Vatican City

Vatican City v?t?k?n [key] or Holy See, officially Holy See (State of the Vatican City), independent state (2015 est. pop. 1,000), 108.7 acres (44 hectares), within the city of Rome, Italy, and the residence of the pope, who is its absolute ruler. Vatican City may be said to correspond politically to the former Papal States, but it was created as a result of the Lateran Treaty of 1929 between Pope Pius XI and King Victor Emmanuel III (negotiated by Cardinal Gasparri and Mussolini), which ended the so-called Roman Question.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Geographic and Political Extent
• Civil and Church Government
• The Palaces and the Vatican's Treasures
• History
• Bibliography

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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