The Vatican City is an independent city-state located within Rome that is ruled by the Pope. It covers just over 100 acres and has a population of around 1,000 people, making it the smallest internationally recognized independent state in the world. The Lateran Treaty of 1929 established the independent territory and sovereignty of the Vatican City and granted the Pope additional political powers. The Pope serves as the head of state and has supreme legislative and judicial authority over the Vatican as an absolute monarch, though he must remain neutral in war as part of the Lateran Treaty.