Vatican City country code +39 06 698 — call Vatican City & get a number.
Vatican City was assigned +379 by the ITU, but that code has never been publicly activated — in practice, every Vatican number sits inside Italy's +39 numbering plan under Rome's 06 area code with the 698 prefix, a legacy of the 1929 Lateran Treaty. This guide covers the real +39 06 698 dialing format, the world's highest phone-line-per-person ratio, and why +379 will never connect your call.
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Vatican City at a glance
The numbers and facts you need before you dial.
What is the country code for Vatican City?
Vatican City is the world's smallest sovereign state, with a population of roughly 800 inside its 44-hectare walls plus thousands of daily commuting workers. The ITU formally assigned it the country code +379, but that code has never been activated for public telephone routing — every Vatican number instead sits inside Italy's +39 numbering plan, under Rome's 06 area code with a dedicated 698 prefix.
This arrangement traces back to the 1929 Lateran Treaty between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy, which resolved the decades-long 'Roman Question' and obligated Italy to provide the Vatican's telephone, telegraph, radio and postal connections at Italy's own expense. The Vatican Telephone Service was built directly into Rome's network as a practical matter, and by the time +379 was later reserved by the ITU, migrating away from the entrenched +39 06 698 arrangement made no operational sense.
The result is a phone system serving roughly 5,500 lines for around 800 residents — about 6.9 lines per person, the highest ratio of any country on Earth — reflecting the Vatican's role as the administrative headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church as much as a residential city-state.
Code +39 06 698 was assigned to Vatican City by the ITU under the E.164 plan. The “+” means “dial your local international exit code”; on a mobile, press and hold 0 to type it.
All four mean the same thing — they connect your call to Vatican City.
How to call Vatican City from anywhere
The pattern: your exit code + 39 + 06 + 698 + the 5-digit subscriber number. Ignore the ITU-assigned +379 entirely — it has never been publicly routable.
Full example: +39 06 698 84857 — the country code (39) and area code (06) are Italy's; only the 698 prefix and 5-digit subscriber number are Vatican-specific.
Vatican City phone number format explained
Vatican numbers are structurally identical to Rome (06) landline numbers, distinguished only by the 698 prefix. The full E.164 format is +39 06 698 followed by a 5-digit subscriber number — typically 12-13 digits total including the country code.
There is no separate Vatican numbering plan beneath +379, since that code has never been deployed. Number validation systems should treat Vatican numbers exactly as they treat any other Italian geographic landline number.
Landline
+39 06 698 XXXXX (identical structure to any other Rome landline, distinguished only by the 698 prefix)
Mobile
No Vatican mobile numbers exist — visitors and residents use standard Italian mobile numbers (+39 3XX XXX XXXX)
Vatican City area codes — major cities
Drop the local leading 0 when calling from abroad.
| 城市 | Region | 區號 |
|---|---|---|
| All Vatican numbers | Rome area code 06, Vatican prefix 698 | 06 698 |
Vatican City mobile network prefixes
The prefix after +39 06 698 tells you which network issued the SIM — though number portability means it no longer guarantees the operator.
No Vatican mobile network
Vatican City has no cell towers, mobile carrier, or mobile number range of its own — coverage inside its walls comes entirely from Italian operators (TIM, Vodafone Italia, WindTre, Iliad Italia).
Vatican City time zone
Vatican City operates on Central European Time (CET), UTC+1, shifting to Central European Summer Time (CEST), UTC+2, on the same schedule as Italy and the rest of the EU.
Administrative offices generally run Monday to Saturday, opening around 9 AM and closing by 1 PM, with some resuming from 3 PM to 6 PM around the traditional Italian midday break. The Vatican Museums keep their own hours and are closed Sundays except the last Sunday of each month.
Emergency numbers in Vatican City
Free to call from any Vatican City phone, landline or mobile.
Common mistakes when calling Vatican City
Almost every failed international call is a formatting issue, not a network issue.
Dialing the assigned +379 code
The ITU-assigned +379 has never been activated for public routing — calling it will fail, return an invalid-number message, or produce silence. Always use +39 06 698 followed by the subscriber number.
Expecting the phone to show 'Vatican City' rather than 'Italy'
Since Vatican numbers sit inside Italy's +39 numbering plan, your phone, carrier, and billing system will treat the call as a call to Italy — there's no way to distinguish it by country code alone, only by the 06 698 prefix.
Assuming Vatican City has its own mobile network or SIM cards
There is no Vatican mobile carrier — visitors and residents alike use Italian SIM cards and Italian mobile numbers (+39 3XX).
Trying to SMS a Vatican landline
Vatican numbers (+39 06 698 XXXXX) are fixed-line numbers and can't receive SMS, same as any other landline.
Listing Vatican City as +379 in a phone validation system
Map Vatican City (VA) to +39 in any country dropdown or validation library — using +379 will cause lookups and calls to fail silently.
