11 February: Vatican City

On February 11 1929 the Lateran Treaty was signed, creating the smallest independent state in the world, Vatican City.

1. The name "Vatican" isn't Christian in origin. It's named for Vatican mount, an area of ancient Rome. There was a necropolis there, where St Peter is said to have been buried. Saint Peter's Basilica was built over the site of his grave.
2. It is the only country in the world that you cannot be a citizen of by birth. Citizenship is granted to people working in the service of the Holy See, so if someone leaves their job or is fired, they lose their citizenship. About 800 people actually live in Vatican City but only about 200 of them are citizens. There are about 350 citizens who don't actually live there - so there are less than 600 in all. The literacy rate is therefore 100%.
3. It's also the only country in the world to have a continuous non-hereditary monarchy. The head of state is of course the Pope, who is not allowed to marry and produce heirs.
4. The administrative language is Latin, and that covers the banks - so the cash-points there are all in Latin.
5. It has the highest crime rate in the world. If you're measuring it in terms of crimes per member of the population, it's a staggering 130% per person per year. The population is very small, remember, but the place is a magnet for tourists - so most of the crime is pick-pocketing and shoplifting by foreigners. However, there have been a small number of serious crimes - an assassination attempt on the Pope, and a double murder in 1998 when the newly-appointed commander of the Pope’s Swiss Guards and his wife were killed in their apartment.
6. Vatican City is the only UNESCO World Heritage Site to encompass a whole country.
7. Most of the transportation system is made up of footpaths and walkways. There is no airport, although there is a heliport, and a railway system that consists of 300 metres of track and one station - the shortest railway system in the world.
8. Vatican City has its own postal system with its own stamps, and mints its own Money in the form of Euro coins with the Pope's head on them.
9. It also has a national Football team and is one of the few nations where the national team is not a member of FIFA. In fact, the Vatican's football history goes back a long way - the first game played there was in 1521, and the Pope of the time was in attendance.
10. There are no taxes. The economy consists entirely of souvenir sales, museum entry fees, stamp sales and donations from Roman Catholics around the world.