# 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:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/41 "2014-07-31T23:38:21Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Holy Seeite. Personally, I’d go with “Holy Seeman.” ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/42 "2014-08-01T00:34:22Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > There are a few children living in the Vatican - the offspring of married Swiss Guards - and it’s not impossible that some have been born there. If they would otherwise be stateless, a person born in the Vatican has Italian Citizenship. (The Lateran Treaty between Italy and the Holy See, which created the Vatican City State, provides for this.) But in fact in most cases the children concerned will have acquired the nationality of their parents. The Swiss Guards are, unsurprisingly, Swiss, and the child of a Swiss citizen is a Swiss citizen. Swiss Guards have Vatican citizenship for their time in the guard, and the spouses and children of Vatican citizens are themselves also Vatican citizens. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/43 "2014-08-01T01:10:45Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Seriously, or is that a joke? Mostly serious, although I do find the word Papalino pretty funny. But [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adjectivals_and_demonyms_for_former_regions) says people from the Papal States were officially called Papalini and Papalino would normally be the singular form of that for a man. ---
**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:** [August 1, 2014, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/44 "2014-08-01T02:22:21Z")
> [@Lord\_Mondegreen](#): > > Personally, I’d go with “Holy Seeman.” I thought of that one after I posted.😃 ---
**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:** [August 1, 2014, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/45 "2014-08-01T02:36:10Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Swiss Guards have Vatican citizenship for their time in the guard, and the spouses and children of Vatican citizens are themselves also Vatican citizens. So eventually, assuming these can be passed down indefinately, the entire world will be Vatican citizens! Edit: Sadly, [no](http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/documentazione/documents/sp_ss_scv/informazione_generale/cittadinanza_it.html) (in Italian). I just glanced at it, but it suggests you lose the citizenship when you lose residence. ---
**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:** [August 1, 2014, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/46 "2014-08-01T03:54:27Z")
There are a number of places where there’s no easy term for the locals. Since Burma started being called Myanmar, “Myanmar people” or “Myanmar citizens” is what you see in the press. I’ve lobbied for Marmites but to no avail. Hong Kong is another. I used to call them Hong Kongers, then I actually saw it in print somewhere! ---
**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:** [August 1, 2014, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/47 "2014-08-01T04:12:42Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Hong Kong is another. I used to call them Hong Kongers, then I actually saw it in print somewhere! That’s actually the term listed by the CIA World Factbook. > [@](#): > > Since Burma started being called Myanmar, “Myanmar people” or “Myanmar citizens” is what you see in the press. I’ve lobbied for Marmites but to no avail. The Factbook only lists the country as Burma. However, there are lots of hits for Myanmarese on Google, some in what appear to be regular news sources. ---
**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:** [August 1, 2014, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/48 "2014-08-01T04:17:15Z")
I’m glad the CIA has adopted a cool term like Hong Konger. But I certainly don’t recall “Myanmarese” used in local English-language stories here. Maybe it will catch on. (Still like “Marmites.”) ---
**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:** [August 1, 2014, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/49 "2014-08-01T04:45:42Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > But I certainly don’t recall “Myanmarese” used in local English-language stories here. Maybe it will catch on. (Still like “Marmites.”) It seems to be regularly used by the [Times of India](http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Myanmarese). It’s also used by the [Daily Star](http://www.thedailystar.net/5-myanmarese-boatmen-killed-in-bay-firing-28072) of Bangladesh. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/50 "2014-08-01T04:52:52Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > There are a number of places where there’s no easy term for the locals. Since Burma started being called Myanmar, “Myanmar people” or “Myanmar citizens” is what you see in the press. I’ve lobbied for Marmites but to no avail. How about Myanmartians? ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/51 "2014-08-01T05:03:24Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Yeah, but people are allowed to have multiple identifications. Yes, but of the various identifications that residents of the nineteenth-century people states might have claimed, “citizen of the papal states” would come fairly low down on the list. He would have identified first and foremost by the city from which he came (or from whose hinterland) he came; where do we suppose the word “citizen” comes from? And then he would have identified with the province or region; Umbria, for example. The fact that Umbria was part of the Papal states wouldn’t have been a matter of huge moment to him, in terms of his identity and self-understanding. So, as pointed out, the word _papalino_ existed, but there wasn’t much occasion for using it. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/52 "2014-08-01T05:20:44Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Does Vatican citizenship actually confer any significant benefits, or is it mostly for show and as a trophy? Obviously, anyone authorized to work in the Vatican is going to have to have been given the appropriate visas anyway, so what’s the advantage to gaining full Vatican citizenship? Tax breaks? Are there public elections that anyone with Vatican citizenship can vote in? Being a Vatican citizen enables you to obtain a Vatican passport, which in turn enable the Vatican to issue you with a diplomatic passport. And in fact one of the main criteria for determining whether a Vatican appointment will carry citizenship or not is the question of whether the appointment involves travel for which the privileges, immunities and conveniences of a diplomatic passport would be convenient. The Swiss Guards get Vatican citizenship, presumably on the basis that if you are willing to put your body and your life on the line for the institution, the least the institution can do in return is to extend its legal and diplomatic protection to you. Whether this means very much in practice I rather doubt. There are no tax advantgages. Liablity to Italian income tax is based on residence, not nationality, and if (as I believe) Vatican employees resident in Italy (which is most of them) are exempt from Italian income tax, this is due to their employment by the Vatican, not their citizenship status. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/53 "2014-08-01T16:39:27Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Mostly serious, although I do find the word Papalino pretty funny. But [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adjectivals_and_demonyms_for_former_regions) says people from the Papal States were officially called Papalini and Papalino would normally be the singular form of that for a man. Thanks for the education. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/54 "2014-08-01T17:30:14Z")
Vatistician ---
**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:** [August 2, 2014, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/55 "2014-08-02T02:19:41Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > It seems to be regularly used by the [Times of India](http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Myanmarese). It’s also used by the [Daily Star](http://www.thedailystar.net/5-myanmarese-boatmen-killed-in-bay-firing-28072) of Bangladesh. But not at all by the _Bangkok Post_ or _The Nation_ in Thailand. Except for the sole use of it in _The Nation_ almost five years ago in some sort of letter or speech published in the paper, the [link to which doesn’t even work anymore](http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/?keyword=Myanmarese&x=0&y=0). (I think _The Nation_, unlike the _Bangkok Post_, continues the use of “Burma,” and you can see by the excerpt in the link above that they even put “Burmese” in parentheses after “Myanmarese.”) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-city-demonym/694443/57 "2019-05-30T13:06:51Z")
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