The Vatican is a microstate located inside Rome, the capital of Italy. It is, therefore, an enclave: a state that is completely surrounded by the territory of another state. When the term is written with a lowercase initial (Vatican), it refers to the name of this nation.
With an area of 44 hectares, the Vatican is the smallest country in the world. It is also one of the least populated, with a population of less than a thousand. The importance of the Vatican in the international context lies in the fact that it houses the Holy See, which is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Pope. The Catholic Church, in this way, has its base in the territory of the Vatican.
The Vatican is a theocracy since its head of state is the Pope. In this European country there is no democracy: its inhabitants do not elect the rulers. The Vatican can also be considered an absolute monarchy because the Pope assumes control of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Another name that can be given to the Vatican is that of a microstate, and in this context it is one of the six that exist in European territory. A microstate, also called a ministate, can be defined as a sovereign state with a small territory, a small number of inhabitants, or both characteristics at the same time. Microstates exist in many parts of the world; To name just a few of them, we have Cape Verde, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Singapore, Micronesia, Palestine, Monaco, and Andorra. For the General Assembly of the United Nations, the microstates do not go unnoticed, since they can also vote. The Vatican belongs to one of the four areas on the planet where microstates can be found; the others are Oceania, the Indian Ocean, and the Caribbean Sea. Among the main tourist attractions of the Vatican are the Basilica of Saint Peter (the Catholic church with the largest internal area), the Museums of Saint Vatican (which house a large number of works of art). Studying the etymology of the term Vatican, we come across the homonymous mount, which probably took its name from the Latin term vaticinium, which can be translated as “prediction” or “prediction”, or from vaticinatio, “prophecy”.
This may be because this hill housed an oracle of Etruscan origin, but the existence of a city called Vaticum is also attributed to it. Although many do not know it, the Vatican is not very old: it was created in 1929. It all started on February 11 with the signing of the Lateran Pacts by Pietro Gasparri (Italian prelate, diplomat and jurist, representing the Holy See) and Benito Mussolini (then dictatorial prime minister). This event took place throughout the pontificate of Pius XI and put an end to a dispute that had existed for almost six decades. Thus the Vatican was born, with its 44 hectares, and was recognized as a sovereign state. From then until 2016 there have been eight popes: Pius XI, Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis. The first five were of Italian origin, while John Paul II was Polish, Benedict XVI German and Francis Argentine. As a curiosity, it is worth mentioning that the Vatican has a soccer team made up mostly of members of the Swiss Guard, which is in charge of the nation’s security. The Vatican team, however, is not affiliated with FIFA.
