The center of Italy for many years belonged to the Catholic Church. A territory of thirty-two thousand square kilometers constituted the papal region. And that was a little over one and a half hundred years ago, in the middle of the nineteenth century. But the year 1870 was marked by an event that changed everything: Rome became the main city of Italy. And the papal region becomes part of the kingdom of Italy. The Vatican as a state appears only when the Pope and the Italian government were able to agree, namely, in 1929. It was then that independence was recognized, and the smallest country gained its own control.
On any continent of the Earth today you can meet the followers of the Roman Catholic Church, whose center is the Vatican. The smallest country in the world is ruled by the Holy See, whose sovereign is the Pope. He is elected for a life term by the College of Cardinals, which consists of two hundred and five representatives, but only 115 of them have the right to vote. The pope holds judicial, executive and legislative power, and this smallest country is governed by the governor, who, however, is also appointed head of the Roman Catholic Church.
Today, the Vatican occupies an area of 0.44 square kilometers and on all sides it borders on only one state - Italy. The subjects of the Holy See live on the territory of the city-state, and the total number of the population slightly exceeds eight hundred people. But, despite this, economically the smallest country feels pretty well. Catholics all over the world send donations here, and this is the main source of state revenue. A sufficiently large "piece" of revenue is accounted for by tourists. Most visitors do not spare money for the purchase of gifts and souvenirs for relatives, friends, colleagues and just acquaintances.
But the heart of the Catholic world is, first and foremost, priceless treasures that people come to see from all over the world. There is no person who has not heard of the Vatican library. Manuscripts relating to the period of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, books of which there are more than one and a half million, manuscripts, coins and medals, geographical maps and prints - this is the golden fund of the library. The Sistine Chapel is known not only as a place of secret meetings of the Pope, here are paintings made by the hand of the great Michelangelo. St. Peter's Basilica is the largest and most significant building of the Vatican, which for five hundred years has been inextricably linked with the names of such great masters as Rafael and Michelangelo, Bramante and Giacomo della Porta.
The smallest country in Europe and the world has its own railway line, the length of which is only seven hundred meters, but it is part of the Italian railway. It is also surprising that there is a helipad, which is connected with two airports in Rome. The Vatican, of course, also has its own mail, police and train station, its own Foreign Ministry and army, numbering one hundred people. Newspapers are issued here, stamps are printed, and coins are minted. The presence of its own telephone network and a broadcasting station, and most importantly, such attributes of state power as a flag and coat of arms indicates that the smallest country is completely independent, that it does not depend on Italy, although its entire territory is located inside the Italian capital. With most countries of the world, the enclave state is associated with diplomatic relations.
The Vatican is located in a great location, not far from the Tiber flowing through the whole of Rome. The picturesque hill of Mons Vaticanus got its name from the ancient oracle. And the appearance of magnificent gardens at this place is also associated with the name Caligula.