Map of Vatican (Holy See)
Vatican (Holy See) is a country in Europe with its capital at Vatican City, home to about 882 people. The interactive map below plots 1 cities and towns recorded for Vatican (Holy See) in YearMaps.
- Population
- 882
- Capital
- Vatican City
- Continent
- Europe
Interactive Map of Vatican (Holy See)
Centred on Vatican City at 41.9033° N, 12.4534° E. Use the layer panel to switch on rivers, dams, ports, peaks and historical borders.
About Vatican (Holy See)
Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (Italian: Stato della Città del Vaticano; Latin: Status Civitatis Vaticanae), often shortened as the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state in Southern Europe. Ruled by the pope, it is an enclave within the city of Rome, Italy, and serves as the administrative centre of the Catholic Church. Vatican City is governed by the See of Rome, commonly known as the Holy See, itself a sovereign entity under international law, which maintains its temporal power, governance, diplomacy, and spiritual independence. Vatican is also used as a metonym for the Holy See, which is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City, comprising the pope and the Roman Curia. The independent state of Vatican City came into existence in 1929 via the Lateran Treaty between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy, which spoke of it as a creation, not as a vestige of the much larger Papal States (756–1870), which had previously encompassed much of Central Italy.
With an area of 44 hectares (109 acres) and a population of about 882 in 2024, it is the smallest country in the world both by area and by population. It is the only country in the world with a population of fewer than 1,000 people. It is among the least populated capitals in the world. 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. The Holy See dates to early Christianity and is the principal episcopal see of the Catholic Church, which in 2018 had about 1.329 billion baptized Catholics in the world, in the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches. 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.
Vatican City contains religious and cultural sites such as St Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, the Vatican Apostolic Library, and the Vatican Museums. They feature some of the world's most famous paintings and sculptures. The economy of Vatican City is supported financially by donations from Catholic believers, by the sale of postage stamps and souvenirs, fees for admission to museums, and sales of publications. Vatican City has no taxes, and items are duty-free.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia: Vatican City (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Geography and Climate of Vatican (Holy See)
Popes in their secular role ruled portions of the Italian peninsula for more than a thousand years until the mid-19th century, when the newly established Kingdom of Italy seized many of the Papal States. In 1870, the pope's holdings were further circumscribed when Rome itself was annexed. Disputes between Italy and a series of "prisoner" popes were resolved in 1929 by three Lateran Treaties, which established the independent state of Vatican City and granted Roman Catholicism special status in Italy. In 1984, a concordat between the Holy See and Italy modified some of the earlier treaty provisions, including the primacy of Roman Catholicism as the Italian state religion. Present concerns of the Holy See include religious freedom, threats against minority Christian communities in Africa and the Middle East, the plight of refugees and migrants, climate change and the environment, conflict and war, nuclear weapons, artificial intelligence, sexual misconduct by clergy, humanitarian issues, interreligious dialogue and reconciliation, and the application of church doctrine in an era of rapid change and globalization. About 1.3 billion people worldwide profess Catholicism, the world's largest Christian faith.
- Location
- Southern Europe, an enclave of Rome (Italy)
- Climate
- Temperate; mild, rainy winters (September to May) with hot, dry summers (May to September)
- Terrain
- Urban; low hill.
- Highest point
- Vatican Gardens (Vatican Hill) 78 m.
- Lowest point
- Saint Peter's Square 19 m.
- Coastline
- 0 km (landlocked)
- Land borders
- Total: 3.4 km; border countries: Italy 3.4 km.
- Natural resources
- None.
- Land use
- Agricultural land: 0% (2022 est.); forest: 0% (2022 est.); other: 100% (2022 est.)
- Natural hazards
- Occasional earthquakes.
- Geographic note
- Landlocked; an enclave in Rome, Italy; world's smallest state.
- Languages
- Italian, Latin, French, various other languages.
- Religions
- Roman Catholic.
- Ethnic groups
- Italian, Swiss, Argentinian, and other nationalities from around the world (2017)
- Economy
- Limited, tourism-based economy; euro user with own minted coins; produces commemorative stamps, coins, and publications to support museums and religious needs; residents pay no direct taxes; “zero deficit” plan to address budget shortfall.
From the CIA World Factbook (public domain), archived edition of 2026-01-22. The Factbook is no longer updated, so figures reflect that edition.
Vatican (Holy See) in Depth
History
The name "Vatican" was already in use in the time of the Roman Republic for the Ager Vaticanus, a marshy area on the west bank of the Tiber across from the city of Rome, located between the Janiculum, the Vatican Hill and Monte Mario, down to the Aventine Hill and up to the confluence of the Cremera creek. The toponym Ager Vaticanus is attested until the 1st century AD: afterwards, another toponym appeared, Vaticanus, denoting an area much more restricted: the Vatican Hill, today's St. Peter's Square, and possibly today's Via della Conciliazione.
