Vatican City 🇻🇦
Vatican City is a country in Europe with a population of 825. Its capital is Vatican City. The official currency is EUR, and the main languages are Italian, Latin.
Quick facts
- Capital: Vatican City
- Continent: Europe
- Population: 825
- Area: 0 km²
- Density: 0.0 people per km²
- Currency: EUR
- Languages: Italian, Latin
- ISO code: VA
Where Vatican City sits
Vatican City 🇻🇦 is one of 46 countries in Europe, with its capital at Vatican City. It covers 0 square kilometres — 197th in the world — and is home to about 825 people, 197th globally.
The countries it shares a continent with include Russia, Germany, United Kingdom, France and Italy. If you are learning geography region by region — which works far better than alphabetically, because memory for places is spatial — those are the ones to learn alongside it.
How Vatican City compares
Raw figures are hard to hold on their own, so it helps to anchor them. In population, Vatican City sits closest to Tuvalu and Nauru. In land area, its nearest counterparts are Monaco and Nauru.
At 0.0 people per square kilometre it is far below the world average of 59.4. Its population and area ranks match exactly, which is uncommon.
Italian is an official language in 4 countries here, among them Italy, San Marino and Switzerland. The EUR is shared with 25 other countries, including Andorra, Austria and Belgium, and 22 others.
To see Vatican City next to every other country, sort the country rankings by population, area or density; its currency and languages are listed alongside every other country's in world currencies and world languages.
How to remember Vatican City
The capital question is a trick: Vatican City is a city-state, so the country and its capital are the same place. It is home to the pope, and its flag is one of only two square national flags, along with Switzerland's.
The flag of Vatican City: yellow and white
🇻🇦 The flag is two vertical bands of yellow and white, with the crossed keys of Saint Peter and the papal crown on the white band. Yellow and white stand for the pope's spiritual and worldly power, and the keys are the keys of Saint Peter.
Region and neighbours
Vatican City is the world's smallest country, a walled city-state surrounded completely by the city of Rome in Italy. It shares land borders with one country: Italy. Vatican City is an enclave: it sits entirely inside Rome, so Italy is its only neighbour. Vatican City is landlocked, with no coast on the open ocean.
- Italy 🇮🇹 — capital Rome
Three facts about Vatican City
- Vatican City is the smallest country in the world, both by area (about 44 hectares) and by population.
- Saint Peter's Basilica is the largest church in the world by the space inside it.
- The Swiss Guard, which protects the pope, was founded in 1506.
Sources: Wikipedia: Vatican City, Wikipedia: Flag of Vatican City, Wikipedia: St. Peter's Basilica, Wikipedia: Swiss Guard, CIA World Factbook.
Quiz yourself on Vatican City
- European capitals quiz — match Vatican City to Vatican City
- European flags quiz — spot the Vatican City flag among its neighbours
- Landlocked countries quiz — Vatican City has no sea coast
Quizzes that include Vatican City
Three angles are worth covering for any country — where it is, what its flag looks like, and what its capital is. For Vatican City those are:
- Europe map quiz — place it on a blank map
- Europe flags quiz — identify its flag among its neighbours
- Europe capitals quiz — match it to Vatican City
- Vatican City capital quiz — five quick questions starting with Vatican City, plus the answer quizzes most often try to trick you with
- Daily Map Challenge — five countries to find on a blank world map, the same five for everyone each day
Doing all three for one continent before moving on is far more efficient than learning flags globally, then capitals globally, then the map.
Read more about Vatican City
- Capital of Vatican City: Vatican City — the capital in detail, with size and density rankings
- All 46 countries of Europe
Nearby countries
- Albania 🇦🇱 — capital Tirana
- Andorra 🇦🇩 — capital Andorra la Vella
- Austria 🇦🇹 — capital Vienna
- Belarus 🇧🇾 — capital Minsk
- Belgium 🇧🇪 — capital Brussels
- Bosnia and Herzegovina 🇧🇦 — capital Sarajevo
- Bulgaria 🇧🇬 — capital Sofia
- Croatia ðŸ‡ðŸ‡· — capital Zagreb
- Cyprus 🇨🇾 — capital Nicosia
- Czechia 🇨🇿 — capital Prague
- Denmark 🇩🇰 — capital Copenhagen
- Estonia 🇪🇪 — capital Tallinn
Frequently asked questions
What are the colours of the Vatican City flag?
The flag of Vatican City is two vertical bands of yellow and white, with the crossed keys of Saint Peter and the papal crown on the white band. Yellow and white stand for the pope's spiritual and worldly power, and the keys are the keys of Saint Peter.
Which countries border Vatican City?
Vatican City shares land borders with Italy. Vatican City is an enclave: it sits entirely inside Rome, so Italy is its only neighbour.
How can I remember the capital of Vatican City?
The capital question is a trick: Vatican City is a city-state, so the country and its capital are the same place. It is home to the pope, and its flag is one of only two square national flags, along with Switzerland's.