with fountains and sculptures.
The gardens cover approximately 23 hectares (57 acres). The highest point is 60 metres (197 ft)above mean sea level. Stone walls bound the area in the north, south, and west.
The gardens date back to medieval times when orchards and vineyards extended to the north of the PapalApostolic Palace.[72] In 1279,Pope Nicholas III (Giovanni Gaetano Orsini, 1277–1280) moved his residence back to the Vatican from theLateran Palace and enclosed this area with walls.[73] He planted an orchard (pomerium), a lawn (pratellum), and a garden (viridarium).[73]
Panorama of the gardens viewed from St. Peter's Basilica
The politics of Vatican City takes place in the context of anabsoluteelective monarchy and being governed by theHoly See, in which the head of the Catholic Church holds power. The Pope exercises principal legislative, executive, and judicial power over the State of Vatican City, which is a rare case of a non-hereditary monarchy.
The Vatican City State, created in 1929 by theLateran Pacts, provides the Holy See with a temporal jurisdiction and independence within a small territory. It is distinct from the Holy See. The state can thus be deemed a significant but not essential instrument of the Holy See. The Holy See itself has existed continuously as a juridical entity since Roman Imperial times and has been internationally recognised as a powerful and independent sovereign entity sinceLate Antiquity to the present, without interruption even at times when it was deprived of territory (e.g. 1870 to 1929).
Vatican City is one of the few widely recognised independent states that has not become a member of theUnited Nations.[74] The Holy See, which is distinct from Vatican City State, haspermanent observer status, with all the rights of a full member except for a vote in theUN General Assembly.
The government of Vatican City has a unique structure. As governed by the Holy See, the Pope is the sovereign of the state, but he is supported by different bodies. While legislative authority is also managed, in the Pope's name, by thePontifical Commission for Vatican City State, a body of cardinals appointed by the Pope for five-year periods, executive power is exercised by thepresident of that commission (who is consequently also the President of the Governorate), assisted by the General Secretary and the Deputy General Secretary.[75][76] The state's foreign relations are entrusted to the Holy See'sSecretariat of State and diplomatic service.
Nevertheless, the Pope has absolute power in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches over Vatican City,[77]and is thus the onlyabsolute monarch in Europe.[78]
Operationally, there are departments that deal with health, security, telecommunications and other matters.[77]
TheApostolic 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.
As Vatican City is governed by theHoly See, the Pope isex officiohead of state[82] of Vatican City, a function dependent on his primordial function as bishop of thediocese of Rome and head of theCatholic Church.[83] The term "Holy See" refers not to the Vatican state but to the Pope's spiritual and pastoral governance, largely exercised through theRoman Curia.[84] His official title with regard to Vatican City isSovereign of the State of the Vatican City.
Executive authority is delegated to the President of the Governorate of Vatican City, who is also the President of the Pontificial Commission. In addition, the Governorate include two immediate collaborators of the President: the General Secretary and the Deputy General Secretary, members of the General Secretariat,each appointed by the Pope for five-year terms.[citation needed]Important actions of the Governorate must be confirmed by the Pontifical Commission and by the Pope through the Secretariat of State.[citation needed] Both thePontifical Commission for Vatican City State and the President of the Governorate of Vatican City can be assisted by the Councilors of Vatican City State in draftinglegislation and other important issues. The President of the Governorate can convoke the members of the Council of Directors, together with externalexperts and people. The Governorate oversees the central governmental functions through several departments and offices.[85][86][87]The directors and officials of these offices are appointed by the Pope for five-year terms.[citation needed]
The Governorate is organized into central offices (one for law and another for personnel matters) and directorates with roles in the following matters:
There are also subsidiary bodies formonetary, disciplinary, personnel and personnel selection matters.[90]
In the Pope's name,judiciary functions (Vatican judiciary) are exercised by four bodies: a Supreme Court, a Court of Appeal, a Tribunal and a Sole Judge, whose roles are established by the Vatican codes of criminal and civil procedure, and the 2013 "Motu Proprio On the Jurisdiction of Judicial Authorities of Vatican City State in Criminal Matters".[91] At the Vatican's request, sentences imposed can be served in Italy (see thesection on crime, below).
