5 things you didn't know about the Vatican City

Here are 5 things you might not have known about the world's smallest country - the Vatican City.

  24/10/2019 14:26

1. It drinks more wine than anywhere else in the world

The Vatican City has the highest consumption of wine per capita, with an average resident quaffing 54.26 litres of wine a year (Andorra, Croatia, Slovenia and France complete the top five). The reason for the high level of consumption is thought to be down to the large amounts of it being distributed during communion.

2. It has the world’s shortest railway

The Vatican City can lay claim to the smallest rail network in the world, consisting of just two 300-metre tracks, two freight sidings and one station, Città del Vaticano. The railway is primarily used for importing goods, and for symbolic  reasons, with no regular passenger trains scheduled.

3. It has more tourists per resident than any other country

When it comes to tourists as a percentage of population, the Vatican City stands head and shoulders above the rest. It has a population just north of 800, but is a site of great religious, historical, cultural and political significance, and the Vatican Museums alone receive nearly five-and-a-half million visitors a year.

4. It has its own euro

The Vatican and Italy signed an agreement in 2000, enabling the Holy See to adopt the euro as its official currency and to mint its own euro coins from 2002. Vatican euros are legal tender now both in the Vatican City and Italy and they can be circulated freely throughout the entire eurozone. They resemble those of eurozone countries, and the "national" illustration on one side of the coins has seen various changes through the years - but has featured a series of three effigies of Pope Francis since 2014.

5. It is the only country on Unesco’s listings

Italy has more Unesco listings than any other country in the world, with a total of 51 as of July 2014. However, Vatican City is the only entire country designated as a Unesco site.

Source telegraph.co.uk
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