Micro-states exist for historical reasons — a papal enclave that outlasted the Papal States, a princely holdover from the Holy Roman Empire, a scattering of Pacific atolls that gained independence in the decolonisation era. What they share is a land area small enough to walk across in an afternoon.
The ten smallest by land area
- Vatican City — about 0.49 km². An enclave entirely within Rome; the spiritual and administrative centre of the Catholic Church, and the last remnant of the Papal States that once covered central Italy.
- Monaco — about 2.0 km². A city-state on the French Riviera, the most densely populated country in the world, famous for its harbour, its Grand Prix and its casino. It has been ruled by the Grimaldi family since 1297.
- Nauru — 21 km². A single raised coral island in the central Pacific. It was one of the richest countries per capita in the 1970s and 80s from phosphate mining; the deposits are now largely exhausted.
- Tuvalu — 26 km². Nine low-lying coral atolls, the highest point about 4.5 m above sea level. It is among the countries most exposed to sea-level rise, and earns significant income from leasing its .tv internet domain.
- San Marino — 61 km². Landlocked entirely within Italy, on the slopes of Monte Titano. It claims to be the world's oldest surviving sovereign state and republic, traditionally dated to 301 AD.
- Liechtenstein — 160 km². A German-speaking principality between Switzerland and Austria; one of only two doubly landlocked countries in the world. It has one of the highest GDPs per capita anywhere.
- Marshall Islands — 181 km² of land, spread across more than 1,000 islands and islets over a vast area of ocean. A former US trust territory, now in free association with the United States.
- Saint Kitts and Nevis — 261 km². The smallest sovereign state in the Americas, a two-island federation in the Caribbean.
- Maldives — 300 km². About 1,190 coral islands grouped into 26 atolls; the lowest-lying country on Earth, with an average ground level of about 1.5 m.
- Malta — 316 km². A densely populated Mediterranean archipelago of three inhabited islands, an EU member with a long strategic history.
What "smallest" means
By land area the answer is Vatican City. By population it is also Vatican City, with only a few hundred residents (mostly clergy and Swiss Guards). Nauru and Tuvalu are the smallest countries that are not city-states or enclaves. If you exclude the European micro-states as historical curiosities, the smallest "normal" country is Nauru.
How they survived
The European micro-states are medieval survivals — territories too small, too poor, or too awkwardly placed for a larger neighbour to bother annexing, whose independence was later formalised by treaty and found useful to keep (a neutral micro-neighbour has diplomatic value). The Pacific and Caribbean micro-states are products of 20th-century decolonisation: when the European empires withdrew, even very small island groups became independent members of the UN.
All 194 countries ordered by land area, largest to smallest, each linked to a fact page.
See the full ranking →The next tier
Just outside the top ten: Grenada (344 km²), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (389 km²), Barbados (430 km²), Antigua and Barbuda (443 km²), the Seychelles (452 km²), Andorra (468 km²), and Palau (459 km²). Every one of the fifteen smallest countries is either a European micro-state or an island nation in the Caribbean, the Pacific or the Indian Ocean.