Vatican City
<p ><b>Vatican City</b> <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/En-us-Vatican_City.ogg" title="Listen" ><img src="/d69e0de9-4753-5f98-b496-888e4f2880a1.png"/></a><sup class="noexcerpt" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:En-us-Vatican_City.ogg" title="File:En-us-Vatican City.ogg" >i</a></sup><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA_for_English" title="Wikipedia:IPA for English" >/</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Wikipedia:IPA for English" >ˈvætɨkən</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Wikipedia:IPA for English" > ˈsɪti</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA_for_English" title="Wikipedia:IPA for English" >/</a>, or <b>Vatican City State</b>,<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican_City#cite_note-14" >[14]</a></sup> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_exonyms_for_Italian_toponyms" title="List of English exonyms for Italian toponyms" >Italian</a> officially <b>Stato della Città del Vaticano</b> (<small>pronounced </small><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA_for_Italian" title="Wikipedia:IPA for Italian" >[ˈstaːto della t͡ʃitˈta del vatiˈkaːno]</a>),<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican_City#cite_note-15" >[15]</a></sup> is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landlocked_country" title="Landlocked country" >landlocked</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereignty" title="Sovereignty" >sovereign</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City-state" title="City-state" >city-state</a> whose territory consists of a walled <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enclave_and_exclave" title="Enclave and exclave" >enclave</a> within the city of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome" title="Rome" >Rome</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy" title="Italy" >Italy</a>. It has an area of approximately 44 hectares (110 acres), and a population of just over 800.<sup id="cite_ref-factbook_5-2" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican_City#cite_note-factbook-5" >[6]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican_City#cite_note-16" >[16]</a></sup> This makes Vatican City the smallest independent state in the world by both area and population.
Vatican City State was established in 1929 by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateran_Treaty" title="Lateran Treaty" >Lateran Treaty</a>, signed by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_Secretary_of_State" title="Cardinal Secretary of State" >Cardinal Secretary of State</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pietro_Gasparri" title="Pietro Gasparri" >Pietro Gasparri</a>, on behalf of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Pius_XI" title="Pope Pius XI" >Pope Pius XI</a> and by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_Italy" title="Prime Minister of Italy" >Prime Minister and Head of Government</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benito_Mussolini" title="Benito Mussolini" >Benito Mussolini</a> on behalf of King <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Emmanuel_III_of_Italy" title="Victor Emmanuel III of Italy" >Victor Emmanuel III of Italy</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Preamble_17-0" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican_City#cite_note-Preamble-17" >[17]</a></sup> Vatican City State is distinct from the Holy See,<sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican_City#cite_note-18" >[18]</a></sup> which dates back to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Christianity" title="Early Christianity" >early Christianity</a> and is the main<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Episcopal_see" title="Episcopal see" >episcopal see</a> of 1.2 billion <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_Rite" title="Latin Rite" class="mw-redirect" >Latin</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Catholic_Churches" title="Eastern Catholic Churches" >Eastern Catholic</a> adherents around the globe. Ordinances of Vatican City are published in Italian; official documents of the Holy See are issued mainly in<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin" title="Latin" >Latin</a>. The two entities have distinct passports: the Holy See, not being a country, issues only diplomatic and service passports, whereas Vatican City State issues normal passports. In each case very few passports are issued.
The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateran_Treaty" title="Lateran Treaty" >Lateran Treaty</a> in 1929, which brought the city-state into existence, spoke of it as a new creation (Preamble and Article III), not as a vestige of the much larger <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_States" title="Papal States" >Papal States</a> (756–1870) that had previously encompassed much of central Italy. Most of this territory was absorbed into the Kingdom of Italy in 1860, and the final portion, namely the city of Rome with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazio" title="Lazio" >Lazio</a>, ten years later, in 1870.
Vatican City is an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecclesiology" title="Ecclesiology" >ecclesiastical</a><sup id="cite_ref-factbook_5-3" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican_City#cite_note-factbook-5" >[6]</a></sup> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priesthood_(Catholic_Church)" title="Priesthood (Catholic Church)" >sacerdotal</a>-<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchy" title="Monarchy" >monarchical</a><sup id="cite_ref-pages_6-1" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican_City#cite_note-pages-6" >[7]</a></sup> state, ruled by the Bishop of<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diocese_of_Rome" title="Diocese of Rome" >Rome</a>—the Pope. The highest state functionaries are all Catholic clergymen of various national origins. It is the sovereign territory of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_See" title="Holy See" >Holy See</a> (<i>Sancta Sedes</i>) and the location of the Pope's residence, referred to as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostolic_Palace" title="Apostolic Palace" >Apostolic Palace</a>.
The Popes have generally resided in the area that in 1929 became Vatican City since the return from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avignon_Papacy" title="Avignon Papacy" >Avignon</a> in 1377, but have also at times resided in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quirinal_Palace" title="Quirinal Palace" >Quirinal Palace</a> in Rome and elsewhere. Previously, they resided in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateran_Palace" title="Lateran Palace" >Lateran Palace</a> on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caelian_Hill" title="Caelian Hill" >Caelian Hill</a> on the far side of Rome from the Vatican. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_I" title="Constantine I" class="mw-redirect" >Emperor Constantine</a> gave this site to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Miltiades" title="Pope Miltiades" >Pope Miltiades</a> in 313. The signing of the agreements that established the new state took place in the latter building, giving rise to the name of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateran_Treaty" title="Lateran Treaty" >Lateran Pacts</a>, by which they are known.</p>
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The <b>United Nations</b> (abbreviated <b>UN</b> in English, and <i>ONU</i> in its other official languages), is an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_organization" title="International organization" >international organization</a> whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_law" title="International law" >international law</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_security" title="International security" >international security</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_development" title="Economic development" >economic development</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_change" title="Social change" >social progress</a>, human rights, and achievement of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_peace" title="World peace" >world peace</a>. The UN was founded in 1945 after World War II to replace the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Nations" title="League of Nations" >League of Nations</a>, to stop wars between countries, and to provide a platform for dialogue. It contains multiple subsidiary organizations to carry out its missions.
There are <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_states_of_the_United_Nations" title="Member states of the United Nations" >193 member states</a>, including every <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplomatic_recognition" title="Diplomatic recognition" >internationally recognised</a> sovereign state in the world but <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican_City" title="Vatican City" >Vatican City</a>.</p>