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The what? That's not a real country! Well, I'd say that the "Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta" (to give it it's full name) is a real country, it just doesn't have that much land of it's own. They are the modern day version of the Knights Hospitaller, and were ejected from Malta by Napoleon.
Today the Order works in the field of medical and social care and humanitarian aid in over 120 countries, it also works in the front line in natural disasters and armed conflicts.
So it's a country without any land - however it does have a headquarters in Rome, and there are embassies in 104 countries all around the world. The order has observer status at the United Nations. If I can count the Vatican as a country, then I think I can definitely count the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.
My visit was short, but I did make it into the headquarters and past the gate. I had a good chat with the gateman, and he confirmed that the headquarters was not part of Italy, just like the Vatican.
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