The Vatican City State is an independent city-state located within Rome in Italy. The Vatican is governed by the Holy See, and is an ecclesiastical or sacerdotal-monarchical state ruled by the Pope.
It is the smallest state in the world. It became independent from Italy with the Lateran Treaty. One of the most important sources of money for the Vatican’s economy is tourism. The Vatican Museums and the St. Peter’s Basilica are extremely popular tourist attractions. The Vatican Museums alone attracted 4.3 million people in 2007.
