Portal:Vatican City

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Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (Italian: Stato della Città del Vaticano; Latin: Status Civitatis Vaticanae), is a landlocked country, city-state, microstate, and enclave surrounded by, and historically a part of, Rome in Italy. It became independent from Italy in 1929 with the Lateran Treaty, and is a distinct territory under "full ownership, exclusive dominion, and sovereign authority and jurisdiction" of the Holy See, which is itself a sovereign entity under international law, maintaining the city-state's temporal power, governance, diplomatic, and spiritual independence. The Vatican is also a metonym for the pope, the Holy See, and the Roman Curia.

With an area of 49 hectares (121 acres) and a population of about 882 (as of 2024), it is the smallest sovereign state in the world both by area and by population. It is also 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. 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...)

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Vatican Radio (Italian: Radio Vaticana) is the official broadcasting service of the Vatican.

Set up in 1931 by Guglielmo Marconi, today its programs are offered in 47 languages, and are sent out on short wave (also DRM), medium wave, FM, satellite and the Internet. The Jesuit Order has been charged with the management of Vatican Radio since its inception. During World War II and the rise of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, Vatican Radio served as a source for news for the Allies as well as broadcasting pro-Allied (or simply neutral) propaganda.^[1] A week after Pope Pius XII ordered the programming, Vatican Radio broadcast to an unbelieving world that Poles and Jews were being rounded up and forced into ghettos.

Today, programming is produced by over two hundred journalists located in 61 different countries. Vatican Radio produces more than 42,000 hours of simultaneous broadcasting covering international news, religious celebrations, in-depth programs, and music. The current general director is Father Federico Lombardi, S.J.

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The Vatican Observatory (Specola Vaticana) is an astronomical research and educational institution supported by the Holy See. Originally based in the Roman College of Rome, it now has headquarters and laboratory at the summer residence of the Pope in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, and an observatory at the Mount Graham International Observatory in the United States.^[2]

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The following are images from various Vatican City-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Musicians of the British Army's 38th (Irish) Brigade playing in front of St. Peter's Basilica in June 1944 (from Vatican City)
Image 2Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 3Armenian cross monument (Khatchkar) inside the Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 4The crowds of tourists in St. Peter's Square are a target for pickpockets. (from Vatican City)
Image 5The Vatican City came into existence in 1929, a decade before the start of World War II (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 6The shortest national railway system in the world (from Vatican City)
Image 7Territory of Vatican City State according to the Lateran Treaty (from Vatican City)
Image 8Members 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 9Palace of the Governorate of Vatican City State (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 10The Italian peninsula in 1796. The Papal States in central Italy are coloured purple. (from Vatican City)
Image 11A pay phone in the Vatican City (from Vatican City)
Image 12Vatican Museums' "New Wing", built by Raffaele Stern (1774–1820) (from Vatican City)
Image 13Palace of the Governorate of Vatican City State (from Vatican City)
Image 14The Apostolic Palace (Palazzo Apostolico), the official residence of the Pope. Here, Benedict XVI is at the window marked by a maroon banner hanging from the windowsill at centre. (from Vatican City)
Image 15A souvenir shop on the roof of St. Peter's Basilica (from Economy of Vatican City)
Image 16The Vatican obelisk in St. Peter's Square was brought to Rome from Egypt by Caligula. (from Vatican City)
Image 17Empress 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 18President 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 19Map of Vatican City, highlighting notable buildings and the Vatican gardens (from Vatican City)
Image 20Enlargeable, detailed map of Vatican City (from Geography of Vatican City)
Image 21Part of the Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 22Cesare 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 23A guard of the Vatican at his sentry box (from Vatican City)
Image 24A map of the United Nations member states (from Vatican City)
Image 25A view of the Gardens of Vatican City (from Geography of Vatican City)
Image 26The Vatican's post office was established in February 1929. (from Vatican City)
Image 27Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 28Bernardino Nogara, the chief Vatican financier during the war (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 29An early interpretation of the relative locations of the circus, and the medieval and current Basilicas of St. Peter (from Vatican City)
Image 30The Seal of Vatican City. Note the use of the Italian language. (from Vatican City)
Image 31Pope Pius XI decree and conferment of Saint Therese of France to be Patroness of the gardens, flanked by Cardinal Louis Billot. The Leonine walls, 17 May 1927. (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 32The crowds of tourists in St. Peter's Square are a target for pickpockets. (from Crime in Vatican City)
Image 33An ATM in Vatican City with Latin instructions (from Economy of Vatican City)
Image 34St. Peter's Basilica is one of the most renowned works of Renaissance architecture. (from Vatican City)
Image 35A Vatican gendarmerie car (from Vatican City)
Image 36The Fountain of the Eagle "Fontana dell'Aquilone" in the Vatican Gardens (from Gardens of Vatican City)
Image 37View of St. Peter's Square from the top of Michelangelo's dome (from Vatican City)
Image 38Polish ambassador to the Vatican, Kazimierz Papée, was critical of Pius XII's pre-war mediation efforts. (from Vatican City during World War II)
Image 39The Ingresso di Sant'Anna, an entrance to Vatican City from Italy (from Vatican City)
Image 40One possible modern interpretation (from Vatican City)
Image 41Map of Vatican City (from Geography of Vatican City)
Image 42A 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)

Did you know?

... that Antiqua et nova is a Vatican document that expresses serious ethical concerns surrounding the usage of artificial intelligence?
... that a Vatican Hebrew manuscript has been used as a source for analysing and emending modern editions of the Palestinian Talmud?
... that sport in Vatican City has included cricket, calcio fiorentino, and taekwondo?
... that Karl Malte von Heinz designed the Vatican, Pakistani, Yugoslav and Thai diplomatic missions in India?
... that one incident in Vatican City caused it to have the highest murder rate in the world in 1998?
... that some Catholics considered Tom Lehrer's "The Vatican Rag" (audio featured) to be blasphemous?