As Vatican City is an enclave within Italy, its military defence is provided by theItalian Armed Forces. However, there is no formal defence treaty with Italy, as Vatican City is aneutral state. Vatican City has no armed forces of its own, although theSwiss Guard is a military corps of the Holy See responsible for the personal security of the Pope, and residents in the state. Soldiers of the Swiss Guard are entitled to hold Vatican City State passports and nationality. Swissmercenaries were historically recruited by Popes as part of an army for the Papal States, and thePontifical Swiss Guard was founded byPope Julius II on 22 January 1506 as the Pope's personal bodyguard and continues to fulfill that function. It is listed in theAnnuario Pontificio under "Holy See", not under "State of Vatican City". At the end of 2005, the Guard had 134 members. Recruitment is arranged by a special agreement between the Holy See and Switzerland. All recruits must be Catholic, unmarried males with Swiss citizenship who have completed theirbasic training with theSwiss Armed Forces with certificates of good conduct, be between the ages of 19 and 30, and be at least 174 cm (5 ft 9 in) in height. Members are equipped withsmall arms and the traditionalhalberd (also called the Swiss voulge), and trained in bodyguarding tactics. Together with theCorps of Gendarmerie of Vatican City, theSwiss Guard have roles in theItaly-Vaticanborder control.[92] ThePalatine Guard and theNoble Guard, the last armed forces of the Vatican City State, were disbanded byPope Paul VI in 1970.[53]
Civil defence is the responsibility of theCorps of Firefighters of the Vatican City State, the nationalfire brigade. Dating its origins to the early nineteenth century, the Corps in its present form was established in 1941. It is responsible for fire fighting, as well as a range of civil defence scenarios includingflood,natural disaster, andmass casualty incident. The Corps is governmentally supervised through the Directorate for Security Services and Civil Defence, which is also responsible for the Gendarmerie (see below).
TheGendarmerie Corps (Corpo della Gendarmeria) is thegendarmerie, or police and security force, of Vatican City and theextraterritorial properties of the Holy See.[96] The corps is responsible for security,public order,border control,traffic control,criminal investigation, and other general police duties in Vatican City including providing security for the Pope outside of Vatican City. The corps has 130 personnel and is a part of the Directorate for Security Services and Civil Defence (which also includes the Vatican Fire Brigade), an organ of the Governorate of Vatican City.[97][98]
The crowds of tourists inSt. Peter's Square are a target for pickpockets.
Crime in Vatican City consists largely of purse snatching,pickpocketing andshoplifting by outsiders.[99] The tourist foot-traffic inSt. Peter's Square is one of the main locations for pickpockets in Vatican City.[100] If crimes are committed in Saint Peter's Square, the perpetrators may be arrested and tried by the Italian authorities, since that area is normally patrolled by Italian police.[101]
Under the terms of article 22 of the Lateran Treaty,[44] Italy will, at the request of the Holy See, punish individuals for crimes committed within Vatican City and will itself proceed against the person who committed the offence, if that person takes refuge in Italian territory. Persons accused of crimes recognised as such both in Italy and in Vatican City that are committed in Italian territory will be handed over to the Italian authorities if they take refuge in Vatican City or in buildings that enjoy immunity under the treaty.[44][102]
Vatican City has no prison system, apart from a few detention cells for pre-trial detention.[103] People convicted of committing crimes in the Vatican serve terms inItalian prisons (Polizia Penitenziaria), with costs covered by the Vatican.[104]
TheIngresso di Sant'Anna, an entrance to Vatican City from Italy
Vatican City State is a recognised national territory under international law, but it is the Holy See that conducts diplomatic relations on its behalf, in addition to the Holy See's own diplomacy, entering intointernational agreements in its regard. Vatican City thus has no diplomatic service of its own.
