Geography of Vatican City

41°54′10″N 12°27′9″E﻿ / ﻿41.90278°N 12.45250°E﻿ / 41.90278; 12.45250

Map of Vatican City

The Vatican City is unique due to the country's position as an urban, landlocked enclave of Rome, Italy. With an area of 49 hectares (120 acres; 0.49 square kilometres),[a] and a border with Italy of 3.5 km (2.2 mi), it is the world's smallest independent state. Outside the Vatican City, thirteen buildings in Rome and Castel Gandolfo (the pope's summer residence) enjoy extraterritorial rights (one building, the Paul VI Audience Hall, straddles the border, but its Italian portion has extraterritorial rights). The country contains no major natural resources, and no known natural hazards other than those that affect Rome in general, such as earthquakes.

## Climate

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Further information: Climate of Rome

The city state has the same climate as Rome: temperate, mild, rainy winters (September to mid-May) with hot, dry summers (May to September).

## Terrain

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A view of the Gardens of Vatican City Enlargeable, detailed map of Vatican City

Vatican City sits on a low hill. The hill has been called the Vatican Hill (in Latin, Mons Vaticanus) since long before Christianity existed. An Etruscan settlement, possibly called Vatica or Vaticum, may have existed in the area generally known by the ancient Romans as "Vatican territory" (vaticanus ager), but if so no archaeological trace of it has been discovered.[3]

### Extreme points

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This is a list of the extreme points of Vatican City: the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location, as well as the highest and lowest points.

* North: at the intersection of the Viale Vaticano and the Via Leone IV (41°54′26.74″N 12°27′19.46″E﻿ / ﻿41.9074278°N 12.4554056°E﻿ / 41.9074278; 12.4554056﻿ (Viale Vaticano x Via Leone IV (north)))
* South: at the intersection of the Via della Stazione Vaticana and the Via di Porta Cavalleggeri (41°54′00.78″N 12°27′16.14″E﻿ / ﻿41.9002167°N 12.4544833°E﻿ / 41.9002167; 12.4544833﻿ (Via della Stazione Vaticana x Via di Porta Cavalleggeri (south)))
* West: at the intersection of the Viale Vaticano and the Via Aurelia (41°54′07.08″N 12°26′44.62″E﻿ / ﻿41.9019667°N 12.4457278°E﻿ / 41.9019667; 12.4457278﻿ (Viale Vaticano x Via Aurelia (west)))
* East: easternmost edge of Saint Peter's Square (41°54′08.16″N 12°27′30.01″E﻿ / ﻿41.9022667°N 12.4583361°E﻿ / 41.9022667; 12.4583361﻿ (Saint Peter's Square (east)))

The lowest point in Vatican City is an unnamed location at 19 metres (62 ft). The highest point is another unnamed location at 76 metres (249 ft). The tallest building is St. Peter's Basilica, at 138 metres (453 feet).

## Land use

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The nature of the estate is fundamentally urban and none of the land is reserved for significant agriculture or other exploitation of natural resources. The city state displays an impressive degree of land economy, born of necessity due to its extremely limited territory. Thus, the urban development (i.e., buildings) is optimized to occupy about half of the total area, while the rest is reserved for open space, including the Vatican Gardens. The territory holds many diverse structures that help provide autonomy for the sovereign state, including a rail line and train station, heliport, post office, radio station (with extraterritorial antennas in Italy), military barracks, government palaces and offices, public plaza, part of an audience hall, old defensive wall marking the border, institutions of higher learning, and cultural/art centers.

## Environment

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In July 2007, the Vatican accepted an offer that would make it the only carbon neutral state for the year, due to the donation of the Vatican Climate Forest in Hungary. The forest was to be sized to offset the year's carbon dioxide emissions.[4] No trees have been planted under the project and the carbon offsets have not materialized.[5][6]

### International agreements

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* Party to: Ozone Layer Protection
* Signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution, Environmental Modification

## See also

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* Vatican City portal

* Geography of Italy
* Properties of the Holy See
* Index of Vatican City-related articles

## References

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* This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook. CIA.

Notes

1. ^ The De Agostini Atlas Calendar listed the area of Vatican City as 0.44 km2 in its 1930 edition[1] but corrected it to 0.49 km2 in its 1945–46 edition.[2] The figure of 0.44 km2 is still widely cited by many sources despite its inaccuracy.

1. ^ De Agostini Atlas Calendar (in Italian), 1930, p. 99.
2. ^ De Agostini Atlas Calendar (in Italian), 1945–46, p. 128.
3. ^ Lawrence Richardson, A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992), p. 405.
4. ^ "The Vatican to go carbon neutral". United Press International. July 13, 2007. Retrieved September 12, 2009.
5. ^ "Carbon offsets: How a Vatican forest failed to reduce global warming". The Christian Science Monitor. 20 April 2010.
6. ^ "Dangers lurk in offset investments | Reuters Events | Sustainable Business". Ethical Corporation. Archived from the original on September 25, 2011.

