Geography of Vatican City

With an area of 49 hectares (120 acres; 0.49 square kilometres),[a] and a border with Italy of 3.5 km (2.2 mi), it is the world's smallest independent state.

An Etruscan settlement, possibly called Vatica or Vaticum, may have existed in the area generally known by the ancient Romans as "Vatican territory" (vaticanus ager), but if so no archaeological trace of it has been discovered.

The city state displays an impressive degree of land economy, born of necessity due to its extremely limited territory.

Thus, the urban development (i.e., buildings) is optimized to occupy about half of the total area, while the rest is reserved for open space, including the Vatican Gardens.

The territory holds many diverse structures that help provide autonomy for the sovereign state, including a rail line and train station, heliport, post office, radio station (with extraterritorial antennas in Italy), military barracks, government palaces and offices, public plaza, part of an audience hall, old defensive wall marking the border, institutions of higher learning, and cultural/art centers.