The Vatican is a unique country of its kind. The capital of Catholics all over the world is a tiny city-state, where, nevertheless, huge crowds of tourists go every year, who want to see with their own eyes a sacred place for millions of people. It is here that the residence of the Pope and many other religious figures are located.
25 Interesting facts about the Vatican :
* The Vatican is the only country in the world where 100% of the population is Christian.
* The Vatican is named after the MonsVaticanus hill. In Latin, Vacitinia means a place of divination.
* The Vatican City-state has about 1,000 inhabitants on only 110 hectares, but it has a multimillion-dollar budget and a rich history.
* If you take into account all his property and all the works of art per unit area, the Vatican can probably be called the richest country in the world.
* Traditionally, the Swiss serve as the Vatican’s security guards.
* The Vatican officially recognized that the Earth has a round shape only in 1992.
* Being an enclave, the Vatican is surrounded by Italy on all sides.
* The official language of the state is Latin.
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* The ambassadors of other states in the Vatican are placed outside of it since there is simply not enough space for them in the tiny city-state. Even the Italian embassy in the Vatican is physically located on the territory of Italy itself.
* The total length of the Vatican border is only 3.2 kilometers.
* The Pope, elected by the Council of Cardinals for life, has absolute power in the Vatican.
* The Vatican’s main sources of income are tourism and donations.
* There is one private bank and a railway about 850 meters long connecting it with the railway network of Rome. But there is no television, mobile operators or cars here.
* In the Vatican, only about one and a half hundred marriages were concluded in its entire history.
* The Vatican issues its own money and postage stamps, which are popular with tourists and collectors.
* There is even its football team.
* In 1983, the Vatican became the only country on Earth where not a single child was born for the entire year.
* The Vatican Radio Station broadcasts in many countries of the world in several dozen languages.
* There is a tennis court, which is accessed by a path that bears the loud name “Sports Street”. And there is also one helipad.
* The total area of the Vatican is 44 hectares or 0.44 square kilometers.
* If a Vatican citizen loses his citizenship, he automatically receives an Italian passport.
* There are ATMs in the Vatican, and the official language is also present in the list of available languages — Latin.
* The Vatican Library has more than 1.6 million books, as well as several hundred thousand manuscripts.
* Solar panels are installed on the roof of one Vatican building, which provides power to electric, lighting, and heating devices.
* The Vatican owns some objects located on the territory of Italy. These are the radio station Santa Maria di Galeria, the Basilica of San Giovanni, the Pope’s summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, and several educational institutions.
* The Vatican is a non-profit state, the economy is supported mainly by taxes levied from Roman Catholic dioceses in different countries.
* The territory of the state is surrounded by medieval walls. The Vatican’s border with Italy is not officially marked, but formally it passes through St. Peter’s Square.
* There are about 800 permanent residents in the Vatican, but more than 5 million people visit this country every year.
*When visiting the Vatican, there is no immigration control, and stamps are not put in the passport.
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Facts about Vatican City for Kids :
* The Vatican is the only country in the world with a stable literacy rate of 100 percent.
* The Vatican is home to the world’s oldest pharmacy, founded in 1277. It sells rare medicines that are not always found in Italy.
* The Vatican is completely included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
*There is even its own post office, and every year it sends about 2.5 million letters and 7 million postcards.
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Conclusion :
Hope you have enjoyed the true history and facts about Vatican City. It is believed that Vatican city is one of the Holiest places in the world.
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