Geography of Vatican City
The Vatican City, one of the European microstates, is situated on the Vatican Hill in the west-
central part of Rome, several hundred metres west of the Tiber river.
Its borders (3.2 km or 2 miles in total, all within Italy) closely follow the city wall constructed to
protect the Pope from outside attack.
The situation is more complex at the famous St. Peter's Square in front of St. Peter's Basilica,
where the correct border is just outside the ellipse formed by Bernini's colonnade, but where police jurisdiction has been entrusted to Italy.
The Vatican City is the smallest sovereign state in the world at 0.44 square kilometres (44 ha/110 acres).
The Vatican climate is the same as Rome's; a temperate, Mediterranean climate with mild, rainy
winters from September to mid-May and hot, dry summers from May to August.
There are some local features, principally mists and dews, caused by the anomalous bulk of St Peter's Basilica, the elevation, the fountains and the size of the large paved square.
In July 2007, the Vatican agreed to become the first carbon neutral state. They plan to accomplish
this by offsetting carbon dioxide emissions with the creation of a Vatican Climate Forest in Hungary.
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