While most people know Vatican City is the smallest country in the world - some other tiny nations are perhaps a lot less famous. Among the world’s ten tiniest countries, five are located in Europe, two are completely surrounded by Italy and one is even smaller than Hyde Park in London. Here Express.
co.uk has pulled together a list of the ten smallest sovereign states - and there are some astonishing facts that might just pique your interest enough to venture there. Vatican City is the smallest country in the world by both size and population, located entirely within the city of Rome.
According to the 2023 census, it is home to just 764 people and spans a mere 0.17 square miles, smaller than Hyde Park. Because it has no hospitals, no one can be a citizen of the Vatican by birth, and citizenship is only granted on the grounds of working in the service of the Holy See.
Known for luxury super cars where the iconic Grand Prix snakes through the streets, Monaco stretches just 0.8 square miles. A tax haven for the rich, it also has the highest rate of billionaires per capita as of 2024.
Interestingly, most people who work in Monaco don’t actually live there. More than 30,000 French and 5,800 Italian nationals commute to Monaco to work every day. Nauru, which is the world's smallest island country and comes in third place at just 8 square miles.
While in terms of land area it's similar to Camden in London, the island northeast of Australia boasts a beautiful coral reef and white.