Vatican City had an estimated resident population of 506 in 2026, including non-citizens. It is ranked #237 in global population. Additionally, 372 Vatican citizens live abroad, primarily diplomats of the Holy See and cardinals in Rome. Vatican City remains the world's smallest country in both land area and population size.
The population of Vatican City includes clergy, religious members, lay employees of the state (like the Swiss Guard), and their families. In 2013, 13 families of Holy See employees lived in Vatican City, and by 2019, 20 children of Swiss Guards resided there. All citizens, residents and places of worship are Catholic. The city also hosts thousands of tourists and daily workers. An estimated 6.8 million tourists visit annually.
Population Population tables Vatican City population on 26 June 2023 Sex all Citizenship colspan=2 other Residency other colspan=2 Pope 1 Cardinals 55 9 Diplomats 317 Swiss Guard 104 Others 132 518 Total colspan=2 518 372 246 colspan=2 colspan=3 Vatican City population on 1 March 2011 Sex all male female Citizenship colspan=2 other colspan=2 other colspan=2 other Residency other colspan=2 other colspan=2 other colspan=2 Pope 1 1 Cardinals 43 30 43 30 Diplomats 306 306 Swiss Guard 86 86 Other religious 50 197 49 102 1 95 Other lay 56 24 25 3 31 21 Total colspan=2 221 colspan=2 105 colspan=2 116 349 223 349 191 32 colspan=2 colspan=2 colspan=2 colspan=3 colspan=3 colspan=3
Female population Women make up a small fraction of Vatican City's citizenship, constituting roughly 5.5% of its population. As of a 2011 report by the Herald Sun, there were just 32 female Vatican passport holders out of 572 citizens, with one being a nun.Only 32 women in Vatican City, Herald Sun, March 02, 2011. By 2013, Worldcrunch reported about 30 women citizens, a group that included two South American women, two Polish nationals, and three from Switzerland, with the majority of Vatican women being Italians.
Women citizens Among the few women residing in Vatican City, one notable example was the daughter of an electrician employed by the Vatican; she eventually "lost her right to live" in the city upon getting married. Another resident, Magdalena Wolińska-Riedi, is a Polish translator and the wife of a member of the Swiss Guard.
Among the women with Vatican City citizenship, one serves as an officer in the Vatican's military, while two work as teachers, one at the high school level and the other in kindergarten, and another holds a role as an academic. Vatican City citizenship for women is often granted through marriage to a Vatican citizen, provided they are baptized Catholics. However, this citizenship is typically temporary, remaining valid only for the duration of their residence within the city-state.
Value of women Historically, women in Vatican City faced significant restrictions, including the inability to open a bank account. However, during the tenures of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, there was a notable shift towards recognizing the value of women within the Vatican. Pope Benedict XVI appointed Ingrid Stampa, a woman, as one of his assistant editors and confidential advisers.
On April 21, 2013, The Telegraph reported that Pope Francis planned to appoint more women to key positions within the Vatican. In May 2019, he made a significant move by appointing three women as consultors to the General Secretariat for the Synod of Bishops on Young People, Faith, and Vocational Discernment. Additionally, the Vatican’s daily newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, began publishing supplementary pages focused on women's issues.Pope Francis 'to appoint more women to key Vatican posts', The Telegraph, April 21, 2013
Despite these changes, women are still not permitted to be ordained as priests or bishops. However, a commission is currently examining the possibility of allowing women to serve as unordained deacons.
Voting rights
The Pope, as the head of state of Vatican City and leader of the Catholic Church, is elected by the College of Cardinals, a body composed of senior church officials appointed by the Pope. The College operates as part of the Holy See and is responsible for electing a new Pope in a conclave upon the vacancy of the papal office.
The rank of cardinal is a prestigious position within the Church, but it is not a sacramental order; rather, it is a title conferred upon bishops and, in some cases, priests, granting them the responsibility of advising the Pope and, for those under the age of 80, participating in papal elections.
Currently, only men are eligible to become cardinals and, by extension, to be elected as Pope, in accordance with Catholic tradition. However, since the office of cardinal is not divinely instituted but rather a role established by ecclesiastical law, the Pope has the authority to modify its requirements. While no decision has been made to allow women to become cardinals, discussions regarding the role of women in the Church continue, particularly under recent papacies.
Divorce Vatican City is one of two sovereign states that do not allow divorce, the other being the Philippines.
Abortion The legal framework in Vatican City is primarily rooted in canon law, the body of laws governing the Catholic Church, and uses it as the principal source for legal interpretation. To support its governance, Vatican City has also adopted several Italian laws for practical implementation, such as the Italian penal code from 1929, though it incorporates certain modifications.Law on the sources of law, Acta Apostolicae Sedis, Supplement for the laws and provisions of Vatican City State, 1 October 2008 .