## External links

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* Interactive Vatican City Map

* v
* t
* e

Vatican City articles

* Index
* Outline
* Holy See
* Properties
* Pope: Leo XIV
* List of sovereigns
* Vicar General for Vatican City

History|

* History of the papacy
* "Prisoner in the Vatican"
* Circus of Nero
* Old St. Peter's Basilica
* Papal tombs
* Navicella
* Leonine City
* Cortile del Belvedere
* Santo Stefano degli Ungheresi
* Lateran Treaty
* Borgo Nuovo
* Borgo Vecchio
* Piazza Scossacavalli

Geography|

| Major basilica|

| St. Peter's Basilica|

* Chair of Saint Peter
* Door of the Dead
* Monument to the Royal Stuarts
* St. Peter's Baldachin
* Saint Longinus
* Pietà
* Vatican Necropolis
* Saint Peter's tomb
* Papal tombs
* Tomb of the Julii
* Vatican Grottoes

|

Apostolic Palace|

* Redemptoris Mater Chapel
* Borgia Apartments
* Clementine Hall
* Loggias
* Papal apartments
* Stufetta del cardinal Bibbiena
* Cappella Paolina
* Raphael Rooms
* Niccoline Chapel
* Sala Ducale
* Sala Regia
* Scala Regia
* The Vision of Constantine
* Sistine Chapel
* altarpiece
* ceiling
* Room of Tears

Vatican Museums|

* Historical
* Paintings
* Modern and Contemporary Art
* Pio-Clementino
* Chiaramonti
* Gregoriano Etrusco
* Gregoriano Egiziano
* Pio Cristiano
* Ethnographic
* Bramante Staircase
* Maps

* Gregorian Tower
* Casina Pio IV
* Sant'Anna dei Palafrenieri
* Domus Sanctae Marthae
* Holy Spirit Chapel
* Gardens
* Santa Maria della Pietà in Camposanto dei Teutonici
* Collegio Teutonico
* Teutonic Cemetery
* Mater Ecclesiae Monastery
* Sant'Egidio in Borgo
* Santi Martino e Sebastiano degli Svizzeri
* Paul VI Audience Hall
* The Resurrection
* Passetto di Borgo
* San Pellegrino in Vaticano
* St. Peter's Square
* Via della Conciliazione
* Fountains
* Porta San Pellegrino
* Ricciolo d'Italia
* Saint John's Tower
* Santo Stefano degli Abissini
* Vatican Pharmacy
* Vatican Hill

Politics|

* Elections
* Foreign relations
* Vicar General
* Law

* Crime
* Fundamental Law

Governance|

* Pope Leo XIV
* Cardinal Secretary of State Vacant

Government|

* Roman Curia
* Apostolic Camera
* Commissions
* For Vatican City State
* Councils
* Congregations
* Dicasteries

Military|

* Corps of Gendarmerie
* Swiss Guard
* See also: Corps of Firefighters

Economy|

* Banking
* Vatican euro coins
* Communications
* .va [Internet domain]
* Poste Vaticane
* Postage stamps and postal history
* Homelessness
* Secretariat for the Economy
* Tourism

Infrastructure|

* Transport
* Heliport
* Rail

Culture|

* Academy of Sciences
* AT telescope
* observatory
* Architecture
* Archives
* Apostolic Archive
* Climate Forest
* Demographics
* Languages
* Library
* film
* Music
* Sistine Chapel Choir
* Philatelic and Numismatic Office
* Public holidays

| Media|

* Holy See Press Office
* Vatican Information Service
* Vatican Media
* Vatican News
* Vatican Radio
* Vatican Television Center
* Vatican News App
* Vatican Publishing House
* Acta Apostolicae Sedis
* Annuario Pontificio
* L'Osservatore Romano
* Pope2you

|

Religion|

* Catholic Church

Symbols|

* Anthem
* Coat of arms
* Flag

Sports|

* Amateur Sports Association
* Cricket team
* National football team (Men)
* National football team (Women)
* Vatican Athletics

* Vatican City portal
* Catholic Church portal

* v
* t
* e

Geography of Europe

Sovereign states|

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*   * Italy
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* North Macedonia
* Norway
* Poland
* Portugal
* Romania
* Russia
* San Marino
* Serbia
* Slovakia
* Slovenia
* Spain
* Sweden
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* Turkey
* Ukraine
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States with limited
recognition|

* Abkhazia
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Dependencies and
other entities|

* Åland
* Faroe Islands
* Gibraltar
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* Isle of Man
* Jersey
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Other entities|

* European Union

* v
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Climate of Europe

Sovereign states|

* Albania
* Andorra
* Armenia
* Austria
* Azerbaijan
* Belarus
* Belgium
* Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Bulgaria
* Croatia
* Cyprus
* Czech Republic
* Denmark
* Estonia
* Finland
* France
* Georgia
* Germany
* Greece
* Hungary
* Iceland
* Ireland
*   * Italy
* Kazakhstan
* Latvia
* Liechtenstein
* Lithuania
* Luxembourg
* Malta
* Moldova
* Monaco
* Montenegro
* Netherlands
* North Macedonia
* Norway
* Poland
* Portugal
* Romania
* Russia
* San Marino
* Serbia
* Slovakia
* Slovenia
* Spain
* Sweden
* Switzerland
* Turkey
* Ukraine
* United Kingdom
* Vatican City

States with limited
recognition|

* Abkhazia
* Kosovo
* Northern Cyprus
* South Ossetia
* Transnistria

Dependencies and
other entities|

* Åland
* Faroe Islands
* Gibraltar
* Guernsey
* Isle of Man
* Jersey
* Svalbard

Other entities|

* European Union

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