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The flag of Vatican City
Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State (Italian : Stato della Città del Vaticano ; Latin : Status Civitatis Vaticanae ), is a landlocked sovereign country , city-state , microstate , and enclave within Rome , Italy . It became independent from Italy in 1929 with the Lateran Treaty , and it is a distinct territory under "full ownership, exclusive dominion, and sovereign authority and jurisdiction" of the Holy See , itself a sovereign entity under international law , which maintains the city-state's temporal power and governance , diplomatic , and spiritual independence . The Vatican is also a metonym for the pope , Holy See, and Roman Curia .
With an area of 49 hectares (121 acres) and as of 2023 a population of about 764, it is the smallest state in the world both by area and by population . As governed by the Holy See, Vatican City State is an ecclesiastical or sacerdotal -monarchical state ruled by the Pope, who is the bishop of Rome and head of the Catholic Church . The highest state functionaries are all Catholic clergy of various origins. After the Avignon Papacy (1309–1377) the popes have mainly resided at the Apostolic Palace within what is now Vatican City, although at times residing instead in the Quirinal Palace in Rome or elsewhere. (Full article... )
The Fundamental Law of Vatican City State , promulgated by Pope John Paul II on 26 November 2000, is the Supreme Law of the Vatican . It obtained the Force of Law of 22 February 2001, Feast of the Chair of St. Peter , Apostle, and replaced in its entirety law N. I (the Fundamental Law of Vatican City of 7 June 1929). All the norms in force in Vatican City State which were not in agreement with the new Law were abrogated and the original of the Fundamental Law, bearing the Seal of Vatican City State , was deposited in the Archive of the Laws of Vatican City State and the corresponding text was published in the Supplement to the Acta Apostolicae Sedis [1] . The law consists of 20 Articles.
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The following are images from various Vatican City-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1 Vatican Gardens (from
Gardens of Vatican City )
Image 2 An
ATM in Vatican City with
Latin instructions (from
Economy of Vatican City )
Image 3 Map of Vatican City (from
Geography of Vatican City )
Image 4 The Fountain of the Eagle "
Fontana dell'Aquilone " in the Vatican Gardens (from
Gardens of Vatican City )
Image 5 The
Vatican City came into existence in 1929, a decade before the start of World War II (from
Vatican City during World War II )
Image 6 Polish ambassador to the Vatican,
Kazimierz Papée , was critical of Pius XII's pre-war mediation efforts. (from
Vatican City during World War II )
Image 7 Bernardino Nogara , the chief Vatican financier during the war (from
Vatican City during World War II )
Image 8 Armenian cross monument (
Khatchkar ) inside the Vatican Gardens (from
Gardens of Vatican City )
Image 9 Pasta is popular in the Vatican, being one of
Pope Francis ' favorite dishes. (from
Culture of Vatican City )
Image 10 Empress
Saint Helena of Constantinople carrying the One
True Cross laying the grounds for the gardens using the sacred soil from
Mount Calvary . (from
Gardens of Vatican City )
Image 11 Cesare Orsenigo (left, with Hitler and Ribbentrop ) ,
nuncio to Germany , also served as
de facto nuncio to Poland. (from
Vatican City during World War II )
Image 12 President
Barack Obama and First Lady
Michelle Obama meet with
Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican on July 10, 2009. (from
Women in Vatican City )
Image 14 The crowds of tourists in
St. Peter's Square are a target for pickpockets. (from
Crime in Vatican City )
Image 15 A monument to
Fr. Maximilian Kolbe , among the estimated 3,000 members (18%) of the Polish clergy who were killed by the Nazis; of these, 1,992 died in concentration camps. (from
Vatican City during World War II )
Image 16 The
Little Flower ,
Saint Therese of Lisieux is the official Patroness of the gardens. (from
Gardens of Vatican City )
Image 17 Members of the Canadian
Royal 22nd Regiment in audience with
Pope Pius XII , following the 1944 Liberation of Rome. (from
Vatican City during World War II )
Image 19 Enlargeable, detailed map of Vatican City (from
Geography of Vatican City )
Image 20 Vatican Gardens (from
Gardens of Vatican City )
Image 21 Palace of the Governorate of Vatican City State (from
Gardens of Vatican City )
Image 22 Part of the Vatican Gardens (from
Gardens of Vatican City )
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Vatican Palace