Because of space limitations, Vatican City is one of the few countries in the world that is unable to host embassies. Foreign embassies to the Holy See are located in the city of Rome; only during the Second World War were the staff of some embassies accredited to the Holy See given what hospitality was possible within the narrow confines of Vatican City—embassies such as that of the United Kingdom while Rome was held by theAxis Powers and Germany's when the Allies controlled Rome.
The size of Vatican City is thus unrelated to the large global reach exercised by the Holy See as an entity quite distinct from the state.[105]
However, Vatican City State itself participates in some international organizations whose functions relate to the state as a geographical entity, distinct from the non-territorial legal persona of the Holy See. These organizations are much less numerous than those in which the Holy See participates either as a member or with observer status. They include the following eight, in each of which Vatican City State holds membership:[106][107]
Image of theUnited Nations member state borders on a map
The Vatican City is not a member of theUnited Nations (UN), but was granted observer status to theUnited Nations General Assembly in 1968; the only other country in a similar position is the partially recognisedState of Palestine. Since it is not a member of the UN, the Vatican City is not subjected to the jurisdiction of theInternational Court of Justice (ICJ). It does, however, engage with various UN specialized agencies through its observer status including theCentral Emergency Response Fund, to which it contributed US$20,000 between 2006 and 2022.[109]
The Vatican City State is not a member of theInternational Criminal Court (ICC). In Europe, onlyBelarus is also a non-party, non-signatory state, while Ukraine andMonaco are signatory states that have not ratified and Russia withdrew from it in 2016.
The Vatican City State is also one of few countries in the world that does not provide any publicly available financial data to the International Monetary Fund.[116]
The Vatican City State budget includes theVatican Museums and post office and is supported financially by the sale ofstamps,coins, medals and tourist mementos; by fees for admission to museums; and by publications sales.[l] The incomes and living standards of lay workers are comparable to those of counterparts who work in the city of Rome.[117] Other industries include printing, the production of mosaics, and the manufacture of staff uniforms.
Vatican Museums' "New Wing", built byRaffaele Stern (1774–1820)
TheInstitute for Works of Religion (IOR,Istituto per le Opere di Religione), also known as the Vatican Bank, is a financial agency situated in the Vatican that conducts worldwide financial activities. It has multilingualATMs with instructions inLatin, possibly the only ATM in the world with this feature.[118]
Vatican City issues its own coins and stamps. It has used the euro as its currency since 1 January 1999, owing to a special agreement with theEuropean Union (council decision 1999/98/EC). Euro coins and notes were introduced on 1 January 2002—the Vatican does not issueeuro banknotes. Issuance of euro-denominated coins is strictly limited by treaty, though somewhat more than usual is allowed in a year in which there is a change in the papacy.[119] Because of their rarity,Vatican euro coins are highly sought by collectors.[120] Until the adoption of the Euro, Vatican coinage and stamps were denominated in their ownVatican lira currency, which was on par with the Italianlira.
Vatican City State, which employs nearly 2,000 people, had a surplus of 6.7 millioneuros in 2007 but ran a deficit in 2008 of over 15 million euros.[121]
In 2012, the US Department of State's International Narcotics Control Strategy Report listed Vatican City for the first time among the nations of concern formoney-laundering, placing it in the middle category, which includes countries such as Ireland, but not among the most vulnerable countries, which include the United States itself, Germany, Italy, and Russia.[122]
On 24 February 2014, the Vatican announced it was establishing a secretariat for the economy, to be responsible for all economic, financial, and administrative activities of the Holy See and the Vatican City State, headed by CardinalGeorge Pell. This followed the charging of two senior clerics including amonsignor with money laundering offences. Pope Francis also appointed an auditor-general authorized to carry out random audits of any agency at any time and engaged a US financial services company to review the Vatican's 19,000 accounts to ensure compliance with international money laundering practices. The pontiff also ordered that theAdministration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See would be the Vatican's central bank, with responsibilities similar to other central banks around the world.[123]
In 2022, the Vatican planned to releaseNFTs of its museum collection.[124]
Vatican City has a reasonably well-developed transport network considering its size (consisting mostly of a piazza and walkways). As a state that is 1.05 kilometres (1,150 yards) long and 0.85 km (930 yd) wide,[125] it has a smalltransportation system with no airports or highways.
