Compare
Netherlands
to
Vatican Cityto
Vatican CityVatican City is a city-state within Italy and the seat of Roman Catholicism
There's really just not enough data on Vatican City to relate it to other countries, so we're just having some fun here.
With its 842 people, Vatican City is the 218th largest country in the world by population. It is the 218th largest country in the world by area with 0 square kilometers.
Popes in their secular role ruled portions of the Italian peninsula for more than a thousand years until the mid 19th century, when many of the Papal States were seized by the newly united Kingdom of Italy. In 1870, the pope's holdings were further circumscribed when Rome itself was annexed. Disputes between a series of "prisoner" popes and Italy were resolved in 1929 by three Lateran Treaties, which established the independent state of Vatican City and granted Roman Catholicism special status in Italy. In 1984, a concordat between the Holy See and Italy modified certain of the earlier treaty provisions, including the primacy of Roman Catholicism as the Italian state religion. Present concerns of the Holy See include religious freedom, threats against minority Christian communities in Africa and the Middle East, sexual misconduct by clergy, international development, interreligious dialogue and reconciliation, and the application of church doctrine in an era of rapid change and globalization. About 1.2 billion people worldwide profess Catholicism - the world's largest Christian faith.
Check out the recommended reading list below for great sources of information on Vatican City