Why is Vatican a Country?

A mighty enclave in the depths of the Italian landscape, Vatican City is 110 acre or 0.44 square kilometer territory with a population of less than 1,000. 110 of those inhabitants constitute the Swiss Guards who make up the state’s army, protecting the precious centerpiece of the Vatican - the Pope himself.

The Vatican Hill was once an uninhabited and rather disliked holding of the Roman Empire. Under constant threat of floods from the Tiber and the nearby hostile Etruscans, the area was then known as Vaticanus and now houses St. Peter’s Square