The Vatican also controls its own Internettop-level domain, which is registered as (.va). Broadband service is widely provided within Vatican City. Vatican City has also been given a radioITU prefix, HV, and this is sometimes used byamateur radio operators.
Vatican Radio, which was organized byGuglielmo Marconi, broadcasts onshort-wave,medium-wave and FM frequencies and on the Internet.[129] Its main transmission antennae are located in Italian territory, and exceed Italian environmental protection levels of emission. For this reason, the Vatican Radio has beensued. Television services are provided through another entity, theVatican Television Center.[130]
L'Osservatore Romano is the multilingual semi-official newspaper of the Holy See. It is published by a private corporation under the direction of Catholic laymen, but reports on official information. However, the official texts of documents are in theActa Apostolicae Sedis, theofficial gazette of the Holy See, which has an appendix for documents of the Vatican City State.
Vatican Radio, the Vatican Television Center, and L'Osservatore Romano are organs not of the Vatican State but of the Holy See, and are listed as such in theAnnuario Pontificio, which places them in the section "Institutions linked with the Holy See", ahead of the sections on the Holy See's diplomatic service abroad and thediplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See, after which is placed the section on the State of Vatican City.
In 2008, the Vatican began an "ecological island" for renewable waste and has continued the initiative throughout the papacy ofFrancis. These innovations included, for example, the installation of a solar power system on the roof of thePaul VI Audience Hall. In July 2019, it was announced that Vatican City would ban the use and sale ofsingle-use plastics as soon as its supply was depleted, well before the 2021 deadline established by theEuropean Union. It is estimated that 50–55% of Vatican City's municipal solid waste is properly sorted and recycled, with the goal of reaching the EU standard of 70–75%.[134]
As of 2024[update], Vatican City has a population of 882 residents, regardless of citizenship.[15] There are also 372 Vatican citizens residing elsewhere,[15] consisting of diplomats of the Holy See to other countries and cardinals residing in Rome.[135]
The population is composed of clergy, other religious members, laypeople serving the state (such as the Swiss Guard) and their family members.[136] In 2013 there were 13 families of the employees of the Holy See living in Vatican City,[137] in 2019 there were 20 children of the Swiss Guards living at the Vatican.[138] All citizens, residents, and places of worship in the city areCatholic. The city also receives thousands of tourists and workers every day.
The Seal of Vatican City. Note the use of the Italian language.
Vatican City has no formally enactedofficial language, but, unlike the Holy See which most often usesLatin for the authoritative version of its official documents, Vatican City uses only Italian in its legislation and official communications.[139] Italian is also the everyday language used by most of those who work in the state. In the Swiss Guard, Swiss German is the language used for giving commands, but the individual guards take their oath of loyalty in their own languages: German, French, Italian orRomansh. The official websites of the Holy See[140] and of Vatican City[141] are primarily in Italian, with versions of their pages in a large number of languages to varying extents.
Unlikecitizenship of other states, which is based either onjus sanguinis (birth from a citizen, even outside the state's territory) or onjus soli (birth within the territory of the state), citizenship of Vatican City is granted onjus officii, namely on the grounds of appointment to work in a certain capacity in the service of the Holy See. It usually ceases upon the cessation of the appointment. Citizenship is also extended to the spouse and children of a citizen, provided that they are living together in the city.[135] Some individuals are also authorized to reside in the city but do not qualify or choose not to request citizenship.[135] Anyone who loses Vatican citizenship and does not possess other citizenship automatically becomes anItalian citizen, as provided in the Lateran Treaty.[44]
The Holy See, not being a country, issues onlydiplomatic andservice passports, whereas Vatican City issuesordinarypassports for its citizens.
