Smallest country in the world - Vatican City

Have you ever wondered about the smallest country in the world and where is this state located, how it is governed, whose population, how do they live, and what is its importance as the smallest state in existence to other countries?

There are many small countries in the world, whether in terms of area, population, or even population density, and these countries are distributed over all the five continents that make up the world. Some of those countries are known, and some are not.

Vatican City

Officially, the Vatican City is the smallest country in the world, whether in terms of population or area. What do you know about this country in the world, what are its characteristics, and how does it manage its affairs?

The smallest country in the world in terms of geography

Geographically, the Vatican is located in the center of the Italian capital, Rome, and thus the Vatican is surrounded by all its borders with Rome, which is separated from it by walls and does not have borders with any other country, as it is a state within another state, Italy. The area of ​​this country is about half a square kilometer, specifically 0.44 square kilometers, and its area is 440,000 square meters.

Population

Its population does not exceed 900 people, all of whom are of the Christian religion, although it is considered a multi-ethnic country. It includes Christians of all races and countries, divided between clergymen, employees of the Vatican, and military guards for the Pope who holds the highest office in the state, in addition to ordinary employees who provide public services to the population.

Politically

The Vatican was considered an independent state on its own in 1929 according to three agreements signed at that time between the representative of the Pope and the Italian government, and in addition to the recognition of the Vatican as an independent state, these three treaties, called the Three Lateran Treaties, organized the affairs of the Vatican and its relationship with Italy.

The Pope is considered the supreme spiritual father of the Catholic Church and the supreme authority in the smallest countries of the world. He is elected for life and does not change except with his death and is infallible by Christian beliefs. Whatever falls on earth is permissible in heaven and what is forbidden is forbidden in heaven.

The so-called "Roman Curia" is the Vatican government that helps the Pope manage state affairs and the rest of the Catholic Church.

Militarily

The smallest country in the world does not have any form of military force and is defended by the Italian army, while the national guard within the Vatican is Swiss.

The Vatican is considered one of the most secure and peaceful countries in the world, and crimes do not appear in it except for what is rare, and in most cases, there are cases of theft and swindling of tourists, and the Italian police undertake such matters by the three Lateran treaties.

economically

All the Vatican's financial revenues come from the benefits it gets from depositing many sums of money in British, American ,and Swiss banks, and those sums obtained by the state from the Italian government under the three Lateran treaties in 1929, in addition to tourism revenues such as entrance fees for museums and religious souvenirs that are sold to tourists.

Business is prohibited in the Vatican, and the country uses the European currency, the euro. It has only a mosaic factory and a religious souvenir factory.

The Vatican does not have airports or highways, but rather uses Rome airport, in addition to the presence of a small airstrip that the Pope uses in his travels, in addition to the officials who visit the Vatican.

Culturally

The Vatican is a great cultural value to the world, as it contains museums, manuscripts, documents ,and historical buildings. It is the only country in the world to be fully included on the UNESCO World Heritage List. It is also considered the only country in the world that still uses Latin and has educational institutions taught in this language.

As for the Vatican Library, it is considered one of the largest in the world today and contains more than 75,000 manuscripts, many of them rare and handwritten. Anyone can access the library and browse the manuscripts.

The Vatican Secret Archives is a repository that contains documents and manuscripts, including those related to the affairs of the Vatican State, and others. Despite the confidentiality of the archive, researchers can browse more than 35,000 manuscripts, but with an official permit stating the documents they want to see.

The importance of the Vatican

As for the importance of the smallest country in the world, it stems from its being the most important religious and spiritual center in the world for Catholics who number more than 1.147 billion people, in addition to its containing many holy places for them, and it affects them by being the spiritual center of the Catholic Church, and its effects are evident in the Catholic churches around The world that runs a number of them in addition to the schools that follow these churches.

In addition to being a state that carries the values ​​of peace and calls for them constantly and does not carry hostility to any other country, it is a state that does not have an army and does not work according to its political agenda, but rather works to spread the values ​​of tolerance and justice among people and hopes that peace will prevail the whole world according to what the Pope mentions in his speeches Always official.