Full Name
The Holy See (State of the Vatican City)

Head of State
BENEDICT XVI

Population
900 (2002 estimate)

Location
The Vatican City State sits on the Vatican hill, on the west bank of the Tiber River, and is an independent state within the city of Rome, Italy.

Size
109 acres. Vatican City is landlocked and is encircled by walls for almost all of its 3.2 km circumference.

Government
The pope has full legal, executive, and judicial powers. The College of Cardinals is the pope's chief advisory body, and upon his death the cardinals elect his successor for life. Cardinals are appointed by the pope directly and they serve as the executive/administrative branch of the state.

Language
Latin (official); Italian; others

Literacy Rate
100%

Flag
White and Yellow with two crossed keys.

Currency
Vatican euro (at par with euro); 100 cents=1 euro

Economy
This unique, noncommercial economy is supported financially by contributions (known as Peter's Pence) from Roman Catholics throughout the world, the sale of postage stamps and tourist mementos, fees for admission to museums, and the sale of publications. The incomes and living standards of lay workers are comparable to, or somewhat better than, those of counterparts who work in the city of Rome.

History

The Vatican City State, sovereign and independent, is the modern version of the Papal States that was made up of most of what is now Lazio, Umbria and the Marche.

Popes in their secular role ruled portions of the Italian peninsula for more than a thousand years. The separate territories came together as a country during the the 1860's, and the papal states were forced to cede most of this territory.
Eventually the papacy was confined to the Vatican and Lateran palaces and the villa of Castel Gandolfo in the hills outside Rome. Disputes between a series of "prisoner" popes and the new country, Italy, were resolved in 1929 by treaty: the Vatican City was created as an independent state.