Città del Vaticano New Website

Vatican City is the smallest country covering only 44 hectares (0.44 km² 0.17 sq mi) with a permanant population of approx. 783 (approx 450 are citizens). Up to recently the only info you could find about it was on the Vatican website. But no more. It has launched a website for anyone who might want to learn more about how the country functions. The info available includes the country's history, the political structure (yes, it does have 1), plenty of pictures & much more.

Most people forget that Vatican City is a fully operational country. They assunme that the Vatican & Vatican City are 1 & the same. They aren't. The Vatican is the central HQ of the Church. Vatican City is the country in which it is located. Vatican City functions seperately from the day to day running of the Catholic Church. It exists to ensure the political independence of the Church.

Let's go back to the political structure for a moment. While everyone knows that the Pope is the supreme sovereign, most people don't realize that Vatican City has a president, a legislature & an judiciary. The legislature is a commission appointed by the Pope (Pontifical Commission for the Vatican City State). The president of that commission is the chief executive of Vatican City. In his case he functions more as a mayor than as a president or prime minister would in another country. There is also a secretary of state & other goevernment departments like any other country. But there are a few departments that are somewhat unique. 1 example is the Department of Pontifical Villas. This department is responsible for the maintainance & running of Castel Gandolfo & environs.

Besides the flag, Vatican City does have its own national anthem, Gounod's Pontifical March. It issues its own coinage & stamps & & has its own license plates. The country also has its own phone company & television service. It even has its own railroad. Policing is handled by the Gendarme Corps. The Swiss Guard is the army. (They can have, but do not currently operate a navy.)

The website is a fun, informative tool for those interested in finding out more about Vatican City & how it functions. (It even has several webcams.) It isn't perfect, for example, there is nothing about the Vatican Railroad. But, hopefully they will be expanding & adding mmore info as time goes on. Even so, it is still well worth checking out.