Vatican City is an independent city-state and an elective absolute monarchy led by the Pope, who is head of the Catholic Church. It is governed by a papal administration, has no armed forces beyond the Swiss Guard, and conducts diplomacy through the Holy See.
In the 12 Axes register, Vatican City leans hardest on Democratic – Autocratic: Autocratic 95%; the register median is balanced 50%.
Take the test and this line shows how close your twelve scores are to Vatican City, and the axis where you differ most.
Where Vatican City sits on each of the twelve axes, in four categories. The label is our estimate; the line under it says why.
Extremely Centralized
Single city-state under one administration
Autocracy
Pope elected by cardinals, rules absolutely
Statist
Pope holds full legislative, executive and judicial power
Cooperation
Holy See diplomacy, UN observer
Pacifist
No army beyond Swiss Guard; Holy See joined nuclear ban treaty
Centrist
Citizenship tied to office, not residence
Mixed Economic
State finances run by Holy See
Balanced
Revenue from museums, stamps and donations
Moderate
Neutral, no trade policy of its own
Ultra-religious
Seat of the Catholic Church
Traditionalist
Catholic doctrine opposes abortion and same-sex marriage
Bioconservative
Church teaching opposes embryo research and human cloning
Set against the median of all 195 countries in the register.
Democratic – Autocratic
On Democratic – Autocratic, Vatican City is at Autocratic 95%. The register median is balanced 50%.
Collectivize – Privatize
On Collectivize – Privatize, Vatican City is at balanced 50%, almost the register median of balanced 50%.
Closeness is 100 minus the root-mean-square distance on all twelve axes.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.vatican.va
Map: Elevatorrailfan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, cropped and resized.
Last updated: 2026-10-15
The tiers on this page are our estimates from public positions and policies. They are not an official statement by the person or the government concerned. Two independent passes scored every axis and a third settled the differences. How the register works. Found a mistake? Write to [email protected].
