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Country profile

Vatican City

Vatican City State · Southern Europe

Landlocked

Vatican City is a country in Southern Europe, with Vatican City as its capital. Vatican City shares a land border with one country, listed below alongside its flag, currency, calling code and ISO codes.

CapitalVatican City
RegionSouthern Europe
CurrencyEuro (EUR)
Calling code+3906698, +379
ISO codesVA / VAT / 336 ISO 3166-1
Flag emoji🇻🇦
Area0.44 km²
LanguagesItalian, Latin
Internet domain.va
DemonymVatican

Bordering countries

🇮🇹 Italy

What does the flag of Vatican City mean?

Vatican City's yellow and white take their colors directly from the two keys of Saint Peter shown on the coat of arms of the Holy See: gold for one key, silver for the other. The design dates to 1825, when the Papal States adopted a yellow-and-white flag in that combination for the first time, later carried over unchanged when Vatican City became a sovereign state in 1929. The papal tiara above the crossed keys represents papal authority, and because the flag doubles as a symbol of the worldwide Catholic Church rather than just the city-state itself, it is also commonly flown outside Catholic churches far beyond Vatican City's small territory.

Source: Wikipedia: Flag of Vatican City

About Vatican City

Vatican City, officially Vatican City State, is a sovereign state in Southern Europe. Its capital and seat of government is Vatican City. It is landlocked, sharing all of its borders with neighbouring countries and no coastline. The official currency is the Euro (€), using the code EUR.

Curious about the city itself? See what is the capital of Vatican City for Vatican City’s own facts and history.

To call Vatican City from abroad, dial the country code +3906698 or +379. In international standards it is identified by the ISO 3166-1 codes VA (alpha-2) and VAT (alpha-3), which appear in everything from web addresses to shipping labels.

Frequently asked questions

What is the capital of Vatican City?
The capital of Vatican City is Vatican City.
What currency does Vatican City use?
Vatican City uses the Euro (EUR, symbol €).
What is the country calling code for Vatican City?
The international dialling code for Vatican City is +3906698 and +379.
What are the ISO codes for Vatican City?
Vatican City has the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code VA, the alpha-3 code VAT and the numeric code 336.
What is the flag emoji for Vatican City?
The flag emoji for Vatican City is 🇻🇦. You can copy it from the top of this page.
What do the colors on the flag of Vatican City mean?
Vatican City's yellow and white take their colors directly from the two keys of Saint Peter shown on the coat of arms of the Holy See: gold for one key, silver for the other. The design dates to 1825, when the Papal States adopted a yellow-and-white flag in that combination for the first time, later carried over unchanged when Vatican City became a sovereign state in 1929. The papal tiara above the crossed keys represents papal authority, and because the flag doubles as a symbol of the worldwide Catholic Church rather than just the city-state itself, it is also commonly flown outside Catholic churches far beyond Vatican City's small territory.

Why Vatican City has its own code

ISO 3166-1 assigns codes to territories as well as to sovereign states, because the codes are used for shipping, banking, internet domains, statistics and data exchange rather than as a statement about statehood. That is why this country appears in country dropdowns, address forms and datasets alongside places many times its size.

Vatican City holds the alpha-2 code VA, the alpha-3 code VAT, the numeric code 336 and the internet domain .va. The World Bank does not publish a separate population figure for it, so this page shows none rather than an estimate. Calls are routed through the code +3906698 or +379.

How Vatican City compares

Flags with the same colours as Vatican City

One other national flag uses exactly the same set of colour families (yellow, white). Similar colours are the most common reason flags get mistaken for one another, though colour alone says nothing about layout.

Vatican City appears in these lists

Population from the World Bank (SP.POP.TOTL); flag, capital, currency, calling code and ISO data from open datasets. Rankings, density and flag colour matches are computed from that same dataset. Full sources and vintage on the data page. Last updated . Report a correction.