# The Smallest Country in the World **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 22, 2003, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smallest-country-in-the-world/163450 "2003-03-22T23:57:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Amy03](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9d8465/32.png) [@Amy03](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amy03)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smallest-country-in-the-world/163450/21 "2003-03-23T19:29:08Z")
Wow, thanks. That was a lot more information than I was expecting. =) ---
**Author:** ![thelogicalnextbigthingis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3da27b/32.png) [@thelogicalnextbigthingis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelogicalnextbigthingis)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smallest-country-in-the-world/163450/22 "2003-03-23T21:42:54Z")
Many of the smallest countries were inside the US. [Independent Governments](http://www.buckyogi.addr.com/footnotes/usmap.htm) And [Atlas of Forgotton Nations](http://www.buckyogi.addr.com/footnotes/atlas.htm) ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smallest-country-in-the-world/163450/23 "2003-03-23T22:20:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by clairobscur \* > There could be some contenders amongst the small independant islands in the Pacific… There certainly are. The next smallest countries after Vatican City and Monaco are Tuvalu, Nauru, San Marino, Liechtenstein, and Marshall Islands, in that order. Those are all the countries of less than 100 sq miles (~ 250 sq km) in area. Andorra is way down the list at 15th smallest. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smallest-country-in-the-world/163450/24 "2003-03-23T23:21:50Z")
Quoth **Barking Dog** : > [@](#): > > On another note, how does one become a country? Is it possible to pick some uninhabited atoll out in the Pacific, plant a flag and declare yours’elf a country? Or something to that effect. That’s all that _you_ have to do, but the harder part is getting other countries to recognize you. There’s no such thing as an **absolute** standard of sovreignity (there are probably countries which don’t recognize the United States), but the more countries recognize you, the stronger your claim is. When you get to cases like Sealand and the Conch Republic, nobody (or almost nobody) recognizes their claims, but nobody really cares enough to actually do anything about it, either. Incidentally, do Sealand and the Conch Republic officially recognize each other? ---
**Author:** ![Blackeyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f6c823/32.png) [@Blackeyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackeyes)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2003, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smallest-country-in-the-world/163450/25 "2003-03-24T02:06:19Z")
There’s the [Hutt River Province](http://www.snopes.com/legal/prince.htm) of Australia. The man who invented the Segway owns an island off of Connecticut called North Dumpling. He signed a mutal nonaggression pact with President Bush the Elder. ---
**Author:** ![chiefgnome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@chiefgnome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiefgnome)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2003, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smallest-country-in-the-world/163450/26 "2003-03-24T10:32:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Barking Dog \* > \*\* > On another note, how does one become a country? Is it possible to pick some uninhabited atoll out in the Pacific, plant a flag and declare yours’elf a country? Or something to that effect. > \*\* It’s been tried - a chap called Michael Oliver found a coral atol in the Pacific that was just below sea level, so he built it up so it was above sea level then declared it the Republic of Minerva. Only one country recognised it as an independent state - Tonga - who promptly invaded and annexed it. The moral is, if you want to set up your own island state, get yourself an army. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2003, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smallest-country-in-the-world/163450/27 "2003-03-24T10:58:10Z")
[Cecil says that Malta thing is a country…](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_300.html) ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2003, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smallest-country-in-the-world/163450/28 "2003-03-24T15:38:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by clairobscur \* > Nope. They’re members of the Swiss guard of the Vatican (hence, are Swiss citizens, as their name implies). And by the way, apart from having guard duties at the gates dressed “like clowns”, they also have actual security duties, are trained soldiers and have much more lethal weapons than halberds and knives at their disposal. Further to **clairobscur’s** information, it seemed to me whan I visited Vatican City, that the gaudily-dressed Swiss Guards in their Renaissance uniforms (the ones that make them look like circus clowns) were mostly there for tradition’s sake, and for the tourists to photograph. The _real_ guarding was done by Swiss Guards who were not in such prominent positions, but were still visible, making their rounds. If I recall correctly, they were dressed in modern police uniforms, each armed with what looked like a semi-automatic pistol (9mm Glock?) in a holster, and a few were carrying some kind of machine gun (Ingram or Uzi, that sort of shape). A little more than just knives, in other words. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smallest-country-in-the-world/163450/29 "2003-03-25T00:45:46Z")
But you know, for crowd control, a halberd isn’t so bad. And, I’d guess that since it has territory-eventho small- citizens- and is recgonized by quite a few nations, SMOM really is a country. Now another aspect- which is the smallest 100% independent nation? Monaco, the Vatican, and others are really “semi-autonomous”. I’d say Luxemburg? What’s the smallest in the UN? Tuvalu? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smallest-country-in-the-world/163450.md?page=1)