|RNational holiday:|N Installation Day of Pope John Paul II, October 22.
|RNature and climate:|N The smallest sovereign country in the world. It is an enclave in the city of Rome. Also comprising buildings with extraterritorial rights in the city of Rome, most of them churches, and the Papal summerpalace Castal Gandolfo.
Average temperature in January 7°C and in July 25°C.
Percipitation 700 mm.
|RPeople:|N Mainly Italians, but also Swiss and other Europeans.
|REconomy:|N The main income is contributions, known as Peter's Pence, from Catholics all over the world.
Sale of Vatican postage stamps, publications, souvenirs, as well as fees for admission to museums are the other sources of income.
|RHistory:|N Pepin the Short, father of Charlemagne, donated a secular state to the Popes in the 8th century. This was known as the Patrimony of Saint Peter, and played a major role in politics on the Italian peninsula throughout the Middle Ages.
In 1870 it was conquered by the new kingdom of Italy.
A treaty of conciliation, the Lateran Agreement, was signed in 1929, between the Pope and the Italian state and confirmed the independence of the Vatican City.
