Many of the world 's smallest countries are independent states, some of which are barely larger than a town. Many of these states have a significant history and some even have global influence so their size says nothing about their importance. The tiniest of these is located in the middle of the Italian capital Rome, has its own post office, its own soccer team and plays a central role in world politics—all on less than half a square kilometre. From island enclaves to city-states, here are ... How small is small? For some of the world ’s countries , the answer is very, very small, even teeny tiny. Vatican City holds the title as the world ’s smallest country , with an area of just 0.17 square mile (0.44 square km). As a point of comparison, the largest country in the world , Russia, is almost 39 million times bigger. The smallest island country and third- smallest country in the world is Nauru. It is the second- smallest country in the world in terms of population after Vatican City, with a population of roughly 10,000. An overview of the 30 smallest countries by area and population: From Monaco and Vatican City to island states such as Nauru and Tuvalu.
