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The world's smallest country fits inside a single city

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Vatican City is a sovereign nation of just 0.44 square kilometres — small enough to walk across in minutes — tucked entirely within Rome.

Verified · Vatican City State (official)

Vatican City is the smallest fully independent state on Earth, with a total area of just 0.44 square kilometres (about 0.17 square miles). The whole country sits inside the city of Rome, surrounded by Italy on every side.

It is the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church and home to only a few hundred residents — also making it the smallest nation by population. You could stroll around its entire perimeter in well under an hour.

Despite its size, the Vatican is a full sovereign state. It was established by the Lateran Pacts of 1929, which settled the status of the papacy within a unified Italy and carved out this tiny, walled enclave as its own country.

Smaller than many city parks, yet it issues its own stamps, mints its own coins and conducts its own foreign relations.

0.44 km2
total area
0.17 sq mi
in square miles
1929
founded by Lateran Pacts

Sources & references

2 references

Well-established. Corroborated by 2 independent sources.

1 Vatican City State (official) institution “Vatican City State is the smallest independent State in the world, both in population and territory, covering 0.44 km2 (44 hectares). It arose from the Lateran treaty signed on 11 February 1929 between the Holy See and Italy.” vaticanstate.va ↗
2 EBSCO Research Starters — 'Misinformation effect' institution “Vatican City is recognized as the smallest independent nation in the world, covering approximately 44 hectares. Established in 1929 through the Lateran Treaty between the Italian government and the Catholic Church.” ebsco.com ↗
✓ Last reviewed Jun 6, 2026

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