Vatican City Beats Every Country—at Drinking Wine

If you're a big fan of wine and would like to be surrounded by apparently like-minded people, consider moving to Vatican City. Despite its small size, or perhaps because of it, it manages to consume more wine per capita than any other country, according to the Wine Institute. How much exactly? At 74 liters of wine per person, double Italy's consumption, Religion News Service reports—and in terms of major countries, Italy is one of the top two wine consumers. That amount translates to about 105 bottles of wine per resident per year, the Independent notes.

And no, this doesn't hinge around all that communion wine. As local media have pointed out, the number is probably so high because Vatican residents are, in general, older, male, and highly educated, and they eat communal meals. All of those factors tend to increase wine consumption. And with a population of just 800, those numbers are easily skewed by outliers. Oh yeah, and then there's the fact that just one store sells wine in the Vatican—and the wine is practically tax-free. (More Vatican City stories.)