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list of the smallest countries by area
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list of the smallest countries by area

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World Data Editors
Britannica's World Data editors help provide a statistical portrait of some 220 countries and dependencies of the world, at a level appropriate to the significance of each.
World Data Editors,
Amy Tikkanen
Amy Tikkanen is Managing Editor at Encyclopaedia Britannica.
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How small is small? For some of the world’s countries, the answer is very, very small, even teeny tiny. Vatican City holds the title as the world’s smallest country, with an area of just 0.17 square mile (0.44 square km). As a point of comparison, the largest country in the world, Russia, is almost 39 million times bigger. Close behind Vatican City is Monaco, measuring 0.8 square mile (2.1 square km). Ten times larger is Nauru, which is next on the list. What are some of the other smallest countries? Find out in our list below.

country total square miles total square km
1. Vatican City 0.17 0.44
2. Monaco 0.8 2.1
3. Nauru 8 21
4. Tuvalu 10 26
5. San Marino 24 61
6. Liechtenstein 62 160
7. Marshall Islands 70 181
8. Saint Kitts and Nevis 102 263
9. Maldives 114 298
10. Malta 122 315
11. Grenada 133 344
12. Saint Vincent and Grenadines 150 388
13. Barbados 167 432
14. Antigua and Barbuda 171 442
15. Seychelles 172 446
16. Andorra 181 468
17. Palau 188 488
18. Saint Lucia 238 616
19. Tonga 251 650
20. Micronesia 271 701
21. Singapore 284 735
22. Dominica 290 751
23. Bahrain 304 787
24. Kiribati 313 811
25. Sao Tome and Principe 386 1,001
World Data Editors Amy Tikkanen