1985 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1985 (Internet Archive)
Geography
Airfields
none
Area
260 meters See region*! map V Land 0.438 km2
Branches
the Pope possesses full executive, legislative, and judicial powers; he delegates these powers to the President of the Pontifical Commission, who is subject to pontifical appointment and recall; the administrative structure of the Roman Catholic Church is known as the Roman Curia; its most important temporal components include the Secretariat of State and Council for Public Affairs (which handles Vatican diplomacy) and the Prefecture of Economic Affairs; the College of Cardinals act as chief papal advisers
Capital
Vatican City
Civil air
no major transport aircraft
Communists
none known
Elections
Supreme Pontiff elected for life by College of Cardinals
Electric power
2, 100 kW (standby) capacity (1984); power supplied by Italy
Ethnic divisions
primarily Italians but also many other nationalities
Government leader
JOHN PAUL II, Supreme Pontiff (Karol WOJTYLA, elected Pope 16 October 1978)
Highways
none (city streets)
Labor force
approx. 700; Vatican City employees divided into three categories — executives, office workers, and salaried employees
Land boundaries
3 km People
Language
Italian, Latin, and various other languages
Legal system
Canon lawsof 1929 serve some of the functions of a constitution
Literacy
100%
Member
IAEA, INTELSAT, ITU, IWC— International Wheat Council, UPU, WIPO, WTO; permanent observer status at FAO, OAS, UN, and UNESCO Economy The Vatican City, seat of the Holy See, is supported financially by contributions (known as Peter's pence) from Roman Catholics throughout the world; some income derived from sale of Vatican postage stamps and tourist mementos, fees for admission to Vatican museums, and sale of publications; industrial activity consists solely of printing and production of a small amount of mosaics and staff uniforms; the banking and financial activities of the Vatican are worldwide; the Institute for Religious Works (IOR) carries out fiscal operations and invests and transfers funds of Roman Catholic religious communities throughout the world; the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See manages the Holy See's capital assets; the Vatican announced an operating deficit of $25 million for 1981
Monetary conversion rate
the Vatican issues its own coinage, which is interchangeable with the Italian lira; 1690.25 lira=US$ 1 (February 1984) Communications
National holiday
30 June
Official name
State of the Vatican City
Organized labor
none Government
Other political or pressure groups
none (exclusive of influence exercised by other church officers in universal Roman Catholic Church)
Political subdivisions
Vatican City includes St. Peter's, the Vatican Palace and Museum, and neighboring buildings covering more than 13 acres; 13 buildings in Rome and Caste! Gandolfo, the Pope's summer residence, although outside the boundaries, enjoy extraterritorial rights
Population
1,000 (July 1985), average annual growth rate 0. 1%
Railroads
none
Religion
Roman Catholic
Suffrage
limited to cardinals less than 80 years old
Telecommunications
2 AM and 2 FM stations; 2,000-line automatic telephone exchange Defense Forces Defense is responsibility of Italy
Type
monarchical-sacerdotal state