section_path: Abstract
section_name: Abstract
paragraph_text: Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (Italian: Stato della Città del Vaticano; Latin: Status Civitatis Vaticanae), is a landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and seat of the Catholic Church. It became independent from the Kingdom of Italy in 1929 with the Lateran Treaty. It is governed by the Holy See, itself a sovereign entity under international law, which maintains its temporal power, governance, diplomacy, and spiritual independence. Vatican is also used as a metonym for the pope, the central authority of the Roman Catholic Church, and the Holy See and the Roman Curia.
  
  With an area of 49 hectares (121 acres) and a population of about 882 in 2024, it is the smallest sovereign state in the world both by area and by population. It is among the least populated capitals 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.
  
  The Holy See dates to early Christianity and is the principal episcopal see of the Catholic Church, which in 2018 had about 1.329 billion baptized Catholics in the world, in the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches. The independent state of Vatican City came into existence in 1929 via the Lateran Treaty between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy, which spoke of it as a new creation, not as a vestige of the much larger Papal States (756–1870), which had previously encompassed much of Central Italy.
  
  Vatican City contains religious and cultural sites such as St Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, the Vatican Apostolic Library, and the Vatican Museums. They feature some of the world's most famous paintings and sculptures. The economy of Vatican City is supported financially by donations from Catholic believers, by the sale of postage stamps and souvenirs, fees for admission to museums, and sales of publications. Vatican City has no taxes, and items are duty-free.