The 15 Smallest Countries in the World – and Where to Find Them on the Map

The smallest countries are the hardest ones to click. On a world map most of them are a single pixel, or an island so small the map has to draw a circle around it just so you can tap it. This guide lists the 15 smallest countries by area, smallest first, with where each one sits next to its neighbours and a way to find it fast.

By the end you should be able to place all 15 without searching, and know which "smallest" fact belongs to which country.

The list at a glance

Areas are the commonly cited figures (Britannica, rounded). Sources differ by a few km² for some islands, so you will see Seychelles listed as anything from 446 to 459 km², but the order of the top 15 stays the same.

Rank	Country	Area	Where
1	Vatican City	0.44 km²	Inside Rome, Italy
2	Monaco	about 2 km²	French Riviera
3	Nauru	21 km²	Central Pacific, just south of the equator
4	Tuvalu	26 km²	Pacific, north of Fiji
5	San Marino	61 km²	Inside north-east Italy
6	Liechtenstein	160 km²	Between Switzerland and Austria
7	Marshall Islands	181 km²	North Pacific
8	St Kitts and Nevis	about 261 km²	Northern Lesser Antilles
9	Maldives	about 300 km²	Indian Ocean, south-west of India
10	Malta	about 316 km²	Mediterranean, south of Sicily
11	Grenada	344 km²	Southern Lesser Antilles
12	St Vincent and the Grenadines	about 389 km²	Southern Lesser Antilles
13	Barbados	about 430 km²	East of the Lesser Antilles arc
14	Antigua and Barbuda	442 km²	Northern Lesser Antilles
15	Seychelles	about 450 km²	Indian Ocean, north-east of Madagascar

Grouped by region, that is five in Europe, three in the Pacific, five in the Caribbean and one each in Asia and Africa. Learn them as four clusters, not as fifteen separate facts.

Europe's micro-states

Four of the six smallest countries in the world are in Europe, and every one of them is found through a bigger neighbour.

1. Vatican City – 0.44 km². The smallest country in the world, and the least populous, with only around 800 residents. It sits on the west bank of the Tiber, entirely surrounded by Rome. You won't see it as a shape on a world map at all: find Rome, halfway down the west side of Italy's boot, and you've found it. Hook: a country inside a city inside a country.

2. Monaco – about 2 km². On the French Riviera, squeezed between the French Alps and the Mediterranean, about 8 km from the Italian border and 15 km east of Nice. With roughly 39,000 people on 2 km², it is the most densely populated country in the world. It is smaller than New York's Central Park (about 3.4 km²). Hook: Monaco is on the coast, the Vatican is not – the only coastal micro-state in this pair.

5. San Marino – 61 km². Entirely surrounded by Italy, on the slopes of Monte Titano in the north-east, about 10–15 km inland from the Adriatic resort of Rimini. Like the Vatican, it is an enclave – one of only three countries in the world completely surrounded by a single other country (Lesotho, inside South Africa, is the third). Hook: two enclaves in Italy – the Vatican on the west side near the Tyrrhenian, San Marino on the east near the Adriatic.

6. Liechtenstein – 160 km². A thin strip on the east bank of the upper Rhine, between Switzerland (west and south) and Austria (east). It is one of only two doubly landlocked countries in the world – landlocked and surrounded only by landlocked countries. The other is Uzbekistan. Its capital is Vaduz.

10. Malta – about 316 km². Three inhabited islands (Malta, Gozo and Comino) about 90 km south of Sicily. It is the smallest member of the European Union, by both area and population. Hook: Italy's boot kicks Sicily, and Malta is the pebble beneath it.

The next European country up is Andorra (468 km²) in the Pyrenees, just outside the top 15 at number 16.

The Pacific islands

The Pacific gives the list its hardest clicks, because these countries are scattered far from any big landmass.

3. Nauru – 21 km². A single oval island about 60 km south of the equator, roughly halfway between the Marshall Islands and the Solomon Islands. It is the smallest island country in the world and the smallest country outside Europe. Nauru has no official capital; government offices are in the district of Yaren, which is why quizzes usually accept Yaren. Hook: one dot, one island, almost on the equator.

4. Tuvalu – 26 km². Nine small islands and atolls in a chain about 1,000 km north of Fiji. Its land is spread over a long stretch of ocean, so on a map you are looking for a scatter, not a single dot. The highest natural point is under 5 metres above sea level, which is why Tuvalu is often in the news about rising seas. The capital is Funafuti.

