Get important facts about world's Smallest Countries. Important for IAS Preparation, RRB, UPSC & all other Competitive Exams.(Source:-Wiki)
Smallest Countries in the world
1. Vatican City
Size: 0.17 sq. mi. (0.44 km²)
Population: 783 (2005 census)
Location: Rome, Italy
The size of a
golf course, the Vatican City is the smallest country in the world. It’s
basically a walled enclave inside of Rome, Italy. It’s so small that
the entire country does not have a single street address. The Vatican
City may be small, but it is very powerful. It is the sovereign
territory of the Holy See, or the seat of the Catholic Church (basically
its central government), which has over 1 billion people (about 1 in 6
people on the planet) as constituents. The Vatican City was created in
1929 by the Lateran Treaty (which was signed by one of history’s most
repressive dictators, Benito Mussolini) and is ruled by the Pope,
basically a non-hereditary, elected monarch who rules with absolute
authority (he’s the legislative, executive and judiciary all rolled into
one) – indeed, the Pope is the only absolute monarch in Europe. Another
unique thing about the smallest country in the world is that it has no
permanent citizens. Citizenship of the Vatican City is conferred upon
those who work at the Vatican (as well as their spouses and children)
and is revoked when they stop working there.
The Vatican City
is guarded by the smallest and oldest regular army in the world, the
Swiss Guard. It was originally made up of Swiss mercenaries in 1506, now
the army (also personal bodyguards of the Pope) number 100, all of
which are Catholic unmarried male Swiss citizens. The Swiss Guard’s
Renaissance-style uniform was commonly attributed as to have been
designed by Michelangelo – this was actually incorrect: the large
“skirt” pants were a common style during the Renaissance. Only their
uniforms seem antiquated: most of the Swiss Guards carry pistols and
submachine-guns. The official languages of the Vatican City are Latin
and Italian. In fact, its ATMs are the only ones in the world that offer
services in Latin! And here you thought that Latin is a dead language…
For a country that has no street address, the Vatican City has a very
efficient post office: an international mail dropped in the Vatican will
get there faster than one dropped in Italy just a few hundred yard away
– in fact, there is more mail sent annually per inhabitant from this
country (7,200 mails per person) than anywhere else in the world.
2. Monaco
Size: 0.8 sq. mi. (1.96 km²)
Population: 35,657 (2006 estimate)
Location: French Riviera on the Mediterranean
Monaco is the
second smallest country on Earth (it’s roughly the size of New York’s
Central Park), yet it’s the most densely populated (23,660 people per
km²). Actually, Monaco used to be much smaller than it is now – about
100 acres were reclaimed from the sea and added to its land size. At the
narrowest, Monaco is only 382 yards wide!
The Principality
of Monaco, its formal name, means that the territory is ruled by a
prince. For the last seven centuries, Monaco was ruled by princes of the
Grimaldi family from Genoa. (The whole thing started one night in 1297
when François Grimaldi disguised himself as a monk and led a small army
to conquer the fortress guarding the Rock of Monaco. The coat of arms of
the Grimaldi bears the image of monks with swords!) Now, the Prince
shares legislative authority with a National Council. In 1861, Monaco
relinquished half of its territory to France in exchange for cash and
independence. When the reigning prince realized that most of Monaco’s
natural resources were on the land that got bartered away, he decided to
bet the whole economy on … what else, gambling (see, casinos aren’t
only for American Indians, it’s a time-tested, universal solution!) And
so began Monte Carlo, a region of Monaco well known for its glamorous
casinos (a setting for Ian Fleming’s first James Bond Novel Casino
Royale) and its Formula One Grand Prix.
In 1918, Monaco
entered a treaty with France for military protection – the treaty,
however, also stipulated that Monaco would lose its independence (and
become French) should the reigning Grimaldi prince died without leaving a
male heir! When Prince Rainier III took over, he was a bachelor and
most Monegasques (that means people of Monaco) were gloomy about the
country’s future. However, he ended up marrying Hollywood actress Grace
Kelly – the marriage not only produced a male heir, it also helped
burnish Monaco’s image as a glamorous place to be for the wealthy.
(Monaco can rest easy now, a new treaty with France stated that the
Principality will remain independent even without a male heir). For a
long time, Monaco had no income taxes and was a tax haven for wealthy
foreigners and international corporations. This caused a unique thing
about Monaco’s population: most of its residents are not native – in
fact, only about 1 in 5 people are native Monegasques. After a long
dispute with France, Monaco started to impose income taxes on all of its
residents who are not born there. Its natural citizens are forbidden
from entering casinos, but to make up for it, they do not have to pay
any income taxes.
