Facts for Kids

Vatican City is the smallest country in the world. It is a tiny, landlocked city-state inside the city of Rome, and the leader of the Catholic Church, the pope, lives there. Because the pope leads the Church and also runs this small country, Vatican City is both a spiritual center and a place that handles everyday government tasks.

The government that represents the pope to other countries is called the Holy See. The Holy See carries out religious work, talks with other nations, and makes decisions for the Church. Vatican City gives the Holy See a safe, independent space to do this work.

The word Holy See refers to the pope and the group that helps him lead the Catholic Church. It is about the pope’s spiritual and pastoral work, not the small country itself. The pope is also the head of Vatican City and holds the official title Sovereign of the State of the Vatican City, which means he is the country’s leader because he is pope.

Day-to-day government is run by the President of the Pontifical Commission, a person who looks after the city’s services and rules like a mayor or governor. The current president is Raffaella Petrini, named on 1 March 2025 and reconfirmed on 9 May 2025. A new pope, Leo XIV, was elected on 8 May 2025, showing how leadership can change.

The Vatican Gardens cover almost half of Vatican City and are about 23 hectares (57 acres) in size. They are inside the tiny country and give a lot of green space between the buildings. The gardens have lawns, fountains, flower beds, shady trees and quiet paths where people can walk and rest.

The gardens began long ago when orchards and vineyards stretched north of the papal palace. A medieval pope built walls around the area and planted an orchard, lawn, and garden. Vatican City has the same weather as Rome: warm, dry summers and mild, wetter winters, which helps the plants grow well.

A long time ago the land where the Vatican sits was called the Ager Vaticanus, part of ancient Rome near the river Tiber. The Romans sometimes called the area damp and lonely because the river could flood. Later, a circus (a big open place for events) stood there, and people remember it as the place connected to Saint Peter.

In 326 a large church was built over what many believed to be Saint Peter’s tomb. Over the centuries, popes came to control much more land around Rome. These lands were called the Papal States, and they helped the popes act like rulers for over a thousand years.

In 1870 the new country of Italy took control of Rome and most of the lands that had belonged to the popes for centuries. This created a problem called the “Roman Question” because the popes did not accept the Italian king ruling over the same lands.

To solve this, the Italian government and the Holy See signed the Lateran Treaty on 11 February 1929. The treaty made a tiny independent country—Vatican City—so the pope would have a safe and separate place to lead the Church. The agreement went into effect on 7 June 1929.

The Holy See and Vatican City are connected but different. The Holy See is the pope’s government for the whole Catholic Church and has existed for many centuries. Vatican City is the small country created in 1929 to give the Holy See a place it controls.

The Holy See speaks with other nations and takes part in international meetings. It is a permanent observer at the United Nations, which means it can join discussions but does not vote like other countries. Someone called the president of the Governorate helps run day-to-day life in Vatican City; as of 2025 that leader is Raffaella Petrini.