Gibraltar-Vatican Joint Issue
The Vatican City State issued its first stamps in 1929, the same year that it was established under the Lateran Treaties. It released its first joint issue in 1969. Joint issues of stamps by the Vatican and other countries were uncommon for most of the twentieth century. In 2000, the Vatican and Poland released a joint issue designed by Czeslaw Slania which commemorated the eightieth birthday of John Paul II. However, the early twenty-first century saw a substantial increase in joint issues. In 2003, a set released by the Vatican and Poland celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of John Paul II's pontificate. The following year, a joint issue of the same countries commemorated the pope's return visits to Poland. In 2005, five of the eleven stamp sets released by the Vatican were joint issues. There have also been joint issues with Germany since Benedict XVI became Pope. In 2011, the Vatican and Croatia released a joint issue which commemorated the tercentenary of the birth of Rugerius Boscovich (1711 – 1787).
Languages of Vatican City
What became Vatican City was from 1870 to 1929 part of the Kingdom of Italy, whose official language also was Italian, and before 1870 it was part of the Papal States, in which standard Italian (based on Tuscan) and various Italian dialects, such as Emiliano-Romagnolo, were spoken, but which for the first centuries of its existence used Latin for all official purposes. Earlier still, it was part of the Roman Empire. In the earliest historical records the term "Vatican" was used to refer to a marshy area, larger than the Vatican City State, on the right bank of the Tiber River, between the Milvio Bridge and the present Sixtus Bridge. During the monarchy and the republican age, the area was known as "Ager Vaticanus". From the 2nd century A.D., the toponym "Vaticanum" was applied to an area corresponding roughly to the present Vatican City State.