In statistics comparing countries in variousper capita or per area metrics, Vatican City is often an outlier—these can stem from the state's small size and ecclesiastical function.[142] For example, as most of the roles which would confer citizenship are reserved for men, the gender ratio of the citizenship is several men per woman.[143] Further oddities are petty crimes against tourists resulting in a very high per-capita crime rate,[144] and the city-state leading the world in per-capita wine consumption due to itssacramental use.[142] A jocular illustration of these anomalies is sometimes made by calculating a "Popes per km2" statistic, which is greater than two because the country is less than half a square kilometre in area.[145]
360-degree view from the dome ofSt. Peter's Basilica, looking over the Vatican'sSaint Peter's Square (centre) and out into Rome, showing Vatican City in all directions
^Many other languages are used by institutions situated within the state, such as theHoly See, thePontifical Swiss Guard, and thePontifical Academy of Sciences. The Holy See usesLatin as its official language and Italian as its main working and diplomatic language; in addition, itsSecretariat of State usesEnglish,French, German, Italian,Polish,Portuguese andSpanish. The Swiss Guard has three command languages: German, French and Italian; the chaplain of the guard reads aloud the full oath of allegiance in these three languages.[3]
^The Lateran Treaty was ratified,[11] and took effect, on 7 June 1929.[12]
^abTheDe Agostini Atlas Calendar listed the area of Vatican City as 44 ha in its 1930 edition[13] but corrected it to 49 ha in its 1945–1946 edition.[14] The figure of 44 ha is still widely cited by many sources despite its inaccuracy.
^ITU-T assigned code 379 to Vatican City. However, Vatican City is included in the Italian telephone numbering plan and uses the Italian country code 39, followed by 06 (for Rome) and 698.
^Visitors and tourists are not permitted to drive inside Vatican City without specific permission, which is normally granted only to those on official business in Vatican City.
Portuguese:Cidade do Vaticano—Estado da Cidade do Vaticano
Spanish:Ciudad del Vaticano—Estado de la Ciudad del Vaticano.
^The Holy See is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City and a sovereign entity recognised by international law, consisting of the Pope and theRoman Curia. It is also metonymically referred to as "The Vatican".
^The Holy See's budget, which is distinct from that of Vatican City State, is supported financially by a variety of sources, including investments, real estate income, and donations from Catholic individuals, dioceses, and institutions; these help fund the Roman Curia (Vatican bureaucracy), diplomatic missions, and media outlets. Moreover, an annual collection taken up in dioceses and direct donations go to a non-budgetary fund known as Peter's Pence, which is used directly by the Pope for charity, disaster relief and aid to churches in developing nations.
^"Holy See (Vatican City)",The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 28 December 2022,archived from the original on 26 January 2022, retrieved4 January 2023
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Petacco, Laura (2016). "La Meta Romuli e ilTerebinthus Neronis". In Claudio Parisi Presicce; Laura Petacco (eds.).La Spina: dall'Agro vaticano a via della Conciliazione (in Italian). Rome.ISBN978-88-492-3320-9.
Liverani, Paolo (2016). "Un destino di marginalità: storia e topografia dell'area vaticana nell'antichità". In Claudio Parisi Presicce; Laura Petacco (eds.).La Spina: dall'Agro vaticano a via della Conciliazione (in Italian). Rome.ISBN978-88-492-3320-9.
Kent, Peter C. (2002).The Lonely Cold War of Pope Pius XII: The Catholic Church and the Division of Europe, 1943–1950. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.ISBN978-0-7735-2326-5.
Ricci, Corrado; Begni, Ernesto (2003) [1914].The Vatican: Its History, Its Treasures. Kessinger Publishing.ISBN978-0-7661-3941-1.
Shaw, Tamsin, "Ethical Espionage" (review of Calder Walton,Spies: The Epic Intelligence War Between East and West, Simon and Schuster, 2023, 672 pp.; andCécile Fabre,Spying Through a Glass Darkly: The Ethics of Espionage and Counter-Intelligence, Oxford University Press, 251 pp., 2024),The New York Review of Books, vol. LXXI, no. 2 (8 February 2024), pp. 32, 34–35. "[I]n Walton's view, there was scarcely a UScovert action that was a long-term strategic success, with the possible exception of intervention in theSoviet-Afghan War (a disastrous military fiasco for theSoviets) and perhaps support for the anti-SovietSolidarity movement inPoland." (p. 34.)
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