3. Nauru
Size: 8 sq. mi (21 km²)
Population: 13,005 (2005 estimate)
Location: Western Pacific Ocean
Nauru is the
world’s smallest island nation, the smallest independent republic, and
the only republic in the world without an official capital. Nauru only
has one significant source of income: phosphates from thousands of
years’ worth of guano or bird droppings. This proved to be both a boon
and a bane for Nauruans – for a long time, its residents enjoyed a
relatively high level of income as the country exported its phosphate
like there’s no tomorrow. The government employed 95% of Nauruans, and
lavished free medical care and schooling for its citizens. Most didn’t
take advantage of this offer: only one-third of children went on to
secondary school. The adults didn’t really work, either – office hours
were flexible and the most popular pastime was drinking beer and driving
the 20-minute circuit around the island. For a while, Nauru was a
paradise – for a brief moment in 1970s, Nauruans were even amongst the
richest people on the planet. Nothing lasts forever and sure enough,
Nauru’s phosphate reserves soon dried up and left 90% of the island as a
barren, jagged mining wasteland. Wasteful investments (like buying
hotels only to leave them to rot) and gross incompetence by the
government (former presidents used to commandeer Air Nauru’s planes for
holidays, leaving paying customers stranded on the tarmac!) didn’t help
either. As if that’s not bad enough, Nauru is also beset by obesity
problem. Decades of leisurely lifestyle and high consumption of alcohol
and fatty foods have left as many as 9 out of 10 people overweight!
Nauru also has the world’s highest level of type 2 diabetes – over 40%
of its population is affected. So now, Nauruans are poverty-stricken and
fat – but they are trying to turn things around. With no natural
resource left, in the 1990s, Nauru decided to become a tax haven and
offered passports to foreign nationals for a fee. This attracted the
wrong kind of money (but a lot of it): the Russian mafia funneled over
$70 billion to the tiny island nation. Things got so bad that most big
banks refused to handle transactions involving Nauru because of money
laundering problems. This led Nauru to another extraordinary
money-making scheme: it became a detention camp for people applying for
asylum to Australia!
4. Tuvalu
Size: 9 sq. mi. (26 km²)
Population: 10,441 (2005 estimate)
Location: South Pacific
Tuvalu is
basically a chain of low-lying coral islands, with its highest elevation
being 16 feet or 5 meters above seal level. With total land area of
just 9 square miles, Tuvalu is not only a teeny tiny island in the
Pacific Ocean, it may not even exist in the next 50 years if sea level
continue to rise (a controversial claim, nonetheless there were
evacuation plans to New Zealand and other Pacific Islands). Even if the
sea level does not rise, other problems such as population growth and
coastal erosion still make Tuvalu a very vulnerable country. During
World War II, thousands of American troops were stationed on the islands
of Tuvalu and the island became an Allied base. Airfields were quickly
constructed and after the war, abandoned. In fact, today rusting wrecks
can be found on the islands, a constant reminder of its role in the War.
Today, Tuvalu also derives income from renting out its Internet country
code top-level domain .tv, as it is the abbreviation of the word
‘television’. This scheme got off to a rocky start (the original company
who tried to do it failed to raise the necessary funds), but finally
proved to be the largest source of income for the country.
5. San Marino
Size: 24 sq. mi. (61 km²)
Population: 28,117 (2005 estimate)
Location: North-central Italy near the Adriatic coast.
With the formal
name of The Most Serene Republic of San Marino, it’s not surprising that
San Marino has got lots of charms. Founded in AD 301 by a Christian
stonecutter named (what else) Marino (or Marinus, depending on who you
ask), who along with a small group of Christians, was seeking escape
from religious persecution, San Marino is the world’s oldest republic.
Its history belies its simple motto: “Liberty.” Indeed, San Marino was
such a good neighbor that it was hardly ever conquered by larger enemies
(it was briefly conquered in the 1500s and the 1700s, for like a month
each). Even when Napoleon gobbled most of Europe, he left San Marino
alone, saying it was a model republic! San Marino takes its government
seriously: for such a tiny country, San Marino has a very complex
government structure, based on a constitution written in 1600. The
country is ruled by an elected Council of 60, who appoints 2 captain
regents (from opposing political parties, no less) to administer
governmental affairs for six-month term. Talk about preserving liberties
through division of authority! Before World War II, San Marino was
amongst the poorest countries in Europe. Today, with more than 3 million
tourists visiting every year (half of San Marino’s income is derived
from tourism), the people of San Marino are amongst the world’s richest
people.
