The State of the Vatican city is one city-state which is located in the heart of the Italian peninsula, to be exact, in the heart of the city of RomeIn the Lazio. When we talk about city-states we refer to one State autonomous In all respects, whose territorial extension corresponds exclusively to that of the only city that composes it. The Vatican city is known all over the world, above all, to be the spiritual center of the Catholic Church And the place where St. Peter was buried: the sovereign of the state is, in fact, the Summary pontiffknown by most as Dad.
1. The smallest state in the world
Being a city-statethe Vatican city is predictably among the smallest sovereign states of the entire planet. But in this case we really talk about the smaller everand for surface both for population. The extension of the territory, completely urbanized, is equal to 0.44 square kilometers; The population, on the other hand, includes less than 1000 inhabitants: to be exact it includes it 882. Given the truly limited extension of the territory, the density density that derives from it is extremely tallnamely, that is, to 2004,6 inhabitants for square kilometer. We remember in this regard that we are talking about anapproximation mathematicswhich gives us the idea of the concentration of people in the area and not of a real number, since the resulting density is higher than the actual inhabitants and the real extension of the state is lower than that of a square kilometer. So the density we reported is the one that the Vatican city would have, if in proportion, was extended for at least one square kilometer.
2. Enclave on Italian territory
However, the Vatican city is an independent state, which however literally surrounded, not to mention the territory of another country, namely ours. This condition is usually defined enclave And in Italy we can find another: San Marinewhose official name is Serenissima Republic of San Marinoconsidered one of the oldest republics in the world still existing. Vatican city instead has a much more recent origin and was founded, in fact, in June 1929with the subscription, which took place a few months earlier, of the Pacts Laterangianwith which relations between the two institutions of the Kingdom of Italy and of the Holy Site.
3. The Vatican city is an absolute monarchy
As we said, the state of the Vatican city is an independent state in all respects and for this reason, in addition to a territory and one populationmust understand its own system legal. The state therefore has its own form of government which, in this case, is one monarchy absolute with head … try to guess who? Nothing less than the Dad. The Supreme Pontiff, in fact, not only is the Maximum spiritual authority of the Catholic Churchbut it is also the head of the entire state that gives up all the powers of the state legal system. The election of the monarch obviously coincides with the moment of election of the new pope, that is, following the conclave.
4. The conclave: how the Supreme Pontiff is elected
The choice of a new pope, as well as a new sovereign of the state of the Vatican city, takes place through election during the well -known conclave. Although, originally, the election of the new Pope took place in ways very different from those we know today, since 1059 The choice of the Supreme Pontiff is exclusive to aCardinal Assembly.
Fifteen days after the departure of the previous pope, in fact, the cardinals meet in the conclave for one vote secret: the word “conclave“It originates from Latin cum clavethat is, “with the key”. The term refers to the fact that the cardinals cannot have contacts with the outside until they definitively reach an agreement.
Every day they are held up to four voting: Each cardinal writes the name of the candidate on a card and deposits it in an urn. To be elected Pope, a candidate must get two thirds of the votes. After each vote, the cards are burned: if the election did not take place, from the chimney of the Chapel Sistine Black smoke will come out; If the pope has been elected, the smoke will instead be white.
5. The Vatican Library
The Vatican Library, whose official name is Library Apostolic Vaticanwelcomes a truly impressive collection inside, one of the largest in the world, of Ancient texts Latin, Greek and Jewish, finds and works of art of all kinds. Legends and mysteries were born around the collection, founded in 1475and have fueled the fame over the years. What is certain is that the heritage of history and knowledge that it contains is truly disproportionate: 1.6 million volumes printedAlmost 10 thousand books printed through mobile character technique and more than 200 thousand manuscripts and documents They are accompanied by other thousands of art objects of all kinds.
The library is closed to the general public and access is reserved only for university researchers and teachers. However, there is an online catalog of the printed volumes in the collection.
6. The Swiss guards: Pope’s protectors
The Pope and his residence are defended by the famous armed force of the Pontifical Swiss Guard. We are talking about a special body founded in 1506 which counts 135 members and considered The oldest force in permanent service in the worldsince the service has never been interrupted since its institution.
But why Swiss? Let’s take a small jump back in history, in 1506, when Pope Giulio chose some members of the Swiss army, who in Europe was considered one of the best bodies of mercenary soldiers of the time, known above all for military skills, loyalty, courage and discipline.
With the iconic halberd and the traditional uniform Renaissance inspiration with blue, red and yellow bands, the Swiss guards, unlike what you think, are no longer just a ceremonial body, but count among their well -prepared military ranks also trained in the use of modern weapons. They are part of the Papal Swiss Guard Only Swiss citizens celibateaged between 19 and 30, one meter and eighty, Catholics and which have completed the basic military training.
7. Latin
The state of the Vatican city is the only country in the world to have the Latin as an official language, in addition to Italian. This is obviously due to the close connection between the identity of the state and that of the Catholic Church: the Latin has in fact been universal language for the cult of the Christian religion and the communications he is official documents.
Latin is still widespread in various official and religious contexts of the state. Many documents of the Church such as the encyclical (the circular letters that he sends to the bishops) and the laws canonical (i.e. the legal rules issued by the ecclesiastical authority) are usually in tongue Latinjust as some are Communications between the Vatican offices and certain ads officers (let’s think about the well -known Habemus Papam). But we also find Latin in certain media. For example Radio Vaticanthe Catholic radio station of the Holy See, transmits a weekly news program in this language, and the magazine Latinitas It includes scientific contributions written in Latin as well as in other modern languages. By turning on the streets of the Vatican city we could even come across an ATM of the Vatican Bank that reports instructions for use in Latin!
8. “The high” Vatican crime rate
On average, within the state of the Vatican city they are made small crimeslike snatch And bagsmainly to the detriment of the millions of tourists who cross its doors every year. All this is part of the category of michroc criminality And, in absolute terms, the numbers of crimes are not even particularly high, despite being difficult to quantify a precise number due to lack of data.
However, on more than one occasion, studies have been conducted in which they emerged extremely high crime ratesvery above those of any other western country. These are not a question of subscriptions or exaggerations, but simple analyses statistics: As we have seen, in fact, the state of the Vatican city is the state with the least number of inhabitants in the world, we are talking about less than 1000 people. So, when analyzing the data of petty crime in relation to the total number of inhabitants, it is an extremely high per capita rate!
9. The shortest international railway in the world
As we can well imagine from the extension of the territory, the infrastructures of the Vatican city are not particularly developed. There railway Vatican It is, in fact, the shortest international railway in the world and connects the Rome San Pietro station to the Vatican city: with an overall length of 1200 metersgoes into the latter’s territory only for a short stretch of 200 meters!
10. An entire country of humanity heritage
The Vatican city is entirely inscribed in the List of UNESCO World Heritage Site Since 1984. This has been doing the state The only state in the world to be inserted in full within the list. Among the reasons indicated by UNESCO we read:
The Vatican city, one of the most sacred places in Christianity, testifies to a great history and a formidable spiritual enterprise. A unique collection of artistic and architectural masterpieces is located within the borders of this small state. At its center stands the Basilica of San Pietro, with the double colonnade and a circular square in front, surrounded by buildings and gardens. The Basilica, erected above the tomb of San Pietro Apostolo, is the largest religious building in the world, the result of the combined genius of Bramante, Raffaello, Michelangelo, Bernini and Maderno.
The largest religious building in the world by surface is, in fact, the Basilica of San Pietro. The basilica has an internal surface of approx 2300 square metersa height to the dome of 132.30 meters and can host Tens of thousands of faithful at the same time.