7. Marshall Islands – 181 km². Two parallel chains of 29 atolls and 5 islands in the north Pacific: the Ratak ("sunrise") chain to the east and the Ralik ("sunset") chain to the west. They lie north of Kiribati and Nauru and east of the Federated States of Micronesia. The capital, Majuro, is an atoll in the Ratak chain.

Just outside the top 15 is Palau (about 460–490 km² depending on the source), a cluster of islands east of the Philippines.

Hook for the Pacific three: Nauru is a dot, Tuvalu is a dotted line, the Marshall Islands are two dotted lines.

The Caribbean five

Five of the 15 are in the Lesser Antilles, the arc of small islands curving from east of Puerto Rico down to the coast of Venezuela. The trick is to learn the arc in order, so that each island is "the next one along".

8. St Kitts and Nevis – about 261 km². Two islands in the northern part of the arc, west of Antigua. It is the smallest country in the Americas by both area and population. Nevis is the smaller, round island to the south-east of St Kitts.

14. Antigua and Barbuda – 442 km². East of St Kitts and Nevis. Antigua is the larger island; Barbuda is the flat one about 40 km to the north.

12. St Vincent and the Grenadines – about 389 km². Further south: the main island of St Vincent, plus a string of small islands (the Grenadines) running south-west towards Grenada.

11. Grenada – 344 km². The southern end of the arc, just north of Trinidad and Tobago. The country also includes Carriacou and Petite Martinique, the southern Grenadines.

13. Barbados – about 430 km². The odd one out. Barbados sits about 160 km east of St Vincent, alone in the Atlantic outside the main arc. If you are clicking along the chain and can't find it, look east.

Hook, north to south down the arc: St Kitts, then Antigua to its east … far down, St Vincent, then Grenada at the bottom. Barbados stands off to the east by itself.

Asia and Africa

9. Maldives – about 300 km². A double chain of 26 coral atolls stretching more than 800 km north to south in the Indian Ocean, south-west of India and Sri Lanka. It is the smallest country in Asia and the lowest-lying country in the world, with an average height of about 1.5 metres. The land area is tiny but the country is long – on a map, follow the line of dots south from the tip of India. Capital: Malé.

15. Seychelles – about 450 km². A group of 115 or so islands in the Indian Ocean, more than 1,000 km off the coast of East Africa and north-east of Madagascar. It is the smallest country in Africa. Most people live on the largest island, Mahé, where the capital Victoria is.

Common mix-ups

Smallest by area vs smallest by population. The Vatican wins both. After that the lists diverge: Tuvalu and Nauru are next by population (each around 10,000–12,000 people), while Monaco is second by area.
Nauru vs Tuvalu. Both are tiny Pacific states with similar areas. Nauru is a single island; Tuvalu is a chain of nine. Nauru is further west and closer to the equator.
Grenada vs the Grenadines. The Grenadines are split: the northern ones belong to St Vincent and the Grenadines, the southern ones (Carriacou, Petite Martinique) to Grenada.
Malta vs Monaco. Both are Mediterranean and both start with M, but Monaco is attached to the French coast while Malta is an island nation south of Sicily, about 150 times larger.
Singapore. People often expect it in the top 15. At about 735 km² it is small, but only around 21st.

How to find tiny countries fast

Find the big neighbour first. Vatican City and San Marino through Italy, Monaco through France, Liechtenstein between Switzerland and Austria, Malta through Sicily.
Learn island chains as sequences. The Lesser Antilles and the Pacific atolls are just ordered lists. Once you know the order, the next island is always "one along".
Zoom in with regional quizzes. Regional maps draw these countries as real shapes instead of dots, which makes the positions stick.

Practise it

Europe – Vatican City, Monaco, San Marino, Liechtenstein and Malta all appear as clickable shapes.
The Caribbean – the best way to learn the Lesser Antilles in order.
Oceania – Nauru, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands.
Whole World – the final test.

Tip: play the regional quiz once, write down the ones you missed, and play again the next day starting with only those. When all 15 come without hesitation on the Whole World map, the hardest part of the world map is done.

FAQ

What is the smallest country in the world?

Vatican City, at about 0.44 km² and with around 800 residents. It is entirely surrounded by the city of Rome.

What is the second smallest country in the world?

Monaco, at about 2 km². It is also the most densely populated country in the world.

What is the smallest country in each continent?

Europe: Vatican City. Oceania: Nauru. Americas: St Kitts and Nevis. Asia: the Maldives. Africa: Seychelles.

Is Monaco smaller than Central Park?

Yes. Central Park in New York covers about 3.4 km², while Monaco is about 2 km². Vatican City would fit into Central Park more than seven times.