# Vatican City demonym **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 30, 2014, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443 "2014-07-30T20:08:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cardboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Cardboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardboard)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/1 "2014-07-30T20:08:08Z")
What is the demonym of someone from the Vatican City? Vaticonian? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/2 "2014-07-30T20:19:08Z")
According to the [CIA World Factbook,](https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/vt.html) there isn’t any. > [@](#): > > Nationality: > noun: none > adjective: none ---
**Author:** ![dstarfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dstarfire/32/5762_2.png) [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/3 "2014-07-30T20:33:50Z")
Vatican City is lacking a few key traits common to almost every other country, most notable among these is a permanent population and/or birth rate. Nobody is born a citizen of Vatican CIty, nobody emigrates there except as a function of their job, and I imagine very few people willingly die there. It’s more like an embassy than a country. Still, if you really want a demonym for the people of Vatican city, Catholic would be most appropriate, since it is the capitol/headquarters of their church. Part of the definition of being Catholic (their official dogma) is an acknowledgement that the church (and through it, the pope) speaks for God/Christ\*. \*cite: The Nicene Creed ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/4 "2014-07-30T20:39:33Z")
Pope. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/5 "2014-07-30T21:01:51Z")
> [@dstarfire](#): > > Still, if you really want a demonym for the people of Vatican city, Catholic would be most appropriate, since it is the capitol/headquarters of their church. Part of the definition of being Catholic (their official dogma) is an acknowledgement that the church (and through it, the pope) speaks for God/Christ\*. That’s a bit like saying the demonym for residents of Utah is Mormon. While the people of Vatican City may be Catholics, not all Catholics are residents/citizens of Vatican City. A demonym indicates a resident or native of a locality. It wouldn’t be appropriate to use a term that isn’t limited to residents (or people who originated there) as a demonym. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/6 "2014-07-30T21:12:16Z")
Vaticanan? Vaticani? ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/7 "2014-07-30T21:15:43Z")
Vaticano? Vaticanese? Vaticadian? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/8 "2014-07-30T21:31:30Z")
Holy Seeite. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/9 "2014-07-30T22:23:18Z")
Different web sites give different numbers . . . but it looks like there are about 450 persons who are both citizens of and resident in the Vatican, 350 people who are residents but not citizens, and another 150 people (mostly diplomats) who are citizens but not residents. These categories include the Pope, some but not all cardinals, some lower clergy, the Swiss Guards, and a few lay administrators and their families. There is no accepted English-language descriptor for these people other than what I have just said–citizens of, or residents in, the Vatican. All were born elsewhere and became citizens and/or residents solely by virtue of their jobs. They aren’t referred to as a group that often. They don’t have much in common with each other. So call them Vaticanians if you want, but don’t expect the world to follow. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/10 "2014-07-30T23:28:32Z")
aren’t they VC? ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/11 "2014-07-30T23:37:11Z")
They don’t have demonym, they have angelyms. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/12 "2014-07-30T23:48:16Z")
People in Kansas City call themselves Kansas Citians. That’s good enough for me, by analogy, and I will use Vatican Citian without fear until somebody convinces me that it is correctly something else. Meanwhile, by what demonyms to the people of Republic of Congo distinguish themselves from the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/13 "2014-07-31T01:39:33Z")
Fact: the Vatican City has 5.9 Popes per square mile or 2.3 Popes per square kilometer, or double that if Benedict is around. > [@jtur88](#): > > People in Kansas City call themselves Kansas Citians. That’s good enough for me, by analogy, and I will use Vatican Citian without fear until somebody convinces me that it is correctly something else. > > Meanwhile, by what demonyms to the people of Republic of Congo distinguish themselves from the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo? Bloody Congo and Bloodier Congo. Seriously though, the RoC (RdC) can be referred to as Congo-Brazzaville, or the former French Congo. RDC (DRC) can be referred to as Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, or the former Belgian Congo. These refer to their respective capitals and former colonial powers. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/14 "2014-07-31T02:37:05Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > These categories include the Pope… He’s not a category, he’s the Pope! > [@jtur88](#): > > Meanwhile, by what demonyms to the people of Republic of Congo distinguish themselves from the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo? More importantly, is Roland still there helping them out? > [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Fact: the Vatican City has 5.9 Popes per square mile or 2.3 Popes per square kilometer, or double that if Benedict is around. This reminds me of a line from the Naked Scientists podcast I was listening to earlier; one of the panelists had calculated the molarity of whales in the ocean. It was in the 10^-38 range, so the oceans are a very dilute solution of whales indeed. Perhaps someone could do the math to see how concentrated a solution of Popes Vatican City is? As to the question itself, which seems to have been definitively non-answered by now, I’ll say that I’m fond of Vaticaner for some reason, probably by pronunciation analogy to Afrikaaner. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/15 "2014-07-31T02:39:01Z")
Why not Vatican Citizen? “An Italian, a Vatican Citizen, and a San Marinese walk into a bar.” ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/16 "2014-07-31T02:47:53Z")
The word is _Vaticanista_. But it means someone who works at the Vatican. A Vaticanista may or may not be a Vatican citizen, and he almost certainly doesn’t live there. Nearly all Vaticanistas live in Rome. He may work in Rome, too, but for an agency established in the Vatican. As others have pointed out, nobody is _from_ the Vatican; all Vatican citizens are citizens by naturalisation, and virtually all Vatican residents have moved there from somewhere else. Most Vatican citizens live outside the Vatican. And while a small number of people live in the Vatican, most of those who do are not Vatican citizens - only the most senior Vatican posts carry Vatican citizenship. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/17 "2014-07-31T02:52:48Z")
Has anyone actually been born in the Vatican? (In modern times, that is, not during the Papal States or anything like that…) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/18 "2014-07-31T03:36:20Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Has anyone actually been born in the Vatican? (In modern times, that is, not during the Papal States or anything like that…) It wouldn’t give them citizenship, since you can’t be born Vatican citizen. And it would have to have been a visitor who gave birth unexpectedly and was unable to get to a hospital. From [here:](http://thingstodo.viator.com/vatican-city/trivia-facts-about-the-vatican/) > [@](#): > > Vatican City has citizens, but no one is born there > > Vatican City’s population was 836 as of July 2012. But citizenship in Vatican City isn’t based on being born there – indeed, there isn’t a hospital in Vatican City so no one is born there. Instead, Vatican citizenship is based on “jus officii,” meaning someone has been appointed to work for the Holy See. This citizenship usually ends when the appointment ends. And yes, these Vatican citizens get Vatican passports – but still no Vatican passport stamps. Interestingly, the Vatican has the world’s highest per capita crime rate. > [@](#): > > Vatican City has the highest crime rate on Earth > > Because of the Vatican’s low official population, the crime rate is listed at roughly 1.5 crimes per person, supposedly giving it the highest crime rate in the world. This doesn’t take into account the millions of tourists who visit Vatican City each year but aren’t factored into its population, so that “highest crime rate” designation is pretty ridiculous, but Vatican City is still a pickpocket’s dream thanks to the huge influx of awe-struck tourists every day – so keep your valuables safe. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/19 "2014-07-31T03:39:37Z")
Buggerer? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/20 "2014-07-31T04:01:58Z")
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