Tips to reduce the cost of calling Vatican City
Use +39 06 698 for anything Vatican-related
Whether calling the switchboard, the Museums, or a specific office, the dialing pattern is always +39 06 698 followed by the 5-digit subscriber number.
Reach the main switchboard if you don't have a direct extension
The Vatican switchboard (+39 06 6982) can route your call internally to the right department or office.
Treat billing and validation as standard Italian
Any system already configured for Italian +39 geographic numbers will handle Vatican numbers correctly with no special-casing needed.
Use VoIP or video conferencing where possible
Many Vatican offices have adopted video conferencing (especially since 2020) and are reachable via standard internet communication platforms, bypassing traditional per-minute billing entirely.
Why businesses get a Vatican City virtual number
Vatican City is not a commercial jurisdiction — there are no corporations headquartered there, no stock exchange, and no business registration process for outside companies. Telecommunications-relevant business contact mostly involves the Vatican Museums (roughly six million visitors a year), the Holy See Press Office, diplomatic and NGO contact with the Secretariat of State, and Italian contractors and suppliers serving Vatican institutions.
Higher answer rates
Local caller IDs are answered far more often than unfamiliar international numbers.
Lower trust friction
A local number signals legitimate presence without a physical office.
Cheaper inbound
Customers call at local rates — no one rejects your calls for cost.
Centralized routing
Calls forward to your existing call center, mobile, or SIP platform — handled from anywhere.
Faster expansion
Launch a local line in a day instead of incorporating a local entity.
Real PSTN presence
A genuine local DID that rings on your phone system worldwide.
Vatican City virtual numbers with My Country Mobile
Because every Vatican number is structurally an Italian +39 06 number, businesses that need to reach Vatican contacts don't need a separate Vatican number — a standard Italy virtual number from MCM covers the same +39 numbering plan Vatican calls travel through, with no special routing required.
Local DIDs in major area codes — provisioned in minutes
Call forwarding to any mobile, landline, SIP endpoint, or softphone worldwide
HD voice with G.711, G.729, Opus & AMR-WB — auto-negotiated per call
Sub-150ms latency on major voice corridors via distributed PoPs
99.99% uptime SLA backed by geo-redundant infrastructure & sub-2s failover
WebRTC support for browser-based calling without softphone installs
REST APIs for provisioning, routing & call detail records (CDRs)
Built-in fraud protection with AI anomaly detection & STIR/SHAKEN
24/7 network monitoring and dedicated support
Other country dialing guides
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Get a Vatican City virtual number with MCM
Need to reach Vatican City? Ignore the ITU-assigned +379 — dial +39 06 698 followed by the subscriber number. If your business needs a standing Italian presence to work alongside Vatican contacts, MCM can provision a +39 virtual number that routes to your team anywhere in the world.
Vatican City +39 06 698 — FAQ
Does Vatican City have its own country code?expand_more
The ITU assigned +379, but it has never been activated for public routing. To actually reach someone, dial +39 06 698 followed by the subscriber number — dialing +379 will not connect.
Why does the Vatican use Italy's country code instead of its own?expand_more
The 1929 Lateran Treaty obligated Italy to provide the Vatican's telecommunications at Italy's expense. By the time the ITU assigned +379 decades later, the +39 06 698 arrangement was already deeply entrenched, with no operational reason to migrate.
Can I buy a Vatican City SIM card?expand_more
No. Vatican City has no mobile network or SIM cards of its own — mobile coverage inside its walls comes from Italian operators (TIM, Vodafone Italia, WindTre, Iliad).
What is the Vatican's phone-line-to-person ratio?expand_more
Roughly 5,500 lines for about 800 residents — about 6.9 lines per person, the highest of any sovereign state, reflecting that most lines serve offices and institutions rather than individual residents.
How do I reach the Vatican switchboard?expand_more
+39 06 6982 — the central contact point, which can route calls to specific departments or individuals within Vatican City.
Is Vatican City covered by EU roaming rules?expand_more
Not directly, since it isn't an EU member state — but because Italian towers physically serve the Vatican, EU SIM card holders effectively aren't charged roaming fees when connecting there.
Can I send an SMS to a Vatican number?expand_more
No — Vatican landline numbers (+39 06 698 XXXXX) are fixed-line and can't receive SMS, same as any other landline number.
What time zone is Vatican City in?expand_more
Central European Time (CET), UTC+1, shifting to CEST (UTC+2) during summer — the same schedule as Italy and the rest of the EU.
What currency does Vatican City use?expand_more
The Euro (EUR), including Vatican-minted commemorative coins that are popular with collectors.
How should I list Vatican City in a phone number system?expand_more
Map it to +39 (Italy), not +379 — Vatican numbers validate and format correctly as standard Italian geographic numbers, including in libraries like Google's libphonenumber.