Outline of Vatican City
Vatican City – an ecclesiastical or sacerdotal-monarchical state, being the sovereign territory of the Holy See and ruled by the Bishop of Rome—the Pope, the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church. The territory of this landlocked sovereign city-state consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of approximately , and a population of just over 800. This makes Vatican City the smallest independent state in the world by both area and population.Geography of Vatican CityVatican City is an enclave in an urban area, and lacks the geographic features common to (much larger) countries:Demographics of Vatican City
Vatican Necropolis
The Vatican necropolis was originally a burial ground built on the southern slope of the Vatican Hill, adjacent to the Circus of Caligula. In accordance with the Roman law, it was forbidden to bury the dead within the city walls. For this reason, burial grounds sprang up along the roads outside of the city cemeteries. One of these streets, the Via Cornelia, ran north along the Vatican hill.