Vatican City

independent state located within the city of Rome and ruled by the pope, world center of the Catholic Church

Vatican City, officially State of the Vatican City (Latin: Status Civitatis Vaticanae; ), is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome. At approximately 44 hectares (108.7 acres), it is the smallest independent state in the world.The state came into existence by virtue of the Lateran Treaty in 1929, which speaks of it as a new creation (Preamble and Article III), not as a vestige of the much larger Papal States (756 to 1870) that had previously encompassed central Italy, most of which was absorbed into the Kingdom of Italy in 1860, and the final part, the city of Rome and a small area close to it, ten years later.
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Noun
1. the capital of the State of the Vatican City
(synonym) Citta del Vaticano
(hypernym) city, metropolis, urban center
(part-holonym) Holy See, The Holy See, State of the Vatican City
(part-meronym) Vatican, Vatican Palace

Flag of The Holy See (Vatican City)
Background Popes in their secular role ruled portions of the Italian peninsula for more than a thousand years until the mid 19th century, when many of the Papal States were 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 in 1929 by three Lateran Treaties, which established the independent state of Vatican City and granted Roman Catholicism special status in Italy. In 1984, a 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. Present concerns of the Holy See include religious freedom, international development, the Middle East, terrorism, interreligious dialogue and reconciliation, and the application of church doctrine in an era of rapid change and globalization. About 1 billion people worldwide profess the Catholic faith. Map of The Holy See (Vatican City) More about The Holy See (Vatican City): Geography People Government Economy Communications Transportation Military Transnational Issues

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