State · 1929 – present
Vatican City
A state of 1929 – present — 97 years, still standing in Europe. It replaced Papal States. The atlas records 16 things within it — famine and plague 1 · treaties 7 · people 8. Its line of rulers holds 11 people, 9 with dated terms.
- Still standing: the span runs to the year of the build, 2026.
For the full story, the article on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); this page holds what the record says of the state.
- Stood
- 97 years
- and still standing
- Rulers
- 11
- the Pope
- Within it
- 16
- recorded rows
- Symbols
- 7
- on record, with years
Where it sits in time
Five thousand years, 3000 BCE to 2026; the state in gold, what it replaced or followed and what replaced or followed it in grey.
Before and after
The states the record files it as replacing or following, and those that replaced or followed it - Wikidata's own statements, each read from this state's side.
Before it
- Papal States · replaces · 754 – 1870
Rulers
The line of Pope - the office this state names as its head of state.
| Ruler | Reign | Length | How it ended · source | To the ruler before |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pope Pius XI | 1922 – 1939 | 17 years | died in office of natural causesWikidata's manner of death | |
| Pope Pius XII | 1939 – 1958 | 19 years | died in office of natural causesWikidata's manner of death | |
| Pope John XXIII | 1958 – 1963 | 5 years | died in office of natural causesWikidata's manner of death | |
| Pope Paul VI | 1963 – 1978 | 15 years | died in office of natural causesWikidata's manner of death | |
| Pope John Paul I | 1978 – 1978 | under a year | died in office of natural causesWikidata's manner of death | |
| Pope John Paul II | 1978 – 2005 | 27 years | died in office of natural causesWikidata's manner of death | |
| Pope Benedict XVI | 2005 – 2013 | 8 years | resignedWikidata's end cause on the term | |
| Pope Francis | 2013 – 2025 | 12 years | died in office of natural causesWikidata's manner of death | |
| Pope Leo XIV | 2025 – in office | in office since 2025 | still in office |
11 rulers, 9 with terms dated as terms, covering 1922 – 2025. Median reign 13.5 years. 0 of 8 handovers irregular - a killing, a deposition, a rival claimant, a rising or a coup beside it. A blank in the last column means no kin on record, which is coverage, never “unrelated”.
Heads of government
The line of President of the Pontifical Commission for the Vatican City State, drawn and never measured: a cabinet is not a reign.
| Giovanni Lajolo | lived 1935 – … |
| Sebastiano Baggio | 1984 – 1990 |
| Rosalio Lara | 1990 – 1997 |
| Giuseppe Bertello | 2011 – 2021 |
| Raffaella Petrini | 2025 – … |
Flags and arms, in order
Each symbol with the years its own statement gives; the timeline flies the one of the year on screen.
.svg/120px-Flag_of_Vatican_City_(2001%E2%80%932023).svg.png)
flag, undatedFlag of Vatican City (2001–2023) · CC0 .svg/120px-Coat_of_arms_of_Vatican_City_(2001%E2%80%932023).svg.png)
coat of arms, undatedCoat of arms of Vatican City (2001–2023) · Public domain .svg/120px-Flag_of_the_Papal_States_(pre_1808).svg.png)
flag, 754 – 1803Flag of the Papal States (pre 1808) · Public domain .svg/120px-Flag_of_the_Papal_States_(1803-1825).svg.png)
flag, 1803 – 1825Flag of the Papal States (1803-1825) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Tibetan Pop Rocks .svg/120px-Flag_of_the_Papal_States_(1825-1870).svg.png)
flag, 1825 – 1870Flag of the Papal States (1825-1870) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Tibetan Pop Rocks .svg/120px-Coat_of_arms_of_Vatican_City_(2023%E2%80%93present).svg.png)
coat of arms, from 1929Coat of arms of Vatican City (2023–present) · Public domain .svg/120px-Flag_of_Vatican_City_(2023%E2%80%93present).svg.png)
flag, from 1929Flag of Vatican City (2023–present) · Public domain
What happened within it, by century
Every row the atlas hosts under this state, by the century it began in: wars and battles in red, risings, regime changes and massacres beside them, everything else in grey. A tall bar is a century the record is full for, which is partly a fact about Wikipedia.
1900 – 199912 rows
- Pope Francis · religious leader · 1936 – 2025
- Pope John Paul II · ruler · 1920 – 2005
- Pope Benedict XVI · ruler · 1927 – 2022
- Pope Leo XIV · ruler · 1955 – present
- Pope John Paul I · ruler · 1912 – 1978
- Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons · treaty · 1968
- Lateran Treaty · treaty · 1929 – 1985
- Fourth Geneva Convention · treaty · 1949
and 4 more in the atlas.
2000 – 20991 row
- COVID-19 pandemic in Vatican City · plague · 2020
Among all states
Each measure against the states that carry it, never against all of them: a bar is the share of those states below this one.
- How long it stood97 years
stood longer than 46% of 3,187 states with a recorded end or still standing.
- Wars recorded per centurynone
had more wars on record per century than 44% of 3,187 states, counting the wars the atlas hosts under each.
- How long a reign lasted, at the median15 years
had longer reigns, at the median, than 49% of 967 states whose dated line can carry a median.
- Rulers on record11
has more rulers on record than 83% of 1,968 states with a line of rulers.
What led to it, and what came of it
The investigation's own picture: 3 causes the record names and 0 results, the strongest six of each at their own years, joined to the state by the kind of claim - a recorded statement solid, the article's sentence dashed, a theory dash-dot.
Open the investigation: every row with its evidence, the conditions at the time, the theories condition by condition, and the succession analysed.
Open in the atlas
- On the timeline, 1919 – 2036, with everything that stood beside it.
- On the map in 1978, live: scrub the year and watch its borders move.
- Investigate it: what led to it, what came of it, and its succession analysed.
Wikidata Q237 (CC0) · symbols from Wikimedia Commons, each credited above · data built 2026-10-06 · Pastlas v2.9.1, by Oleh Voronko. The published atlas and its data are for non-commercial use.