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Vatican City

Capital of Vatican CityVatican City is a tiny enclave inside the city of Rome, on the west bank of the River Tiber, in the central-western part of the Italian Peninsula.

Why it's the capital

For more than a thousand years popes ruled the Papal States across a large part of Italy, until the new Kingdom of Italy took those lands in the 19th century. In 1929 the Lateran Treaty between the Holy See and Italy created the independent city-state of Vatican City, ruled by the pope.

Fun facts

  1. With an area of 44 hectares, it is the smallest country in the world by both area and population.
  2. Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel between 1508 and 1512, including the scene known as The Creation of Adam.
  3. The Swiss Guard has protected the pope since 1506 and is sometimes called the world's smallest army.

Finding it on the globe

Find Rome, in the central-western part of Italy, and tap right on it: the Vatican is only about 5 km from the centre of Rome.

Easy to mix up

The Vatican is a separate country, not part of Italy, even though Rome surrounds it. In St Peter's Square the border with Italy is only a white line on the ground.

Sources: Wikipedia: Vatican City, Wikipedia: Sistine Chapel ceiling, Wikipedia: Pontifical Swiss Guard, Wikipedia: Rome