Both canon law, specifically Canon 1397 §2, and articles 381 to 385 of the Vatican's adapted penal code, categorically prohibit abortion without citing exceptions. However, article 49 of the penal code outlines the "principle of necessity" to save one's life, a provision that, according to the Italian penal code's original drafters, could technically allow abortion when necessary to save a woman's life.Report to His Majesty the King from the Minister Keeper of the Seals (Zanardelli) at the hearing of 30 June 1889 for the approval of the final text of the penal code, pp. 145–146. "On the agreed proposal of the parliamentary commissions, the provision that was read in the bill, according to which it was declared 'not punishable the doctor or surgeon, when he justifies having acted in order to save the woman's life, endangered by the pregnancy or by childbirth', was deleted"; "The vote expressed in agreement in parliament led me to the aforesaid deletion, not to exclude the application of the concept that was expressed there, but because it was superfluous and inappropriate to declare it, providing if needed article 49 number 3, the application of which would be only, and without reason, restricted." Criminal abortion in the Italian penal code, Pasquale Tuozzi, Filippo Serafini Legal Archive, 1902, vol. 10, no. 3, p. 29. "However, if you want to search for a provision in our code that covers the surgeon, in addition to article 45, in which the aforesaid reason is rooted, there is also number 3 of article 49, where it is declared the nonresponsibility of one who acts compelled by the need to save himself or others from a serious and imminent danger to the person, to which he did not voluntarily give cause, and which he could not otherwise avoid. Well, these extremes of the state of necessity all apply in the case of the surgeon, who, put in the harsh condition, not created by him, extinguishes an imperfect and perhaps uncertain existence, to save a certain and real existence, which is that of the woman in childbirth." Offences against human life, dignity and freedom, Code of Cannon Law, Holy See.Penal code for the Kingdom of Italy, 1889, University of Brescia College of Law . However, the Church's interpretation of canon law remains far stricter. The Church only condones an "indirect" abortion in cases where the procedure aims solely to save the woman's life, and where the fetus's death is an unintended, albeit anticipated, outcome.
This interpretation is grounded in the principle of double effect, which permits procedures such as the removal of a cancerous uterus or treatment for an ectopic pregnancy if the primary intent is to protect the woman's health, with the death of the fetus seen as an undesired consequence, rather than the aim of the procedure.Abortion and the Catholic Church, Pro-Life Activist's Encyclopedia, American Life League.Under Vatican ruling, abortion triggers automatic excommunication, National Catholic Reporter, 17 January 2003.
Languages
Vatican City primarily uses Italian in official documents and daily operations, due to its central role in Vatican life and Italian-based tourism. Despite this, many other languages are used within Vatican City due to the diverse origins of its residents and its various institutions, such as the Holy See and the Swiss Guard.
Historically, Latin was the spoken language of the region during the Roman Empire and served as the official language of the Papal States. When the area became part of the Kingdom of Italy in 1870, Italian became its official language. After Vatican City's establishment in 1929 through the Lateran Treaty, the state did not designate an official language, although its laws are published in Italian in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis. Many of its buildings predate the state and contain inscriptions mainly in Latin, as well as in Italian, Greek, French, and German.
Latin remains the official language of the Holy See. Italian serves as the lingua franca for administration and diplomacy in Vatican City and has been the official language of the Synod of Bishops since 2014. French is occasionally used for diplomatic purposes.Camposanto Teutonico
The Swiss Guard uses Swiss German for commands, while guards take their loyalty oath in their respective native languages: German, French, Italian, or Romansh. Since the state's establishment, the popes' first languages have been Italian, Polish, German, Spanish, and English.
The language diversity extends into the Church's media presence; for instance, the Holy See's newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, is published in multiple languages including Italian, English, French, German, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish,L'Osservatore Romano and its official website primarily uses Italian, with full versions in English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish, and partial versions in Arabic, Chinese, and Latin.The Holy See Some content is offered in various other languages, including Albanian, Belarusian, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, Hebrew, Hungarian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Russian, Slovak, Slovene, Swahili, and Ukrainian.Apostolic exhortations, Holy See.Messages World Youth Day, Holy See. Similarly, the Vatican News website provides content in a wide range of languages, including Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, English, Esperanto, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Hindi, Hungarian, Kannada, Malayalam, Macedonian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tamil, Tigrinya, Ukrainian and Vietnamese.Vatican News
Citizenship Unlike most countries, where citizenship is based on jus sanguinis, citizenship through descent, or jus soli, citizenship by birth within the territory, Vatican City grants citizenship based on jus officii, meaning citizenship is given due to an individual's appointment to a specific role in service to the Holy See. Citizenship typically ends when the person's role ceases, though it is extended to spouses and children of citizens, provided they live together within Vatican City. Some individuals may also reside in Vatican City without opting for citizenship.