You could walk across the entire country in about fifteen minutes — and it still runs its own postal service, currency, radio station and army.
Smallest by every measure that counts
At 44 hectares, Vatican City is the smallest sovereign state in the world by area — smaller than most golf courses — and with roughly 800 citizens, it's also the smallest by population, ahead of even other micro-states like Monaco or San Marino.
A country with no births and almost no economy of its own
There's no maternity ward inside Vatican City and, since citizenship isn't hereditary, essentially no natural population growth; its finances run largely on museum admissions, publishing, stamps and donations rather than any domestic industry or agriculture.
Its own everything, at miniature scale
Despite the size, Vatican City runs a full set of state institutions: its own postal service since 1929, its own euro coinage since 2002, Vatican Radio (founded in 1931 by radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi), and the Swiss Guard — at around 135 soldiers, the smallest standing army in the world.
