Vatican City is the smallest independent state in the world in terms of inhabitants and size. The borders are represented by its walls and the travertine pavement curve that joins the two wings of the colonnades in St Peter’s Square.

Beyond the territory of the State, Vatican jurisdiction also covers some extraterritorial areas within and outside Rome. Vatican City, officially State of the Vatican City (Latin: Status Civitatis Vaticanae; Italian: Stato della Città del Vaticano), is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome. At approximately 44 hectares (108.7 acres), The state came into existence by virtue of the Lateran Treaty in 1929, which speaks of it as a new creation (Preamble and Article III), not as a vestige of the much larger Papal States (756 to 1870) that had previously encompassed central Italy, most of which was absorbed into the Kingdom of Italy in 1860, and the final part, the city of Rome and a small area close to it, ten years later. Vatican City is a non-hereditary, elected monarchy that is ruled by the Bishop of Rome — the Pope. The highest state functionaries are all clergymen of the Catholic Church. It is the sovereign territory of the Holy See (Latin:Sancta Sedes) and the location of the Apostolic Palace — the Pope's official residence — and of much of the Roman Curia.

Origins and Nature: Vatican City State was founded following the signing of the Lateran Pacts between the Holy See and Italy on February 11th 1929. These were ratified on June 7th 1929. Its nature as a sovereign State...

Geography: Vatican City lies just beyond the right bank of the Tiber River on a slight rise, part of the ancient Montes Vaticani (the Vatican Hill), on which several villas were built in pre-Christian times... Extraterritoriality The whole area of Vatican City is under the protection of the Hague Convention of May 14th 1954 which refers to the safeguarding of cultural heritage sites in the case of armed conflicts...

Population: The population of Vatican City is about 800 people, of whom over 450 have Vatican citizenship, while the rest have permission to reside there, either temporarily or permanently, without the benefit... Coins and Stamps Vatican City mints its own coins and issues its own postage stamps. By reason of a monetary Convention with Italy, which acted on behalf of the European Community on...