{"id":8884,"date":"2016-12-05T16:00:37","date_gmt":"2016-12-05T16:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.factstoryhub.com\/?p=8884"},"modified":"2023-11-22T08:05:38","modified_gmt":"2023-11-22T08:05:38","slug":"worlds-smallest-countries","status":"publish","type":[],"link":"https:\/\/www.factstoryhub.com\/worlds-smallest-countries\/","title":{"rendered":"The World’s 10 Smallest Countries"},"content":{"rendered":"
The world contains billions upon billions of people spread far and wide.\n
Just like the people themselves, the countries can be rather strange and hold some very interesting facts.\n
I often wonder what\u2019s the largest, longest, lowest, or most luxurious country in the world and what wonders that particular country holds.\n
Here we\u2019re going to look at 10 of the world\u2019s smallest countries.\n
But don\u2019t be fooled by their size; these places hold some fascinating bits of information from the people to the landscape.\n
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Grenada, or the Spice of the Caribbean, is the tenth smallest country in the world.\n
As of January 2016, Grenada has a population of over 107,000.\n
Compared to some of the countries to come, it is a reasonably lower populated location measuring 133 sq. miles (344 sq. km).\n
Grenada is known as the Spice of the Caribbean as its one of the largest producers of nutmeg and mace in the world, with inhabitants saying the smell wafts around the island.\n
The most popular sport in the country is cricket.\n
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When compared to Grenada\u2019s population of 107,000, Malta is practically a bustling empire.\n With over 419,500 people as of January 2016, this makes it one of Europe\u2019s most populated countries.\n The Republic of Malta is made of 3 separate parts; Gozo, Comino, and Malta.\n According to a 2013 report by the UN, Malta is the 48th happiest country in the world.\n Malta is home to Calypso cave, a cave that overlooks Sandy Beach, and Ramla Bay.\n This features in Homer’s “The Odyssey” as the location Calypso kept Odysseus locked up as a “prisoner of love” for seven years.\n She guaranteed him immortality if he stayed with her, but he ran away to his wife Penelope.\n The Maldives is an archipelago of 1,192 coral islands grouped into 26 coral atolls, of which 200 are inhabited.\n This makes the Maldives the most dispersed country in Asia.\n The Maldives became an independent country in 1965, and as of January 2016, the population was just under 367,000.\n Climate change is a serious issue when it comes to this area.\n In 2009 the then-president and 13 other officials sat at desks at the bottom of the sea.\n They dressed in full scuba gear to raise awareness about the potential dangers the islands face.\n This two-island country is located in the Eastern Caribbean, and as of January 2016, the population is over 6 times less than the Maldives at 55,000 and is just 15 sq. miles smaller.\n This shows the sheer secluded nature of the beautiful place.\n There are some much-respected figures who have, at one stage, called this island home.\n Alexander Hamilton, one of the founding fathers of the US, for example, was born here.\n Liechtenstein is an incredibly interesting country with some very weird occurrences over its lifetime.\n As of January 2016, the population was just 37,000, that\u2019s 10 times smaller than the Maldives.\n Found between Switzerland and Austria, the country is an incredibly safe one. The crime rate is drastically low, with the last murder occurring in 1997!\n Lichtenstein has a weird history when it comes to the military as well.\n In March 2007, the country was accidentally invaded by the Swiss army when 170 armed soldiers wandered 1 mile across an unmarked border.\n San Marino claim to be the oldest surviving sovereign state.\n As of January 2016, San Marino has a population of around 32,000 people.\n As you can see, this is a fairly small country that\u2019s actually quite densely populated.\n Especially when compared to Saint Kitts and Nevis, which has an extra 77.5 square miles and only 13,000 more people!\n San Marino has a rather strange relationship with the US.\n In 1861 the San Marino government wrote to then-president Abraham Lincoln asking if he would like to form an alliance.\n In turn, they would give him honorary San Marino citizenship, and Lincoln accepted this offer.\n When it comes to sports, though, particularly soccer, San Marino isn\u2019t that successful.\n After forming in 1990, their first international win didn\u2019t come until 2004, when they beat Liechtenstein 1-0!\n Tuvalu was previously known as the Ellice Islands (no, not that Ellis Island), just off the North East of Australia.\n There is just one 1 hospital on the island for its population of just under 10,000 as of January 2016; that\u2019s 384 people per sq. km!\n The island is quite a low-lying one, with the highest point being just 16ft above sea level.\n Tuvalu is a reasonably secluded location, with only 2,000 visitors in 2010, and 65% of those were for business.\n However, it does hold a rather strange caving system…\n In 1986, 2 scuba divers discovered underwater caves; this is, of course, not that strange, but when they noticed dark patches similar to that of fire scorching, eyebrows were raised.\n It\u2019s believed that many thousands of years ago, the island was that much higher out of the sea compared to today, theoretically showing just how much sea levels have varied.\n Nauru is an island east of Australia.\n It\u2019s the smallest island country, and with a population of around 10,200 people as of January 2016, it\u2019s obviously not that lowly populated compared to earlier examples.\n The country, even though stunningly beautiful, has a real issue with unemployment.\n Only 10% of the residents are employed, and all of them are by the government.\n The island has a serious problem with obesity, too; it\u2019s often categorized as the most obese island nation.\n 97% of men and 93% of women are obese.\n Because of this, type 2 diabetes is also very prominent in Nauru, with 40% of people suffering.\n Monaco is a very wealthy country, as we are all aware, hosting Grand Prix and numerous other events.\n The country is bordered by France, and its flag is very similar to that of Indonesia, the difference being that the Indonesian flag is wider.\n AS Monaco, the country\u2019s major football club plays in the flag\u2019s red and white and are called Les Rouge et Blanc or the red and whites.\n AS Monaco\u2019s stadium Stade Louis II is able to fit over half of the country\u2019s population, which as of January 2016, was over 37,500!\n Located in Rome, Italy, the Vatican City is the home of the Pope and many other religious figures.\n With a population of just 800, and of those, only 450 hold actual citizenship, many citizens actually live elsewhere.\nMaldives – 116 Square Mile\n
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Saint Kitts and Nevis – 101 Square Mile\n
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Liechtenstein – 62 Square Mile\n
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San Marino – 23.5 Square Mile\n
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Tuvalu – 10 Square Mile\n
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Nauru – 8 Square Mile\n
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Monaco – 0.75 Square Mile\n
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State of the Vatican City – 0.17 Square Miles\n
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