Geography

Location: The Vatican City State is situated on the Vatican hill, on the right bank of the Tiber River, within the city of Rome.

National name: Stato della Città del

Monetary unit: Lira

Area: 0.17 sq. mi. (0.44 sq. km)

Background: The Vatican City State, sovereign and independent, is the survivor of the papal states that in 1859 comprised an area of some 17,000 square miles (44,030 sq. km). During the struggle for Italian unification, from 1860 to 1870, most of this area became part of Italy. By an Italian law of May 13, 1871, the temporal power of the pope was abrogated, and the territory of the papacy was confined to the Vatican and Lateran palaces and the villa of Castel Gandolfo. The popes consistently refused to recognize this arrangement and, by the Lateran Treaty of Feb. 11, 1929, between the Vatican and the kingdom of Italy, the exclusive dominion and sovereign jurisdiction of the Holy See over the city of the Vatican was again recognized, thus restoring the pope's temporal authority over the area.

VaticanoRuler: Pope John Paul II (1978)

Population (July 1998 est.): 860;
population growth rate: 1.15%; density per sq. mi.: 5,059

Languages: Latin, Italian, and various other languages

Ethnicity/race: Italians, Swiss

Religion: Roman Catholic.

Labor force: dignitaries, priests, nuns, guards, and 3,000 lay workers who live outside the

Vatican.Budget (1994):

Revenues: $175.5 million;

Expenditures: $175 million, including capital expenditures.

Telephones: main lines in use: n.a.; mobile cellular: n.a.

Radio broadcast stations: AM 3, FM 4, shortwave 2 (1998). Radios: n.a.

Television broadcast stations: 1 (1996).

Televisions: n.a.

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): n.a.

Railways: total: 862 m; note: connects to Italy's network at Rome's Saint Peter's station.

Highways: none; all city streets.

Ports and harbors: none.

Airports: none.

Heliports: 1 (1999 est.).

International disputes: none.