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Smallest Countries 2024

The countries of the world can be ranked according to which has the smallest population or by which has the smallest total land area. Although many countries that appear on one list will also appear on the other, the order will change depending upon which statistic is chosen. The total area of a country refers to how much area (both land and water) is encompassed by the country's borders. Often denoted in terms of miles squared or kilometers squared, its total area is a numerical value of its physical size. Some of the largest countries globally are Russia (6.59 million square miles), Canada (3.85 million square miles), and China (3.75 million square miles). Unlike the population, the total area of countries usually does not change from one year to the next.

Total area and population size are often loosely connected—after allas the greater the area, the more people can fit onto it. However, the type and climate of the land (mountainous vs plains, swamps, deserts, etc), the development level (cities vs towns vs rural) and function of the land (farming vs forestry, manufacture, residential, etc) also have a significant impact upon the population of that land. Therefore, a country with a massive area is not guaranteed to have a massive population, and a country with very little area may pack an impressive number of citizens into that space.

Top 10 Smallest Countries in the World (by Total Area in km²/mi² - 2021)

The country with the smallest area is Vatican City, which spans over just 0.19 square miles (.49 square kilometers). Ultra-luxurious Monaco comes in second with 0.78 mi²/2.02 km², and San Marino right behind at 24 mi²/60 km². Note that this list includes only countries. Territories such as Tokelau (New Zealand), Saint Barthélemy (France), and Macau (China) are comparably tiny, but not independent countries, and are therefore ineligible.

What is the least populated country in the world?

The smallest country in the world in terms of population is Vatican City, which has approximately 800 citizens. This is far and away the smallest population of any country, although as before, several territories come close: Tokelau (New Zealand territory) with 1,373 people, Niue (New Zealand territory) with 1,619 people, Falkland Islands (UK territory) with 3,533 people, Montserrat (UK territory) with 4,977 people, and Saint Pierre and Miquelon (French territory) with 5,766 people. Even restricting the list to only U.N.-recognized independent countries, there are still a surprising number of nations whose entire populations are small enough to fit into a football stadium:

Top 10 Smallest Countries in the World (by Population)

The census and population trends in the United States

The first US census was conducted on August 2, 1790, and is conducted every ten years. In other words, the Census Bureau of the United States of America performs a decennial census. Before the official decennial census, there were similar acts of counting the number of people in the US and recording the population. These documents are kept safe by the National Archives and Records Administration of the USA. The results of the United States' census offer an example of how a population can change and grow over the course of several decades: in 1940, the US population was 132,164,569 people and in 2020, it was 331,449,281 people.

While most countries see population growth over the years, several nations are experiencing population decline. This is due to lower birth rates (especially in developed countries, where young couples may prioritize careers over children), negative net migration, and higher death rates, particularly as the post-WWII "baby boomer" generation enters old age.

