Geography of Vatican City

The city state has the same climate as Rome: temperate, mild, rainy winters (September to mid-May) with hot, dry summers (May to September). ==Terrain==

Vatican City sits on a low hill. The hill has been called the Vatican Hill (in Latin, ) since long before Christianity existed. An Etruscan settlement, possibly called Vatica or Vaticum, may have existed in the area generally known by the ancient Romans as "Vatican territory" (vaticanus ager), but if so no archaeological trace of it has been discovered. Extreme points This is a list of the extreme points of Vatican City: the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location, as well as the highest and lowest points. • North: at the intersection of the Viale Vaticano and the Via Leone IV () • South: at the intersection of the Via della Stazione Vaticana and the Via di Porta Cavalleggeri () • West: at the intersection of the Viale Vaticano and the Via Aurelia () • East: easternmost edge of Saint Peter's Square () The lowest point in Vatican City is an unnamed location at . The highest point is another unnamed location at . The tallest building is St. Peter's Basilica, at . ==Land use==

The nature of the estate is fundamentally urban and none of the land is reserved for significant agriculture or other exploitation of natural resources. The city state displays an impressive degree of land economy, born of necessity due to its extremely limited territory. Thus, the urban development (i.e., buildings) is optimized to occupy about half of the total area, while the rest is reserved for open space, including the Vatican Gardens. The territory holds many diverse structures that help provide autonomy for the sovereign state, including a rail line and train station, heliport, post office, radio station (with extraterritorial antennas in Italy), military barracks, government palaces and offices, public plaza, part of an audience hall, old defensive wall marking the border, institutions of higher learning, and cultural/art centers. ==Environment==

In July 2007, the Vatican accepted an offer that would make it the only carbon neutral state for the year, due to the donation of the Vatican Climate Forest in Hungary. The forest was to be sized to offset the year's carbon dioxide emissions. No trees have been planted under the project and the carbon offsets have not materialized. International agreements • Party to: Ozone Layer Protection • Signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution, Environmental Modification ==See also==