Why does the world’s smallest country, Vatican City, exist? And why didn’t it just merge with Italy—or why didn’t Italy kick it out?
To understand this, we’d need to zoom out a bit. You see, Vatican City wasn’t always so small. For over 1,000 years, it was part of the Papal States—a country ruled by the Pope that stretched across central Italy. But in the 19th century, the Kingdom of Italy wanted to unite all of Italy into one nation. They claimed Rome and the surrounding Papal States, saying Rome should be the country’s capital.
The Pope refused to accept Italy’s rule. Instead, he locked himself behind the walls of Vatican City, calling himself a “prisoner of the Vatican.” Italy hoped that isolating the Pope would force him to give up and recognize the new government.
But even after 60 years and five Popes, the Vatican never surrendered.
Finally, in 1929, Italy’s leader, Benito Mussolini, made a deal to end the standoff. He signed the Lateran Treaty, which officially made Vatican City its own independent country.

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