Mondo Knows Facts
Vatican City is the smallest independent country in the world
Enclaved entirely within the city of Rome, Vatican City covers an area of just 0.49 square kilometres.
Established as an independent state under the Lateran Treaty in 1929, Vatican City is governed by the Pope. The sovereign microstate has a population under 800 citizens, its own postal service, and a papal Swiss Guard. Despite its tiny size, St Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Museums house world-famous art treasures.
Where this comes from
Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.
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Tags: vatican city, rome, microstate, borders
Vatican City is the smallest independent country in the world: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- Enclaved entirely within the city of Rome, Vatican City covers an area of just 0.49 square kilometres. The figure is taken from CIA World Factbook, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a world geography fact?
- Yes. It sits on the World Geography shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.
