Vatican city is the smallest nation in the world.

Vatican city is the smallest nation in the world.

Stato della Città del Vaticano, better known as the Vatican City, is the smallest state in the world. The Vatican City, home of the Pope, is a sovereign city and state and is landlocked, of course being surrounded by the Italian capital Rome. It is confined within a stone wall and measuring about 110 acres (44 hectares), boasts a population of just above 800. This makes the Vatican City the smallest state-independent-on earth in terms of both area and population.

The Lateran Treaty of 1929 led to the Vatican City State’s formation which also made it an independent state. Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Gasparri and leader Benito Mussolini signed the treaty acting on behalf of Pope Pius XI and King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy respectively.

Being the official residence of the pope, the Vatican is the core of the Catholic Church with over 1.2 billion Eastern Catholic and Latin followers the world over. The Vatican State and the Holy See, dating back to early Christianity, are two different entities but the latter is not a country in itself. It issues diplomatic and service passports only with the Vatican City State taking charge of the normal passports, which number just a few in either case