The Lateran Treaty creates Vatican City
On this day · 11 February 1929
Italy and the Holy See ended a 59-year standoff by carving out the world's smallest sovereign state — barely a quarter of a square mile.
On 11 February 1929, the Lateran Treaty was signed in Rome, settling the “Roman Question” that had festered since Italian troops seized the Papal States in 1870. Benito Mussolini signed for the Kingdom of Italy and Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Gasparri for the Holy See, under Pope Pius XI.
The pacts had three parts: a treaty recognizing the sovereignty of the new Vatican City State, a financial convention compensating the Church for its lost territories, and a concordat governing the Church’s role in Italian life. Offered a larger domain, Pius XI is said to have wanted only enough land to guarantee his independence.
The result is the smallest country on Earth — about 0.17 square miles (44 hectares) walled into central Rome. Though signed in February, the treaty took effect on 7 June 1929 after ratification.
One stroke of the pen turned a stateless papacy into the sovereign of the world’s tiniest nation.
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