Vatican, Rome, Italy, Southern Europe
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Vatican
Excerpted from Wikipedia,
the free encyclopaedia.
The State of the Vatican City is the smallest
independent country in the world (both in area
and in population), a landlocked enclave
surrounded by the city of Rome in Italy.
"The Vatican" is the home of the Pope, and
forms the territory of the Holy See, the
central authority of the Roman Catholic Church.
The Vatican City includes the Vatican Hill
(mons vaticanus), whose name antedates
Christianity, and the Vatican Fields north
of the hill, upon which St. Peter's Basilica,
the Sistine Chapel, and the Vatican Museums are built.
Santa Sede
Official language; Latin
(Italian is most common)
Pope John Paul II
Area; 0.44 km2
Population; 2000
Independence; - Date Lateran treaties
February 11, 1929
Currency; Euroš (Prior to 1999: Vatican lira)
Time zone; UTC +1
National anthem; Inno e Marcia Pontificale
Internet TLD; .VA
Phone Calling Code; 379
History
It is supposed that this originally
uninhabited part of Rome (the ager vaticanus)
had always been considered sacred, even before
the arrival of Christianity.
In 326 the first church was built on the
supposed site of the tomb of Saint Peter,
and from then on the area
started to become more populated.
Popes in their secular role gradually
extended their control over neighbouring
regions and through the Papal States ruled
a large portion of the Italian peninsula
for more than a thousand years until
the mid 19th century, when most of the
territory of the Papal States was seized
by the newly united Kingdom of Italy.
In 1870, the Pope's holdings were further
circumscribed when Rome itself was annexed.
Disputes between a series of "prisoner" popes
and Italy were resolved on February 11,
1929 by three Lateran treaties (also
known as the Concordat), which established
the independent state of the Vatican City
and granted Roman Catholicism
special status in Italy.
In 1984, a new concordat between the Holy
See and Italy modified certain of the earlier
treaty provisions, including the primacy
of Roman Catholicism as the
Italian state religion.
Politics
The Vatican is technically a rare case
of a non-hereditary elective monarchy;
the monarch, the Pope, being elected
for life by those Cardinals under the
age of 80 during a Conclave (held
in the Sistine Chapel).
The term "Holy See" refers to the
composite of the authority, jurisdiction,
and sovereignty vested in the Pope and
his advisers to direct the worldwide
Roman Catholic Church.
As the "central government" of the
Roman Catholic Church, the Holy See has
a legal personality that allows it to
enter into treaties as the
juridical equal of a state.
The Pope delegates the internal
administration of the Vatican City
to the Pontifical Commission for
the State of the Vatican City.
The legal system is based on canon, or
ecclesiastical, law; if canon law is
not applicable, the laws of
the city of Rome apply.
As an independent state, the Vatican
has the right to to send and receive
diplomatic representatives, including
foreign embassies, which are located
in the Italian part of Rome due to
the very limited territory of the state.
This means, that Italy hosts its own
Embassy of Italy.
Geography
The Vatican City is situated on
the Vatican Hill in the north-eastern
part of Rome, several hundred metres
west of the Tiber river.
Its borders (3.2 km in total, all with Italy)
closely follow the city wall constructed
to protect the Pope from outside attack.
The situation is more complex at the
famous St. Peter's Square in front of
the St. Peter's Basilica, where the correct
border is the middle of the round area
surrounded by Bernini's columns.
It is the smallest sovereign state
in the world (108.7 acres).
In addition to Vatican City the State
includes certain extra-territorial
properties in Italy belonging to the
Holy See (Major Basilicas, Curial and
diocesan offices, Castel Gandolpho).
The Pope is the Head of State, though
he governs through the Pontifical Commission
for the State of Vatican City.
The Gubernator manages the day
to day affairs of the State.
Its climate is naturally much the
same as Rome's; a temperate,
mediterranean clime with mild,
rainy winters from September to
mid-May and hot, dry summers
from May to September.
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, coins
and tourist mementoes, 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.
Demographics
Almost all of Vatican City's 890 citizens
live inside the Vatican's walls.
The Vatican citizenry consists mostly of
clergy, including high dignitaries,
priests, nuns, as well as the famous
Swiss Guard, a voluntary military force.
There are also about 3,000 lay workers who
comprise the majority of the Vatican work
force, but who reside outside the Vatican.
The official language is Latin, the
otherwise extinct language that originated
in Rome and has remained in use in the
Roman Catholic Church.
Italian and, to a lesser extent, other
languages are generally used for most
conversations, publications and broadcasts.
External Links
All text is available under the terms of the
GNU Free Documentation License.
This information correct in December 2003. E.
& O.E.
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