When considering the subject of which is the smallest country in the world, it is necessary to define the criteria.
The Life Daily team decided to use two different forms of measurement.
The first basis for determining size was the area of the country. The second option was to define the size according to the population.
We discovered that there is not always a correlation between the area and the population.
The world’s ten smallest countries in terms of area fall into two general categories:
European micro-states – Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, San Marino, and Vatican City.
Small island nations of the Indian Ocean, Pacific, and Caribbean – Maldives, Marshall Islands, Nauru, St. Kitts and Nevis, and Tuvalu.
From all these mini-countries, the smallest in terms of area is Vatican City at 0.44 square kilometers / 0.17 square miles.
The Vatican is both a city and a state. People are usually confused about the difference between the Vatican, and the Holy See, which is the main episcopal center of 1.2 billion Latin and Eastern Catholics around the world.
Ordinances of Vatican City are published in Italian while official documents of the Holy See are issued mainly in Latin. The two entities have distinct passports: the Holy See, not actually being a country, issues only diplomatic and service passports, whereas Vatican City State issues normal passports for its citizens.
However, Vatican City – with around 850 inhabitants – is not the smallest country in the world by population.
That honor goes to the Pitcairn Islands, with a population of exactly – 56!
The Four islands – comprising Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie, and Oeno – are spread over several hundred miles of ocean, with a total land area of about 47 square kilometers (18 square miles.). Only Pitcairn, the second largest island measuring about 3.6 kilometers (2.2 miles) from east to west, is inhabited.
The unique element of Pitcairn is that it is populated by the descendants of the sailors responsible for the famous “Mutiny on the Bounty” and the Tahitians (or Polynesians) who accompanied them.
This event has been retold numerous times in books and films, and this history is still apparent in the surnames of many of the islanders.
In a bizarre quirk of fate, Pitcairn has earned itself the dubious distinction of holding the world record for the greatest number of sex offenders per capita, following a series of trials in 2004.
In that year, charges were laid against seven men living on Pitcairn, and six living abroad. After extensive trials, the men were convicted, some with multiple counts of sexual attacks on children.
One of those found guilty was the mayor, Steve Christian, a descendant of the the leader of the Bounty mutineers, Fletcher Christian.
The British government set up a prison on the island, and the men began serving their sentences in 2006. By 2010, all had been granted home detention status.
As a matter of interest, the state with the second smallest number of inhabitants is the Cocos or Keeling Islands. But their population is more than 10 times that of Pitcairn, at 596.
To put these numbers in perspective, some 26 countries have populations in excess of 50 million, and China and India account for 36 percent of all the inhabitants on the planet with 2.6 Billion between them!
All of which leads to the conclusion that the people living in the smaller countries of the world can enjoy more tranquil lives.
Sexual predators aside!
So, would you prefer to live in the smallest country in the world?
If so, which country would would you choose?
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