Vatican City — formally State of the Vatican City, or Vatican City State (Italian: Stato della Città del Vaticano, Latin: Status Civitatis Vaticanae) — is a sovereign polis whose territory consists of a landlocked enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. The entire state is about 44 hectares (108.7 acres) and thus is 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 in fact clergymen. 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 the Roman Curia. Thus, 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 territory

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The placename is ancient and predates Christianity, coming from the Latin Mons Vaticanus, Vatican Hill. It is part of the Mons Vaticanus, and of the adjacent former Vatican Fields upon which St. Peter's Basilica, the residence of the popes called the Apostolic Palace, with its Sistine Chapel, and museums were built, along with various other buildings. The area until 1929 was part of the roman rione of Borgo. Being separated from the city by the river Tiber, it was an outcrop of the city which was protected by being included by the walls of Leo IV. When the 1929 Lateran treaties that gave the state its present form were being prepared, the fact that a good part of the proposed territory was all but enclosed by this loop led to the present territorial definition being adopted. 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. The territory included St. Peter's Square, which it was not possible to isolate from the rest of Rome and therefore a largely imaginary border with Italy runs along the outer limit of the square where it touches on Piazza Pio XII and Via Paolo VI.

Although technically not included within the territory of the Vatican City State, according to the Lateran treaties, certain properties of the Holy See have an extraterritorial status similar to that of foreign embassies. These include the papal summer residence of Castelgandolfo in the nearby hills, the Lateran Basilica, the basilicas of St. Mary Major and of St Paul Outside the Walls, and a number of other buildings in Rome. Castelgandolfo and the named basilicas are patrolled internally by police agents of the Vatican City State and not by Italian police. St. Peter's Square is ordinarily policed jointly by both.

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Cardinal Defends Apostolic Visitation of U.S. Nuns - VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Cardinal Franc Rode, head of the Vatican of... http://ow.ly/15ZkKd
cathnewslive (Catholic News Live) Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:26:48 -0000
Cardinal Defends Apostolic Visitation of U.S. Nuns - VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Cardinal Franc Rode, head of the Vatican of... http://ow.ly/15ZkKd
@KevinFromConn Damn shame when The Vatican rotates more fresh leadership than a major US city.
misterjaded (Keyser Söze) Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:25:44 -0000
@KevinFromConn Damn shame when The Vatican rotates more fresh leadership than a major US city.
freudit: My and my friend & her little sister were at the Vatican City eating lunch & it was announced that the.. http://bit.ly/4Dr1r9
carslatestnews (Automotive news) Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:02:59 -0000
freudit: My and my friend & her little sister were at the Vatican City eating lunch & it was announced that the.. http://bit.ly/4Dr1r9
st peter's cathedral (vatican city) is literally a few blocks from the rec studio. maybe i'll meet the pope? http://twitpic.com/o813a
woolford (Jamie Woolford) Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:02:04 -0000
st peter's cathedral (vatican city) is literally a few blocks from the rec studio. maybe i'll meet the pope? http://twitpic.com/o813a
#catholic Cardinal Defends Apostolic Visitation of U.S. Nuns : VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Cardinal Franc Rode,.. http://bit.ly/3AGwAG
TopCatholicNews (AmericanCatholic.org) Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:12:54 -0000
#catholic Cardinal Defends Apostolic Visitation of U.S. Nuns : VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Cardinal Franc Rode,.. http://bit.ly/3AGwAG
Well, technically, our first Governors' Mansion was in Annapolis, but it was kinda like the Vatican City but for the Governor, not the Pope
fakeBobEhrlich (ReallySteve Lebowitz) Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:03:01 -0000
Well, technically, our first Governors' Mansion was in Annapolis, but it was kinda like the Vatican City but for the Governor, not the Pope

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