Vatican City State

It is home to the pope and central administration of the Roman Catholic Church. The pope maintains complete legal, executive, and judicial powers. The Vatican was established in the 1920s by a treaty between the pope and the Italian government.

The Sistine Chapel and Saint Peter's Basilica are located here.

With a total area of less than a fifth of a square mile, it is often considered the world's smallest country.

The relations of the United States with the Vatican have been controversial. For years, the United States had a diplomatic representative there without the rank of ambassador, but in the middle 1980s, the United States established full diplomatic relations with the Vatican.