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The flag of Vatican City
Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State (Italian : Stato della Città del Vaticano ; Latin : Status Civitatis Vaticanae ), is a landlocked sovereign country , city-state , microstate , and enclave surrounded by, and historically a part of, Rome , Italy . It became independent from Italy in 1929 with the Lateran Treaty , and it is a distinct territory under "full ownership, exclusive dominion, and sovereign authority and jurisdiction" of the Holy See , itself a sovereign entity under international law , which maintains the city-state's temporal power and governance , diplomatic , and spiritual independence . The Vatican is also a metonym for the pope , the city-state's and worldwide Catholic Church government Holy See, and Roman Curia . The country has the world's smallest land area and the smallest population , with 764 citizens as of 2023.
With an area of 49 hectares (121 acres) and as of 2023 a population of about 764, it is the smallest state in the world both by area and by population . It is also the second-least populated capital in the world. As governed by the Holy See, Vatican City State is an ecclesiastical or sacerdotal -monarchical state ruled by the Pope, who is the bishop of Rome and head of the Catholic Church . The highest state functionaries are all Catholic clergy of various origins. After the Avignon Papacy (1309–1377) the popes have mainly resided at the Apostolic Palace within what is now Vatican City, although at times residing instead in the Quirinal Palace in Rome or elsewhere. (Full article... )
Vatican Radio (Italian : Radio Vaticana ) is the official broadcasting service of the Vatican .
Set up in 1931 by Guglielmo Marconi , today its programs are offered in 47 languages, and are sent out on short wave (also DRM ), medium wave , FM , satellite and the Internet . The Jesuit Order has been charged with the management of Vatican Radio since its inception. During World War II and the rise of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany , Vatican Radio served as a source for news for the Allies as well as broadcasting pro-Allied (or simply neutral) propaganda .[ 1] A week after Pope Pius XII ordered the programming, Vatican Radio broadcast to an unbelieving world that Poles and Jews were being rounded up and forced into ghettos .
Today, programming is produced by over two hundred journalists located in 61 different countries. Vatican Radio produces more than 42,000 hours of simultaneous broadcasting covering international news, religious celebrations, in-depth programs, and music. The current general director is Father Federico Lombardi , S.J.
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The following are images from various Vatican City-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 3 Members of the Canadian
Royal 22nd Regiment in audience with
Pope Pius XII , following the 1944 Liberation of Rome. (from
Vatican City during World War II )
Image 4 Armenian cross monument (
Khatchkar ) inside the Vatican Gardens (from
Gardens of Vatican City )
Image 5 Territory of Vatican City State according to the
Lateran Treaty (from
Vatican City )
Image 6 Map of Vatican City (from
Geography of Vatican City )
Image 9 A guard of the Vatican at his sentry box (from
Vatican City )
Image 11 The
Apostolic Palace (
Palazzo Apostolico ), the official residence of the Pope. Here,
Benedict XVI is at the window marked by a maroon banner hanging from the windowsill at centre. (from
Vatican City )
Image 12 Vatican Gardens (from
Gardens of Vatican City )
Image 13 Bernardino Nogara , the chief Vatican financier during the war (from
Vatican City during World War II )
Image 14 Empress
Saint Helena of Constantinople carrying the One
True Cross laying the grounds for the gardens using the sacred soil from
Mount Calvary . (from
Gardens of Vatican City )
Image 15 The crowds of tourists in
St. Peter's Square are a target for pickpockets. (from
Crime in Vatican City )
Image 16 Palace of the Governorate of Vatican City State (from
Gardens of Vatican City )
Image 17 Enlargeable, detailed map of Vatican City (from
Geography of Vatican City )
Image 18 Image of the
United Nations member state borders on a map (from
Vatican City )
Image 19 View of St. Peter's Square from the top of Michelangelo's dome (from
Vatican City )
Image 20 President
Barack Obama and First Lady
Michelle Obama meet with
Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican on July 10, 2009. (from
Women in Vatican City )
Image 21 An
ATM in Vatican City with
Latin instructions (from
Economy of Vatican City )
Image 23 An early interpretation of the relative locations of the circus, and the
medieval and
current Basilicas of St. Peter (from
Vatican City )
Image 24 Polish ambassador to the Vatican,
Kazimierz Papée , was critical of Pius XII's pre-war mediation efforts. (from
Vatican City during World War II )
Image 25 Part of the Vatican Gardens (from
Gardens of Vatican City )
Image 26 One possible modern interpretation (from
Vatican City )
Image 27 Pope Francis in Vatican City, 2021 (from
Vatican City )
Image 28 The
Little Flower ,
Saint Therese of Lisieux is the official Patroness of the gardens. (from
Gardens of Vatican City )
Image 29 Vatican Museums' "New Wing", built by
Raffaele Stern (1774–1820) (from
Vatican City )
Image 30 The Fountain of the Eagle "
Fontana dell'Aquilone " in the Vatican Gardens (from
Gardens of Vatican City )
Image 31 The
Ingresso di Sant'Anna , an entrance to Vatican City from Italy (from
Vatican City )
Image 32 The Seal of Vatican City. Note the use of the Italian language. (from
Vatican City )
Image 33 Vatican Gardens (from
Gardens of Vatican City )
Image 34 A monument to
Fr. Maximilian Kolbe , among the estimated 3,000 members (18%) of the Polish clergy who were killed by the Nazis; of these, 1,992 died in concentration camps. (from
Vatican City during World War II )
Image 35 The crowds of tourists in
St. Peter's Square are a target for pickpockets. (from
Vatican City )
Image 36 Musicians of the
British Army 's
38th (Irish) Brigade playing in front of
St. Peter's Basilica in June 1944 (from
Vatican City )
Image 37 The Italian peninsula in 1796. The Papal States in central Italy are coloured purple. (from
Vatican City )
Image 38 The Vatican's post office was established on 11 February 1929. (from
Vatican City )
Image 40 St. Peter's Basilica , the most renowned work of Renaissance architecture (from
Vatican City )
Image 41 Map of Vatican City, highlighting notable buildings and the Vatican gardens (from
Vatican City )
Image 42 The
Vatican City came into existence in 1929, a decade before the start of World War II (from
Vatican City during World War II )
Image 43 Pay phone in the Vatican City (from
Vatican City )
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