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Vatican City, formally referred to as the State of the Vatican City or Vatican City State, is a sovereign, landlocked enclave surrounded by Rome, Italy. It is the smallest independent state in the world in terms of both area (about 0.44 square kilometers) and population (about 930). Vatican City is the remnant of the once extensive portions of the Italian peninsula that were ruled directly by the Catholic church for more than a thousand years. These Papal states were seized by the newly united Kingdom of Italy beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, and Rome itself was eventually annexed. After years of disputes, Vatican City received its current status as an independent state and Roman Catholicism was granted a special status in the country by the Lateran Treaty of 1929. This treaty also granted the Vatican extraterritorial authority over 23 sites in Rome and five outside of Rome, including the Pope's summer residence. The name of the city is derived from the old Latin name for the area on which the Vatican was later built, Mons Vaticanus, which means Vatican hill, and it may have earlier been the site of an Etruscan town called Vaticum. After the establishment of the Roman empire, this part of Rome was uninhabited and considered sacred. Part of it as used as a cemetery, and the first church was built there in 326 A.D. The economy is supported by a variety of sources, including annual contribution from Roman Catholic dioceses throughout the world, the sale of postage stamps, coins, medals and tourist mementos, the collection o fees for admission to museums, the sale of publications, and income from investments and real estate. There is a small amount of industry, namely printing, the production of coins, medals, postage stamps and the production of staff uniforms and mosaics. The Vatican City has great religious, historical and cultural significance. In addition to being the head of the Roman Catholic church, which has roughly one billion members worldwide, it contains some of the world's most outstanding artwork and has one of the most significant collections of historical documents. In 1984 it was added by UNESCO to the List of World Heritage Sites, and it is the only one to consist an entire country. Created October 28, 2006. |