Why the Vatican Has One of the Highest Crime Rates - 34 Interesting Facts About the World's Smallest State
The Vatican is the smallest state in the world. Despite its diminutive size, in religious and cultural terms, the Vatican is a significant force. Within its 0.44 km² territory lies arguably the richest collection of artworks in the world. Its palaces, libraries, and archives house books, documents, and works of art whose value to humanity is measured more in cultural and historical terms than in monetary terms. Among these treasures are Michelangelo's wall frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, depicting scenes from the Last Judgment, considered among the most impressive works of Western art. The Vatican Museums, featuring exhibits ranging from ancient to early Christian to even Egyptian artifacts, are considered one of the most significant art collections on Earth.
Interesting Facts About the Vatican
● The Pope, not only the head of state of the Vatican but also the Vicar of God on Earth for Catholics, one of the largest religious denominations in the world.
● Vatican ATMs allow transactions in Latin. The country's only bank is called the "Institute for the Works of Religion."
● The Vatican's main sources of income are donations from Catholics worldwide and tourism.
● The Vatican is a landlocked enclave: it is entirely surrounded by the territory of another country. The Vatican's border with Italy spans 3.2 km. Despite its tiny size, the Vatican has everything typically associated with the concept of a state: its own army, postal and telegraph services, postage stamps, radio station, mint, national flag, and even a small prison, though it has stood empty for years.
● The Vatican flag looks like this:
● The highest collegial body discussing matters of global Catholicism is the Ecumenical Council, convened every few decades.
● The Swiss Army has long been renowned for its combat prowess and skill with weapons. Pope Julius II was deeply impressed by soldiers from this country and "borrowed" a few for his protection. Since then, the Swiss Guard has been standing guard over the Holy See.
● The Vatican has its own football team consisting of members of the armed forces, members of the papal council, and custodians of local museums. However, the Vatican team is not a member of FIFA. Football rules in the Vatican differ slightly from those in other countries. A match lasts one hour, meaning each half is 30 minutes long. A player receives a blue card for rule violations, replacing the usual yellow and red cards. The offender serves a 5-minute penalty and returns to the field.
● Marriages and births are extremely rare in the Vatican. Although in 2014 Pope Francis married 20 couples living "in sin." Some of them already had children.
● The Vatican is a theocratic monarchy. Legislative, executive, and judicial powers belong to the Pope, who is elected for life by the College of Cardinals.
● The Vatican owns several properties located on the territory of Italy. These include Radio Station Santa Maria di Galeria, Basilica San Giovanni, the Pope's summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, and a number of educational institutions.
● The Vatican has diplomatic representations (nunciatures) in 138 countries worldwide. Thus, it can influence the policies of these countries in one way or another.
● Pope John Paul I spent only one month in office before dying under mysterious circumstances. This occurred in 1978 and gained notoriety as the shortest papal reign in history.
● The Vatican Library is one of the richest in the world. It houses the largest collection of manuscripts from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The library's holdings include about 1.6 million printed books and 150,000 manuscripts.
● It takes about an hour to walk around the perimeter of the Vatican.
● The Vatican has the highest per capita wine consumption rate. On average, an adult resident drinks over 54 liters of wine per year. However, this does not mean that the Vatican residents, led by the Pope, are all avid alcoholics. All wine is used for communion for tourists and believers, consumed as part of this Catholic rite.
● Vatican citizenship is held by no more than 800 people. Vatican citizenship is granted only to those in the service of the Holy See - employees of the Holy See and members of the Swiss Guard of the Pope. Approximately 50% of the country's population holds a passport with diplomatic status of the Holy See, confirming their citizenship. Citizenship is not hereditary, not granted at birth, and is annulled upon termination of employment. According to the Lateran Pacts of 1929, if a person ceases to be a citizen of the Vatican, they are automatically granted Italian citizenship.
● There is not a single traffic light in this state.
● The Vatican is the only state entirely listed by UNESCO. Due to its high historical and cultural value, as well as millions of tourists visiting the Vatican annually, this state was entirely included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
● The Vatican officially acknowledged that the Earth revolves around the Sun only in 1992. Pope John Paul II delivered a speech acknowledging Galileo as a brilliant physicist and expressed regret that theologians who condemned the scientist had adhered too literally to the text of Sacred Scripture.
● The most important scientific institution in the Vatican is the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, which promotes research in physics, mathematics, and natural sciences. Among its members are 30 Nobel laureates.
● Accredited diplomats in the Vatican live in Rome, as there is no place to accommodate them within the state.
● For more than a century, the Vatican has not experienced any fires, but firefighters are on duty around the clock. By the way, there are only 3 fire trucks.
● The Vatican has one of the highest per capita crime rates in the world. Most often, sins are committed by tourists and hired workers from Italy.
● The Vatican is named after the hill Mons Vaticanus. Translated from Latin, Vacitinia means a place of prophecies. Before the advent of Christianity, the place where modern Vatican is located was considered sacred and was forbidden to ordinary people.
● Vatican priests regularly expel evil spirits. According to the chief exorcist Father Gabriel Amorth, about 300 demons are expelled annually.
● 95% of Vatican residents are men.
● The Vatican gardens have many nests of parrots that have lived there for over five centuries. In the 15th century, an unusually bright bird was presented as a gift to the Pope, but its name was unknown. As a result, the bird was named "papagallo," which translates as "papal cock."
● The Vatican has one helipad and a railway line 852 meters long connecting the station near St. Peter's Basilica with the main Italian network.
● The Vatican Radio broadcasts in 20 languages in various parts of the planet.
● The Vatican has no divorce procedure in its legislative base; annulment of marriage is only possible.
● The Embassy of Italy to the Vatican is located within the territory of Italy, the only such embassy in the world.
● One hundred percent of the Vatican's population are Catholics.
● The Vatican digitized its entire library and provided free access to all who are interested.
