The world's smallest country is the Vatican City, with a total area of 44 hectares or 0.44 km2. It is 11 hectares smaller than the mansion Updown Court and it’s located within the city of Rome in the Italian peninsula.
Its name comes from the Vatican Mount. Its creation goes back to 1929 when the Holy See and Kingdom of Italy signed the Lateran Treaty after the Kingdom conquered the Papal States. It is famous worldwide for being the country where the Pope resides. It is also known as the Holy See, which refers to the highest institution of the Catholic Church or the Vatican City, referring to the city and country where it’s located.
The Vatican is not a country like any other, because it is full of exceptions and curiosities. Its capital is the Vatican City and today is the only country whose official language is Latin. Despite its small size and its 4 km border, it’s an independent territory or micro urbanized European state, as 20% of the territory is occupied by the Plaza San Pedro and another 7% by the Basilica of San Pedro.
Its form of government also has a peculiar structure. It is based on an absolute elective monarchy where the highest authority is the Supreme Pontiff. It’s also the only theocracy in Europe that persists nowadays, which means that the Pope has legislative, executive and judicial powers. Their national defense is the Swiss Guard, which is composed of 100 male soldiers, 4 officers, 23 middle managers, 70 halberdiers and one chaplain. This security body is provided by Italy, as all other security and police structures were completely abolished within Vatican territory.
You cannot obtain the Vatican nationality by birth, only by concession. Its current census is of 932 inhabitants: Pope Francisco, 73 cardinals, 49 priests, 86 Swiss Guards and others.
Giving some other examples that make this country unique, it is also worth to point out its economy. As their production activity is based on selling tourist souvenirs, books, stamps, museums..., this country cannot maintain itself. Therefore, they receive income and donations from the Catholic Church, private companies, schools, private donations... Nonetheless, their current currency is the euro and they even have their own customised design accepted by the European Union. But not all are interesting exceptions, as they also have to deal with some controversial topics. The most remarkable one is that it is said that the Holy See is wealthy enough to end world's poverty twice, since it is estimated to have a total of 3,500,000,000 € in gold.
The Vatican, also known as the main home of the Catholic Church, is full of monuments and history of undeniable interest. St. Peter's Basilica, the tomb of St. Peter, the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Square and the Vatican Museum, among others, made the Unesco declare the country as a World Heritage Site in 1984 due to the immense beauty and history that permeate in each of these places. In addition, it also has important works of a long list of transcendental artists like Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel Vault (1952), works by Raphael, Bernini…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican_City
http://www.vaticanstate.va/content/vaticanstate/en.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_States
http://www.vatican.va/vatican_city_state/legislation/
http://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-vatican
