Most countries take hours or days to cross. But there's one nation so tiny that the whole thing sits inside a single city. It has its own ruler, its own citizens, and its own coins, yet it's much smaller than New York's Central Park.
Here's the short answer. The smallest country in the world is Vatican City, an independent city-state completely surrounded by Rome, Italy. It covers about 109 acres, or 0.19 square miles, and has a population of about 882 people. That makes it both the smallest country by area and the least populated.
How Small Is Small?
To picture it, think of New York's Central Park, which covers 843 acres. You could fit Vatican City inside it nearly eight times. Even Monaco, the world's second-smallest country, is more than four times bigger at about 510 acres.
About half of Vatican City is taken up by its gardens, which cover roughly 57 acres. Its highest point stands just 197 feet above sea level. Stone walls, built over the centuries by several popes, mark its borders on the north, south, and west.
A Country Born in 1929
Popes once ruled a large territory across central Italy called the Papal States. That ended when the Kingdom of Italy captured Rome in 1870, and the pope declared himself a prisoner in the Vatican.
The standoff lasted for decades. It was finally settled on February 11, 1929, when the Lateran Treaty created the modern, independent state of Vatican City. The name comes from Vatican Hill, where, according to Catholic tradition, Saint Peter was crucified in the 1st century. The word Vatican itself traces back to an ancient Etruscan settlement in the area.
A Tiny Nation With Big Treasures
For its size, Vatican City is packed with famous sites. It's home to St. Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, the Apostolic Palace, the Vatican Library, and the Vatican Museums. The entire country is a World Heritage Site.
It's run as an absolute monarchy, with the pope as its ruler. The pope is elected by the College of Cardinals in a gathering called a conclave. The country uses the euro and even issues its own euro coins. On its behalf, the Holy See keeps diplomatic relations with 180 countries and holds observer status at the United Nations.
Citizens by Job, Not by Birth
Here's one of the strangest facts about the Vatican. You can't become a citizen by being born there or by having Vatican parents. Instead, citizenship is granted based on your job in service of the Holy See. Cardinals living in Vatican City or Rome, Holy See diplomats, and people who live there because of their work can hold it. Usually, citizenship ends when the job does.
Vatican City has no army of its own. Italy handles its defense. But it does have the famous Swiss Guard, founded in 1506 by Pope Julius II as the pope's personal bodyguard. Recruits must be unmarried Catholic men with Swiss citizenship, between 19 and 30 years old, and at least 5 feet 9 inches tall. In 2005, the Guard had 134 members.
So the next time you see photos of St. Peter's dome glowing at sunset, remember that you're looking at an entire country. It may be small, but it has packed a remarkable amount of history into those 109 acres.
