Vatican City Facts

Vatican City, the place where the sun rises and sets past the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica designed by the legend himself, the great Michelangelo. There are many such interesting facts about Vatican City and we will discuss about those here.

How Vatican City came into existence?

The most amazing fact about Vatican City is that it is the smallest sovereign state in the world. Vatican City in spite of being a part of Italy strangely stands out as an independent state. It was not this way always; the Lateran Treaty established the state after a long series of disputes with the Italian government and gradually the king was taking over the authority but then the Lateran Treaty made Vatican City independent in 1929 and with that Roman Catholicism earned a special place for it in Italy. A concordat was again signed in the year 1984 between the Holy See (Vatican City) and Rome and this time there were certain modifications and alterations that were done to the previous treaty signed. The modifications that were given way were regarding Roman Catholicism being the state religion of Italy. Italy was given religious freedom, though the papal influence was quite strong and the American state established diplomatic relationship with the Vatican City, not to incite and invite its ire.

Interesting facts about Vatican City

• There is still monarchy in Vatican City though it is not hereditary and is ruled by whoever becomes the Bishop of Rome, that is the Pope who is elected.
• The economy of the place is dependent on the printing industry, production of coins, postage stamps and financial activities. It is absolutely non-commercial and the economy is largely supported by the annual tax collected from the Roman Catholic dioceses all over the world. The sale of coins and postage stamps of Vatican City also earns it quite an amount of revenue. It is also a tourist place.
• There is no agricultural activity in the state as such.
• The literacy percentage is hundred percent and the languages spoken by the people of Vatican City are Latin, Italian, French and English.
• The ethnic groups that reside in the state are Italians, Swiss and many other nationalities from all over the world. There is not one nationality from which people reside there.
• The total land area of the state is approximately 0.44 square km and when compared in terms of land area it is only 0.7 times bigger than The Mall in Washington, DC.
• It is a landlocked country and does not have a coastline.
• There are no natural hazards to Vatican City
• It is an urban area and the population of the place is approximately 932. The growth rate of population is approximately 1.15%.
• The form of government there is ecclesiastical and there are no administrative divisions per se.
• The living standard and income of a worker is not much below comparison to an Italian worker, in fact it is comparable.
• There are not many roadways; most of them are only streets and lanes.
• Railways can traverse a maximum of 0.86 km.
• The flag of Vatican City has two bands of yellow, which are vertical and white, in the center of which are the crossed keys of Saint Peter and papal miter.
• The head of the State lives in The Lateran Place where the Lateran Treaty was signed.
• Much before Christianity arrived the place was considered sacred and people were not allowed to stay here.
• It is a great cultural hub from earlier times and artists like Michelangelo, Boticelli and Bernini stayed here and enhanced the already rich culture of Vatican City. There are museums and libraries that are of great intellectual and historical importance.
• Since it is a small state with a small population the crime rate is much higher than Italy and approximately 90% of the cases remain unsolved.
• The transport and communication system of Vatican City is well developed.