Answer & explanation
The official answer, with Fermi’s reasoning step by step.
Answer & explanation
Official answer
130
Vatican Cities
How to estimate it
Fermi’s official “Napkin math”
The Vatican is a walled patch inside Rome, roughly 700 meters across, so about half a square kilometer. How big is Manhattan? A long thin island, something like 21 kilometers by 3, call it 60 square kilometers.
- Manhattan Island
- ~60 km²
- Vatican City
- ÷ 0.5 km²
- 60 ÷ 0.5
- ≈ 120
The Vatican is a walled patch inside Rome, less than half a mile across, so about a fifth of a square mile. How big is Manhattan? A long thin island, something like 13 miles by 2, call it 26 square miles.
- Manhattan Island
- ~26 sq mi
- Vatican City
- ÷ 0.2 sq mi
- 26 ÷ 0.2
- ≈ 130
Rounded assumptions may give a slightly different estimate. The official answer above is the game’s reference value.
Source calculation & reference
- Manhattan Island area
- 22.7 sq mi (58.8 km²)
- Vatican City area
- 0.17 sq mi (0.44 km²)
- 58.8 ÷ 0.44
- ≈ 130
Reference cited by Fermi: Vatican City State official website and CIA World Factbook (Vatican City area, 0.44 km²) · Manhattan Island area, 22.7 sq mi
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