Geography of Vatican City The geography of Vatican City is
unique due to the country's position as an urban, landlocked
enclave of Rome, Italy. With an area of 0.17 sq mi (0.44 km2),
it is the world's smallest independent state. Outside the
Vatican City, thirteen buildings in Rome and Castel Gandolfo
(the pope's summer residence) enjoy extraterritorial rights.
(One building, the Paul VI Audience Hall, straddles the border,
but its Italian portion has extraterritorial rights.) The
country contains no major natural resources, and no known
natural hazards other than those that affect Rome in general,
such as earthquakes. The city state has the same climate as
Rome: temperate, mild, rainy winters (September to mid-May) with
hot, dry summers (May to September). Vatican City sits on a low
hill. The hill has been called the Vatican Hill (in Latin, Mons
Vaticanus) since long before Christianity existed. An Etruscan
settlement, possibly called Vatica or Vaticum, may have existed
in the area generally known by the anci