The Vatican is the smallest independent state in the world. It is also a residence of the spiritual leadership of the Roman Catholic Church. The territory of Vatican City is surrounded by Rome and it packs many imposing buildings into its small area. Most of the population there consists of nuns and priests of different nationalities.
Several buildings can be found in Vatican City, including The Vatican Museums and Art Galleries house and St Peter’s Basilica. The Vatican Museums feature some of the most famous paintings and sculptures in the world. The St Peter’s Basilica is a pilgrimage site and pilgrims travel from all over the world to gather in St Peter’s Square for various ceremonies.
Vatican City obtained its independence on 11 February 1929, when the three treaties were signed. It was then that Vatican City got full sovereignty of the land and a permission to establish its absolute monarchy. The state chief position in the Holy See is Pope Francis.
In 2010, there was an investigation into the Vatican Bank over violations of money-laundering rules which made the Vatican become more transparent and meet international demands for more financial transparency.
Vatican City Population 2019
The Vatican City State has a 2019 population of 799, of whom over 450 are Vatican citizens, while the rest have permission to reside there, either temporarily or permanently, without the benefit of citizenship.
The citizens either live inside the Vatican’s walls or serve in the Holy See’s diplomatic service in embassies around the world. The population in the Vatican consists of clergy, most of whom work in the service of the Holy See, a very few as officials of the state, and the Swiss Guard. The rest of the Vatican workforce lives outside of the Vatican and are citizens of Italy or other nations. So, all of the citizens and places of worship are Catholic.
The Vatican City is actually is 44 square kilometers of the area while the entire population is within less than a single square kilometer of space. The population which resides in the Vatican is mainly of Italian, Argentinian, and Swiss nationality. Residents of Vatican mainly speak Italian, Latin, and French and there is no formally enacted official language. Hence, the official documents are written in Latin, the legislation and official communications are carried out in Italian, while Swiss German is the language used for giving commands to the Swiss Guard. The official website languages of Vatican City are Italian, French, English, Spanish, and German, while the official website languages of the Holy See are all of these languages with the addition of Chinese, Portuguese, and Latin.
How to become a citizen of the Vatican City? you need to get approval from the Pope. So, the citizenship is granted jus office, namely on the grounds of appointment to work in the service of the Holy See. Thus, the citizenship is extended also to the spouse, parents, and descendants of a citizen if they live with the citizen and it ceases upon cessation of the appointment. As the Holy See isn’t considered a country, it can only issue diplomatic and service passports, while Vatican City issues normal passports for its citizens. When the citizen of Vatican City loses its citizenship, it becomes an Italian citizen if they don’t possess other citizenship.
