Vatican City is the smallest country in the world with a permanent population and an official language.
The independent city-state occupies about 49 hectares inside Rome and has a permanent resident population of several hundred people. It was established by the Lateran Treaty of 1929, which settled the relationship between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy.
Italian is the official language of Vatican City, while Latin is used prominently in the Holy See and the Roman Catholic Church. The state is governed by the pope and serves as the spiritual and administrative centre of Catholicism.
Vatican City is often confused with the Holy See. The Holy See is the central governing authority of the Catholic Church; Vatican City is the territorial state that provides its sovereign base.