Vatican City
Vatican City is a sovereign city-state; the Holy See is a UN non-member observer state, in Southern Europe. UN Tourism publishes no arrivals figure for it, so Globestamp places its stamp by estimate: Foil, for 6 to 15 million visitors a year.
- Stamp finish
- Foilplaced by estimate
- Area
- 0.0 km² (0.0 sq mi)
- Population
- 825Natural Earth estimate
- World Heritage Sites
- 1on Globestamp’s list
Does Vatican City count as a country?
It depends on the list. Vatican City is a sovereign city-state; the Holy See is a UN non-member observer state, so it is not one of the UN’s 193 members, but Globestamp’s list of 250 countries and territories counts it on its own. The Travelers’ Century Club counts it as “Vatican City”.
| List | Counts Vatican City? |
|---|---|
| UN member states (193) | No, an observer state |
| Globestamp’s countries and territories (250) | Yes |
| Travelers’ Century Club (330) | Yes, as Vatican City |
| European Union | No |
| Schengen area | No |
The Vatican City stamp
Every country in Globestamp has its own stamp, drawn after a real entry stamp. Its finish shows how few travelers get there. Vatican City’s is Foil: a hot-stamped foil block in the ink’s own colour, the finish for places with 6 to 15 million visitors a year. UN Tourism has no figure for Vatican City, so its finish is placed by hand from what is known of its visitors. See every stamp on the stamp wall, or the rarest on the least-visited countries.
What counts as a visit to Vatican City
The common rule among travelers is that you set foot there: an airport layover usually doesn’t count, and a port where you went ashore does. Globestamp counts Vatican City when one of your photos was taken on its ground, or just off its coast; a photo taken from a plane never counts. Vatican City has no airport with scheduled flights, so most visitors arrive by road, rail or sea. Read more in how to count the countries you’ve visited.
Places in Vatican City you can collect
Under the country itself, Globestamp keeps layers of places on your globe, and a photo taken at one ticks it. These are the ones it knows in Vatican City, from 1 World Heritage Site.
World Heritage Sites 1
Vatican City (1984). On the bucket list →
Famous landmarks 1
St. Peter's Basilica. On the bucket list →
Questions people ask
Is Vatican City a country?
It depends on the list. Vatican City is a sovereign city-state; the Holy See is a UN non-member observer state, so it is not one of the UN’s 193 members, but Globestamp’s list of 250 countries and territories counts it on its own. The Travelers’ Century Club counts it as “Vatican City”.
How many tourists visit Vatican City?
UN Tourism, the usual source, publishes no arrivals figure for Vatican City. Globestamp places its stamp by estimate, as Foil: 6 to 15 million visitors a year.
How rare is a Vatican City stamp in Globestamp?
It is printed in Foil, the finish for places with 6 to 15 million visitors a year. The fewer travelers a place receives, the rarer its finish, from plain Ink to Mythic.
Does Vatican City count for the Travelers’ Century Club?
Yes. The Travelers’ Century Club counts it as “Vatican City”, one of its 330 destinations.
Places as rare as Vatican City
Near Vatican City
Sources
- Countries, cities and regions: Natural Earth 10m admin-0 (public domain); lists as of October 2026.
- Visitors: UN Tourism via the World Bank, ST.INT.ARVL (International tourism, number of arrivals), CC BY 4.0, data updated 2026-10-08. Each country's latest year before 2020. Countries count visitors differently; use as a rough rank.
- World Heritage Sites, parks, landmarks and the bucket-list places: Wikidata (CC0), as compiled in the app, October 2026.
- Airports: OurAirports (public domain), airports with scheduled service.
- Travelers’ Century Club: the club’s list of 330 destinations, as of January 2022.