As we all know, the area of the Vatican is very small, how small is it? This small pocket country covers an area of only 0.44 square kilometers, which translates to only 44,000 square meters.
Coincidentally, the area of Tiananmen Square is exactly 0.44 square kilometers, so the area of the Vatican is as large as the area of Tiananmen Square.
Vatican The country is located in the northwest corner of the Italian capital city of Rome, above a highland called "Vatican", and the name of the country is derived from the place name.
The territory under the jurisdiction of the Vatican is mainly St. Peter's Square, St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican Palace, Papal Summer Resort and Vatican Museums.
The Vatican's current permanent population is close to 830 people, most of whom are clergy, of whom only 618 have Vatican citizenship.
Of the more than 800 people, there are almost 70 bishops, but only 17 live in the Vatican, and most of the other bishops live in Italy.
In addition to the clergy, the remaining are more than 300 diplomats and 104 Swiss Guards, and the rest are some permanent residents.
No matter how small the country is, it has its own military strength, and the vatican's military force is divided into two parts: the Vatican gendarmerie and the Swiss Guard.
The nature of the Swiss Guard is actually a group of mercenaries, and their service has a limited period, the shortest is two years, the longest can be as long as 25 years.
The salary and treatment of the Swiss Guards is relatively good, the fixed salary per month is 1300 euros, which translates to almost 9700.
If overtime is involved, there is also an additional overtime fee, but it takes one hour to calculate overtime pay.
In addition, there are also packages of food and housing, and there are bus transfers when going out, which is too good to say.
So, are the conditions for joining the Swiss Guard very demanding? In fact, it is not strict, as long as these seven conditions are met, you can apply to join the Swiss Guard.
1. Swiss male;
2. Unmarried;
3. Belief in Catholicism;
4. Complete military training in the Swiss army and obtain a certificate of completion (for a period of five weeks);
5. Be at least 19 years old and not more than 30 years old;
6. At least a high school diploma;
7. The height should be at least 1 meter 74.
The Swiss Guard, maintained at 110 men throughout the year, was responsible for protecting the Pope, senior government officials, senior clergy, and some important ecclesiastical buildings.
The highest commander of the Swiss Guards is the rank of colonel, and the Guards are generally equipped with submachine guns, rifles, and pistols.
By the way, the Guards also have a very important function, that is, they are equivalent to honor guards, acting as a facade for the country.
Compared with the Guards, the selection of vatican gendarmes is much simpler, as long as the following three conditions are met.
1. Starting at the age of 20, not more than 25 years old;
2. Must be italian nationality;
3. Trained in the Italian police system (for two years).
The main duties of the gendarmerie are relatively extensive, and all matters involving the vatican are under the jurisdiction of the gendarmerie.
For example, the maintenance of social order, road traffic, criminal cases and other social and police work, similar in nature to the combination of police and armed forces.
Before 1970, the Vatican's gendarmes also served as some honor guards, so they wore ceremonial uniforms at the time; later, after the work subdivision, the current gendarmes wore modern police uniforms, dark blue.
Most of the weapons used by the gendarmes were pistols, and the types of pistols often equipped were the Glock 17 pistol and the Glock 19 compact pistol.
To say that the most powerful equipment is the Rita M12 submachine gun imported from Italy, and the 9mm caliber of the large snake Carbon-15 carbine.
Glock 17 pistol
Don't look at the Vatican has no natural resources, no industry, no agriculture, tourism is developing well, but the Vatican is rich.
The main income of this small country is from bank interest, donations from believers, and interest on investments.
There are two major economic institutions in the Vatican, one is the Vatican Bank and the other is the Roman Papal Asset Management Office.
Founded in 1942, the Vatican Bank has a net worth of about four billion US dollars and does business with other countries, about three hundred banks and financial institutions.
The Pope of Rome's asset management division is divided into two departments, one is the general department, which is mainly responsible for managing the Vatican's real estate in Italy, with a net asset of about 2.5 billion US dollars.
The Special Unit is primarily responsible for outbound investment, with a focus on financial investments in North American and European countries, with total assets totaling approximately $700 million.
In addition to these, the Vatican maintains more than $10 billion in gold reserves throughout the year.
The Vatican is a small, religious country, and the inhabitants of the country are Catholic, so the daily life of the inhabitants is inseparable from the religion.
Usually on Sundays, residents spontaneously gather in St. Peter's Square.
At exactly twelve o'clock in the afternoon, the church bells would ring regularly, and the pope would appear at the window on the roof of St. Peter's Basilica to address the inhabitants of the square.
St. Peter's Square is also a landmark of the Vatican and a place where the country hosts major religious events.
The entire square is about 340 meters long and about 240 meters wide, and can accommodate almost 500,000 people.
The square is composed of 88 square columns and 288 columns, and in the middle of the square stands an obelisk stele with a height of 26 meters.
St. Peter's Square is imposing, taking a total of 11 years to complete.
The Vatican Library has a relatively long history, built in 1475, when our country was still in the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty, and the reigning was the eighth emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Ming Xianzong Zhu Jianshen.
The library is rich in books and precious, and there is a manuscript of the "Map of China" made in 1612.
The Vatican Secret Archives, listed as one of the world's top ten mysterious and unknown forbidden places.
The shelves in the archives, which are 84 kilometers long, provide a catalogue of up to 35,000 volumes that can be referenced.
The archives are not allowed, but the documents inside can be accessed upon request.
However, if it is a document within 75 years, it is not allowed to be viewed and queried, because it protects some government information.