Top 100 smallest countries by area
Along with the big countries, there are many small independent states, and some are so tiny that they are called microstates.
The smallest one of them is the Vatican City (Holy See), it actually occupies only an old quarter with a few buildings and parks in the center of Rome (Italy). Perhaps it is the most unusual country with own government, army, diplomatic missions, but without permanent native population (the citizenship is granted only to persons who work in the Vatican and its missions abroad).
Many other countries ranked in the top 30 of our list have some common features. Most of them are European microstates or the tiny islands in the Caribbean, the South Pacific and Indian Ocean (mostly the former overseas colonies gained their independence in the second half of the 20th century). Further, in the table below you can find more known nations ranked by total area, and also see neighbors with whom they share land borders.
Note that the list includes only officially recognized independent states, and excludes dependent territories. For example, you cannot find here the Puerto Rico (it is a part of the USA), and also the Bermuda (it is the British overseas territory).
Rank | Country | Area (km2) |
Area (mi2) |
Continent | Bordering countries by land |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Vatican City | 0.44 | 0.17 | Europe | Italy |
2 | Monaco | 2.02 | 0.78 | Europe | France |
3 | Nauru | 21 | 8.1 | Oceania | - |
4 | Tuvalu | 26 | 10 | Oceania | - |
5 | San Marino | 61 | 24 | Europe | Italy |
6 | Liechtenstein | 160 | 62 | Europe | Austria, Switzerland |
7 | Marshall Islands | 181 | 70 | Oceania | - |
8 | Saint Kitts and Nevis | 269 | 104 | North America | - |
9 | Maldives | 300 | 116 | Asia | - |
10 | Malta | 316 | 122 | Europe | - |
11 | Grenada | 344 | 133 | North America | - |
12 | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 389 | 150 | North America | - |
13 | Barbados | 430 | 170 | North America | - |
14 | Antigua and Barbuda | 442 | 171 | North America | - |
15 | Seychelles | 455 | 176 | Africa | - |
16 | Palau | 460 | 178 | Oceania | - |
17 | Andorra | 468 | 181 | Europe | France, Spain |
18 | Saint Lucia | 616 | 238 | North America | - |
19 | Micronesia | 702 | 271 | Oceania | - |
20 | Singapore | 719.1 | 277.6 | Asia | - |
21 | Tonga | 747 | 288 | Oceania | - |
22 | Dominica | 751 | 290 | North America | - |
23 | Bahrain | 780 | 301 | Asia | - |
24 | Kiribati | 811 | 313 | Oceania | - |
25 | Sao Tome and Principe | 1,001 | 386 | Africa | - |
26 | Mauritius | 2,040 | 788 | Africa | - |
27 | Comoros | 2,235 | 863 | Africa | - |
28 | Luxembourg | 2,586 | 998 | Europe | Belgium, France, Germany |
29 | Samoa | 2,842 | 1,097 | Oceania | - |
30 | Cabo Verde | 4,033 | 1,557 | Africa | - |
31 | Trinidad and Tobago | 5,131 | 1,981 | North America | - |
32 | Brunei | 5,765 | 2,226 | Asia | Malaysia |
33 | Palestine | 6,220 | 2,402 | Asia | Egypt, Israel, Jordan |
34 | Cyprus | 9,250 | 3,571 | Europe | United Kingdom (Akrotiri and Dhekelia) |
35 | Lebanon | 10,452 | 4,036 | Asia | Israel, Syria |
36 | Kosovo | 10,887 | 4,203 | Europe | Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia |
37 | Jamaica | 10,991 | 4,244 | North America | - |
38 | Gambia | 11,295 | 4,361 | Africa | Senegal |
39 | Qatar | 11,586 | 4,473 | Asia | Saudi Arabia |
40 | Vanuatu | 12,189 | 4,706 | Oceania | - |
41 | Montenegro | 13,812 | 5,333 | Europe | Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Serbia |
42 | Bahamas | 13,878 | 5,358 | North America | - |
43 | Timor-Leste | 14,874 | 5,743 | Asia | Indonesia |
44 | Eswatini | 17,364 | 6,704 | Africa | Mozambique, South Africa |
45 | Kuwait | 17,818 | 6,880 | Asia | Iraq, Saudi Arabia |
46 | Fiji | 18,274 | 7,056 | Oceania | - |
47 | Slovenia | 20,273 | 7,827 | Europe | Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Italy |
48 | Israel | 20,770 | 8,019 | Asia | Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine (Gaza Strip and West Bank), Syria |
49 | El Salvador | 21,041 | 8,124 | North America | Guatemala, Honduras |
50 | Belize | 22,966 | 8,867 | North America | Guatemala, Mexico |
51 | Djibouti | 23,200 | 8,958 | Africa | Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia |
