VATICAN

The Vatican is a microstate that is located in the interior of Rome , the capital of Italy . It is, therefore, an enclave : a state that is totally surrounded by the territory of another state. When the term is written with a lower case initial ( Vatican ), it refers to the name of this nation.

With an area of 44 hectares , the Vatican is the smallest country in the world. It is also one of the least populated, with a number of inhabitants that does not reach a thousand.

The importance of the Vatican in the international context lies in the fact that it houses the Holy See , which is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Pope . The Catholic Church , in this way, has its base in the Vatican territory.

The Vatican is a theocracy since its head of state is the Pope . In this European country there is no democracy : its inhabitants do not elect the rulers. The Vatican can also be considered an absolute monarchy because the Pope gathers control of the executive, legislative and judicial powers.

Another name that is possible to give the Vatican is to microstate , and in this context is one of six that exist in the territory Europe. A microstate, also called a mini-state , can be defined as a sovereign state with a reduced territory, a small number of inhabitants, or both characteristics at the same time.

Microstates exist in various parts of the world; To name just a few of them, we have Cape Verde, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Singapore, Micronesia, Palestine, Monaco and Andorra.

For the General Assembly of the United Nations , microstates do not go unnoticed, since they can also vote . The Vatican belongs to one of the four areas of the planet in which microstates can be found; the others are Oceania, the Indian Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

Among the main tourist attractions of the Vatican are St. Peter's Basilica (the Catholic church with the largest internal surface), St. Peter's Square (located next to the Basilica ), the Vatican Apostolic Palace (which functions as the official residence of the Pope ) and the Vatican Museums (which house a large number of works of art ).

When studying the etymology of the Vatican term we find the homonymous mount, which probably received its name from the Latin term vaticinium , which can be translated as " vaticinio " or "prediction", or from vaticinatio , "prophecy."

This may be due to the fact that said hill used to house an oracle of Etruscan origin, but it is also attributed to the existence of a town called Vaticum .

Although many are unaware of it, the Vatican is not very old: it was created in 1929 . It all began on February 11 with the signing of the Lateran Pacts by Pietro Gasparri (Italian prelate, diplomat and jurist, representing the Holy See) and Benito Mussolini (at that time, prime minister with a dictatorial character).

This event took place throughout the pontificate of Pius XI, and ended a dispute that had existed for almost six decades. Thus was born the Vatican, with its 44 hectares, and was recognized as a sovereign state . Since then and until 2016, there have been eight popes: Pius XI, Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis . The first five were of Italian origin, while John Paul II was Polish, Benedict XVI was German, and Francisco is Argentine.

As a curiosity, it should be mentioned that the Vatican has a soccer team made up mostly of members of the Swiss Guard , which is in charge of the nation's security . The Vatican team, however, is not affiliated with FIFA .