Vatican City is an independent city-state within the city of Rome, Italy. 

The area became inexorably linked with Christianity in the first half of the 4th century when the Constantinian Basilica of St. Peter’s was built over the tomb of Saint Peter. 

The Vatican then became the base for the Papal States, which ruled a large part of the Italian peninsula for over a thousand years. 

In 1870, Italy united as a country, with the Papacy losing control of the land outside of the Vatican. This led to a period of hostility between the Papacy and the Italian government, with the status of the Vatican becoming known as the “Roman Question”. 

During this period, the Popes refused to recognise the authority of the Kingdom of Italy. Pope Pius IX proclaimed himself a “prisoner of the Vatican,” and for almost 60 years popes did not leave the Vatican. 

The answer to the Roman Question was the Lateran Treaty. The treaty was one of a series of agreements made between the Kingdom of Italy and the Holy See and named after the palace in which they were signed on February 11th 1929. 

The treaty recognized the full sovereignty of the Vatican City as an independent state. Financial compensation was made to the Vatican City for the loss of the land that been annexed in 1870. 

Vatican City is the smallest country in the world with the smallest population. 

Vatican City is the only country in the world where women have not been granted the vote.