52 | North Macedonia | 25,713 | 9,928 | Europe | Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Kosovo, Serbia |
53 | Rwanda | 26,338 | 10,169 | Africa | Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Uganda |
54 | Haiti | 27,750 | 10,714 | North America | Dominican Republic |
55 | Burundi | 27,830 | 10,745 | Africa | Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Tanzania |
56 | Equatorial Guinea | 28,051 | 10,831 | Africa | Cameroon, Gabon |
57 | Albania | 28,748 | 11,100 | Europe | Greece, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro |
58 | Solomon Islands | 28,896 | 11,157 | Oceania | - |
59 | Armenia | 29,743 | 11,484 | Europe | Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Turkey |
60 | Lesotho | 30,355 | 11,720 | Africa | South Africa |
61 | Belgium | 30,528 | 11,787 | Europe | France, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands |
62 | Moldova | 33,843 | 13,067 | Europe | Romania, Ukraine |
63 | Taiwan | 36,000 | 13,900 | Asia | - |
64 | Guinea-Bissau | 36,125 | 13,948 | Africa | Guinea, Senegal |
65 | Bhutan | 38,394 | 14,824 | Asia | China, India |
66 | Switzerland | 41,285 | 15,940 | Europe | Austria, France, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany |
67 | Netherlands * | 42,199 | 16,293 | Europe | Belgium, Germany. France borders with the overseas territory of Netherlands in North America (Sint Maarten). |
68 | Estonia | 45,227 | 17,462 | Europe | Latvia, Russia |
69 | Dominican Republic | 48,670 | 18,792 | North America | Haiti |
70 | Slovakia | 49,036 | 18,933 | Europe | Austria, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Ukraine |
71 | Costa Rica | 51,100 | 19,730 | North America | Nicaragua, Panama |
72 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 51,209 | 19,772 | Europe | Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia |
73 | Croatia | 56,594 | 21,851 | Europe | Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia |
74 | Togo | 56,785 | 21,925 | Africa | Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana |
75 | Latvia | 64,589 | 24,938 | Europe | Belarus, Estonia, Lithuania, Russia |
76 | Lithuania | 65,300 | 25,212 | Europe | Belarus, Latvia, Poland, Russia (Kaliningrad Oblast) |
77 | Sri Lanka | 65,610 | 25,332 | Asia | - |
78 | Georgia | 69,700 | 26,911 | Asia / Europe | Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Turkey |
79 | Ireland | 70,282 | 27,136 | Europe | United Kingdom |
80 | Sierra Leone | 71,740 | 27,699 | Africa | Guinea, Liberia |
81 | Panama | 75,420 | 29,120 | North America | Colombia, Costa Rica |
82 | Serbia | 77,474 | 29,913 | Europe | Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania |
83 | Czechia | 78,867 | 30,451 | Europe | Austria, Germany, Poland, Slovakia |
84 | United Arab Emirates | 83,600 | 32,278 | Asia | Oman, Saudi Arabia |
85 | Austria | 83,879 | 32,386 | Europe | Czechia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Liechtenstein, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland |
86 | Azerbaijan | 86,600 | 33,436 | Asia / Europe | Armenia, Georgia, Iran, Russia, Turkey |
87 | Jordan | 89,342 | 34,495 | Asia | Iraq, Israel, Palestine (West Bank), Saudi Arabia, Syria |
88 | Portugal | 92,220 | 35,606 | Europe | Spain |
89 | Hungary | 93,028 | 35,918 | Europe | Austria, Croatia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine |
90 | South Korea | 100,266 | 38,713 | Asia | North Korea |
91 | Iceland | 103,000 | 38,768 | Europe | - |
92 | Guatemala | 108,889 | 42,042 | North America | Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico |
93 | Cuba | 109,880 | 42,425 | North America | - |
94 | Bulgaria | 110,879 | 42,811 | Europe | Greece, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Turkey |
95 | Liberia | 111,369 | 43,000 | Africa | Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, Sierra Leone |
96 | Honduras | 112,090 | 43,278 | North America | El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragu |
97 | Benin | 114,763 | 44,310 | Africa | Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Togo |
98 | Eritrea | 117,600 | 45,406 | Africa | Djibouti, Ethiopia, Sudan |
99 | Malawi | 118,484 | 45,747 | Africa | Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia |
100 | North Korea | 120,540 | 46,541 | Asia | China, South Korea, Russia |
* Including overseas territories.