Geography
The territory of Vatican City is part of the Vatican Hill, and of the adjacent former Vatican Fields. It is in this territory that St Peter's Basilica, the Apostolic Palace, the Sistine Chapel, and museums were built, along with other buildings. The area was part of the Roman rione of Borgo until 1929. Being separated from Rome, on the west bank of the river Tiber, the area was an outcrop of Rome that was protected by being included within the walls of Leo IV (847–855), and later expanded by the current fortification walls, built under Paul III (1534–1549), Pius IV (1559–1565), and Urban VIII (1623–1644).
Economy
The Vatican City State budget includes the Vatican Museums and post office and is supported financially by the sale of stamps, coins, medals and tourist mementos; by fees for admission to museums; and by publications sales. The incomes and living standards of lay workers are comparable to those of counterparts who work in the city of Rome. Other industries include printing, the production of mosaics, and the manufacture of staff uniforms.
The Institute for Works of Religion (IOR, Istituto per le Opere di Religione), also known as the Vatican Bank, is a financial agency situated in the Vatican that conducts worldwide financial activities. It has multilingual ATMs with instructions in Latin, possibly the only ATM in the world with this feature.
Vatican City issues its own coins and stamps.
Demographics
As of 2024 Vatican City has a population of 882 residents, regardless of citizenship. There are 372 Vatican citizens residing elsewhere, consisting of diplomats of the Holy See to other countries and cardinals residing in Rome.
The population is composed of clergy, other religious members, laypeople serving the state (such as the Swiss Guard) and their family members. In 2013, there were 13 families of the employees of the Holy See living in Vatican City. In 2019, there were 20 children of the Swiss Guards living at the Vatican. All citizens, residents, and places of worship in the city are Catholic. The city receives thousands of tourists and workers every day.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Vatican City (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Vatican (Holy See): Key Facts
| Official languages | Italian, Latin |
|---|---|
| Head of state | Leo XIV |
| Head of government | Raffaella Petrini |
| Form of government | papacy, theocracy |
| Calling code | +379 |
| Internet domain | .va |
| Highest point | Vatican Hill |
| Lowest point | Saint Peter's Square |
| Established | 11 February 1929 |
Facts from Wikidata Q237 (CC0).
History of Vatican (Holy See): Empires and States
The atlas records 11 polities whose mapped territory included part of Vatican (Holy See), from Etruscans in 750 BCE to 2024 CE. They are listed in the order they first appear.
| Polity | Period here | Extent |
|---|---|---|
| Etruscans | 750–551 BCE | Nearly all |
| Roman Republic | 337–32 BCE | Nearly all |
| The Roman Empire | 31 BCE – 475 CE | Nearly all |
| Western Roman Empire | 395–475 CE | Nearly all |
| Visigoths | 407–413 CE | Nearly all |
| Ostrogothic Kingdom | 500–554 CE | Nearly all |
| Eastern Roman Empire | 540–632 CE | Nearly all |
| The Byzantine Empire | 540–767 CE | Nearly all |
| Papal States | 755–1870 CE | Nearly all |
| Kingdom of Italy | 1871–1945 CE | Nearly all |
| Republic of Italy | 1946–2024 CE | Nearly all |
Historical Maps of Vatican (Holy See)
Vatican (Holy See) on the world map in each year one of these states held it:
Derived by testing mapped cities against dated territorial polygons. Dates are when the polygons cover this place, not the polity's whole lifespan, and polities absent from the source dataset are not listed.
Largest Cities in Vatican (Holy See)
1 city recorded. Ranked by metropolitan population. A port city's harbour is written up on the page of its sea.
| # | Name | Population | Region | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vatican City | 832 | Lazio | National capital |
UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Vatican (Holy See)
2 World Heritage Sites recorded. Listed by year of inscription, earliest first. Sites shared with another country appear under each.
| # | Name | Inscribed | Type | Criteria |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura | 1980 | Cultural | (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (vi) |
| 2 | Vatican City | 1984 | Cultural | (i) (ii) (iv) (vi) |
Countries Bordering Vatican (Holy See)
Land and maritime neighbours.
More Maps in Europe
Vatican (Holy See): Quick Answers
- What is the capital of Vatican (Holy See)?
- The capital of Vatican (Holy See) is Vatican City.
- What is the population of Vatican (Holy See)?
- Vatican (Holy See) has a population of about 882, the #224 largest of 225 countries in YearMaps. Source: Wikidata.
- Which continent is Vatican (Holy See) in?
- Vatican (Holy See) is in Europe.
- Which countries border Vatican (Holy See)?
- Vatican (Holy See) shares a land or maritime border with Italy.
- What is the largest city in Vatican (Holy See)?
- Vatican City is the largest city in Vatican (Holy See), with a metropolitan population of about 832.