Download Table Data

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Country
Area (km²)
Population
Vatican City< 1526
Monaco236,157
Gibraltar732,718
Tokelau121,915
Nauru2112,884
Saint Barthelemy2111,019
Tuvalu2611,478
Macau33713,082
Sint Maarten3444,309
Saint Martin5332,337
Bermuda5463,935
San Marino6133,614
Guernsey7863,788
Anguilla9115,936
Montserrat1024,372
Jersey116112,843
British Virgin Islands15131,763
Liechtenstein16039,822
Aruba180106,177
Marshall Islands18142,415
American Samoa19943,544
Cook Islands24017,072
Saint Pierre and Miquelon2425,815
Saint Kitts and Nevis26147,847
Niue2611,935
Cayman Islands26469,885
Wallis and Futuna27411,439
Maldives300517,887
Malta316536,740
Grenada344126,887
United States Virgin Islands34798,055
Mayotte374345,996
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines389103,683
Barbados430282,309
Antigua and Barbuda44294,816
Curacao444192,965
Seychelles452108,263
Palau45918,051
Northern Mariana Islands46450,025
Andorra46880,341
Guam549174,114
Isle of Man57284,904
Saint Lucia616180,805
Micronesia702116,300
Singapore7106,052,709
Tonga747108,683
Dominica75173,368
Bahrain7651,498,712
Kiribati811135,763
Turks and Caicos Islands94846,431
Sao Tome and Principe964236,381
Hong Kong1.1K7,496,681
Martinique1.1K366,416
Faroe Islands1.4K53,444
Guadeloupe1.6K396,346
Comoros1.9K867,605
Mauritius2K1,301,978
Reunion2.5K989,350
Luxembourg2.6K661,594
Samoa2.8K228,966
Cape Verde4K604,461
French Polynesia4.2K311,383
Trinidad and Tobago5.1K1,538,200
Brunei5.8K455,858
Palestine6.2K5,494,963
Puerto Rico8.9K3,268,802
Cyprus9.3K1,268,467
Lebanon10.5K5,219,044
Gambia10.7K2,841,803
Jamaica11K2,824,738
Qatar11.6K2,737,061
Falkland Islands12.2K3,803
Vanuatu12.2K342,325
Montenegro13.8K626,102
Bahamas13.9K415,223
Timor Leste14.9K1,379,883
Eswatini17.4K1,222,075
Kuwait17.8K4,349,380
Fiji18.3K943,072
New Caledonia18.6K295,966
Slovenia20.3K2,118,965
Israel20.8K9,311,652
El Salvador21K6,396,289
Belize23K416,656
Djibouti23.2K1,152,329
North Macedonia25.7K2,082,706
Rwanda26.3K14,414,910
Haiti27.8K11,867,030
Burundi27.8K13,591,657
Equatorial Guinea28.1K1,754,993
Albania28.7K2,826,020
Solomon Islands28.9K756,673
Armenia29.7K2,777,979
Lesotho30.4K2,356,083
Belgium30.5K11,715,774
Moldova33.8K3,329,865
Guinea Bissau36.1K2,197,149
Taiwan36.2K23,950,214
Bhutan38.4K792,382
Switzerland41.3K8,851,431
Netherlands41.9K17,671,125
Denmark43.1K5,939,695
Estonia45.2K1,319,041
Dominican Republic48.7K11,434,005
Slovakia49K5,702,832
Costa Rica51.1K5,246,714
Bosnia and Herzegovina51.2K3,194,378
Croatia56.6K3,986,627
Togo56.8K9,260,864
Latvia64.6K1,810,240
Lithuania65.3K2,692,798
Sri Lanka65.6K21,949,268
Georgia69.7K3,717,425
Ireland70.3K5,089,478
Sierra Leone71.7K8,977,972
Panama75.4K4,527,961
Czech Republic78.9K10,503,734
French Guiana83.5K319,796
United Arab Emirates83.6K9,591,853
Austria83.9K8,977,139
Azerbaijan86.6K10,462,904
Serbia88.4K7,097,028
Jordan89.3K11,384,922
Portugal92.1K10,223,349
Hungary93K9,994,993
South Korea100.2K51,741,963
Iceland103K377,689
Guatemala108.9K18,358,430
Cuba109.9K11,174,587
Bulgaria110.9K6,618,615
Liberia111.4K5,536,949
Honduras112.5K10,759,406
Benin112.6K14,080,072
Eritrea117.6K3,817,651
Malawi118.5K21,475,962
North Korea120.5K26,244,582
Nicaragua130.4K7,142,529
Greece132K10,302,720
Tajikistan143.1K10,331,513
Nepal147.2K31,240,315
Bangladesh147.6K174,701,211
Tunisia163.6K12,564,689
Suriname163.8K628,785
Uruguay181K3,423,316
Cambodia181K17,121,847
Syria185.2K24,348,053
Senegal196.7K18,221,567
Kyrgyzstan200K6,839,606
Belarus207.6K9,455,037
Guyana215K819,594
Laos236.8K7,736,681
Romania238.4K19,618,996
Ghana238.5K34,777,522
Uganda241.6K49,924,252
United Kingdom242.9K67,961,439
Guinea245.9K14,528,770
Western Sahara266K598,385
Gabon267.7K2,484,557
New Zealand270.5K5,269,939
Burkina Faso273K23,840,247
Ecuador276.8K18,377,367
Italy301.3K58,697,744
Oman309.5K4,713,553
Poland312.7K40,221,726
Ivory Coast322.5K29,603,302
Norway323.8K5,514,477
Malaysia330.8K34,671,895
Vietnam331.2K99,497,680
Finland338.4K5,549,886
Republic of the Congo342K6,244,547
Philippines342.4K119,106,224
Germany357.1K83,252,474
Japan377.9K122,631,432
Zimbabwe390.8K17,020,321
Paraguay406.8K6,947,270
Iraq438.3K46,523,657
Morocco446.6K38,211,459
Uzbekistan447.4K35,673,804
Sweden450.3K10,673,669
Papua New Guinea462.8K10,515,788
Cameroon475.4K29,394,433
Turkmenistan488.1K6,598,071
Spain506K47,473,373
Thailand513.1K71,885,799
Yemen528K35,219,853
France551.7K64,881,830
Kenya580.4K56,203,030
Botswana582K2,719,694
Madagascar587K31,056,610
Ukraine603.5K37,937,821
South Sudan619.7K11,277,092
Central African Republic623K5,915,627
Somalia637.7K18,706,922
Afghanistan652.2K43,372,950
Myanmar676.6K54,964,694
Zambia752.6K21,134,695
Chile756.1K19,658,839
Turkey783.6K86,260,417
Mozambique801.6K34,858,402
Namibia825.6K2,645,805
Pakistan881.9K245,209,815
Venezuela916.4K29,395,334
Nigeria923.8K229,152,217
Tanzania945.1K69,419,073
Egypt1M114,484,252
Mauritania1M4,993,922
Bolivia1.1M12,567,336
Ethiopia1.1M129,719,719
Colombia1.1M52,340,774
South Africa1.2M61,020,221
Mali1.2M24,015,789
Angola1.2M37,804,634
Niger1.3M28,238,972
Chad1.3M18,847,148
Peru1.3M34,683,444
Mongolia1.6M3,493,629
Iran1.6M89,809,781
Libya1.8M6,964,197
Sudan1.9M49,358,228
Indonesia1.9M279,798,049
Mexico2M129,388,467
Saudi Arabia2.1M37,473,929
Greenland2.2M56,789
DR Congo2.3M105,625,114
Algeria2.4M46,278,751
Kazakhstan2.7M19,828,165
Argentina2.8M46,057,866
India3.3M1,441,719,852
Australia7.7M26,699,482
Brazil8.5M217,637,297
United States9.4M341,814,420
China9.7M1,425,178,782
Canada10M39,107,046
Russia17.1M143,957,079
showing: 234 rows

What is the smallest country?

The smallest country is Vatican City, which has a landmass of 0.19 square miles.

Frequently Asked Questions

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