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Microstate

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A microstate[1] or ministate is a country that is very small in size, or has very little amounts of people living in it. Usually, both cases are true. However, there are no set definitions of the terms "state" and "very small".[2]

The world's smallest countries by area and population

Some examples that are usually called microstates include Andorra, Bahamas, Comoros, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Fiji, Guyana, Iceland, Kiribati, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Nauru, Palau, San Marino, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Western Sahara. The smallest state in the world is Sealand, in the U.K.

In addition, Greenland has been included here for its possible wishes or chances of independence. Bougainville is also there for the same reason.

The microstates in Europe

Criteria

[change | change source]

This is a criteria table to make sure that other countries are connected to its smallness.

Generally speaking, only a few countries of the world are so small, remote or lack a few resources that someone else uses these for even part of this year. These countries are tiny Islands, tiny landlocked countries, city states and sparsely populated countries.

In function of area In function of population
Less than 6000 km22 34 countries Less than 1,000,0002 54 countries[3]
Less than 1000 km22 26 countries Less than 500,0002 35 countries[3]
Less than 500 km22 19 countries Less than 100,0002 22 countries[3]

The origin of the word "microstate" is Europe, specially in Andorra, Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City. Countries like Cyprus, Djibouti, Guyana, Iceland and Suriname are also microstates because their populations are so small. However, the qualifier for this is having an area of less than 6000 km² or a population of less than 1 000 000 people.

List of microstates

[change | change source]

This is a table of all microstates according to the current CIA Factbook. In addition, states with limited recognition are included.

Country Area (km2 or sq mi)[4] Population[5] Capital Continent Subregion
  Vatican City 0.5 km2 (0.19 sq mi) 1,000 Vatican City Europe Southern Europe
 Monaco 2 km2 (0.77 sq mi) 31,597 Monaco City Europe Western Europe
 Nauru 21 km2 (8.1 sq mi) 9,852 Yaren Oceania Micronesia
 Tuvalu 26 km2 (10 sq mi) 11,639 Funafuti Oceania Polynesia
 San Marino 61 km2 (24 sq mi) 34,892 San Marino Europe Southern Europe
 Liechtenstein 160 km2 (62 sq mi) 39,993 Vaduz Europe Western Europe
 Marshall Islands 181 km2 (70 sq mi) 80,966 Majuro Oceania Micronesia
 Cook Islands 236 km2 (91 sq mi) 7,939 Avarua Oceania Polynesia
 Niue 260 km2 (100 sq mi) 2,000 Alofi Oceania Polynesia
 Saint Kitts and Nevis 261 km2 (101 sq mi) 54,817 Basseterre Americas Caribbean
 Maldives 298 km2 (115 sq mi) 389,568 Malé Asia Southern Asia
 Malta 316 km2 (122 sq mi) 467,138 Valleta Europe Southern Europe
 Grenada 344 km2 (133 sq mi) 114,299 St George's Americas Caribbean
 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 389 km2 (150 sq mi) 100,804 Kingstown Americas Caribbean
 Barbados 430 km2 (170 sq mi) 303,831 Bridgetown Americas Caribbean
 Antigua and Barbuda 442 km2 (171 sq mi) 101,489 St John's Americas Caribbean
 Seychelles 455 km2 (176 sq mi) 97,617 Victoria Africa Eastern Africa
 Palau 459 km2 (177 sq mi) 21,779 Ngerulmud Oceania Micronesia
 Andorra 468 km2 (181 sq mi) 85,468 Andorra la Vella Europe Southern Europe
 Saint Lucia 618 km2 (239 sq mi) 167,591 Castries Americas Caribbean
 Federated States of Micronesia 702 km2 (271 sq mi) 100,319 Palikir Oceania Micronesia
 Singapore 716 km2 (276 sq mi) 5,975,383 Singapore Asia Southeast Asia
 Tonga 747 km2 (288 sq mi) 105,221 Nuku'alofa Oceania Polynesia
 Dominica 751 km2 (290 sq mi) 74,656 Roseau Americas Caribbean
 Bahrain 761 km2 (294 sq mi) 1,553,886 Manama Asia Western Asia
 Kiribati 811 km2 (313 sq mi) 115,372 South Tarawa Oceania Micronesia
 São Tomé and Príncipe 1,001 km2 (386 sq mi) 220,372 São Tomé Africa Central Africa
 Comoros 1,861 km2 (719 sq mi) 888,378 Moroni Africa Eastern Africa
 Mauritius 2,040 km2 (790 sq mi) 1,309,448 Port Louis Africa Eastern Africa
 Luxembourg 2,586 km2 (998 sq mi) 660,924 Luxembourg City Europe Western Europe
 Samoa 2,831 km2 (1,093 sq mi) 207,501 Apia Oceania Polynesia
 Artsakh 3,101 km2 (1,197 sq mi) 156,300 Stepanakert Asia Western Asia
 Northern Cyprus 3,351 km2 (1,294 sq mi) 356,262 North Nicosia Europe Southern Europe
 South Ossetia 3,900 km2 (1,500 sq mi) 63,118 Tskhinvali Asia Western Asia
 Cape Verde 4,033 km2 (1,557 sq mi) 603,901 Praia Africa Western Africa
 Transnistria 4,152 km2 (1,603 sq mi) 531,365 Tiraspol Europe Eastern Europe
 Trinidad and Tobago 5,128 km2 (1,980 sq mi) 1,409,460 Port of Spain Americas Caribbean
 Brunei 5,765 km2 (2,226 sq mi) 484,991 Bandar Seri Begawan Asia Southeast Asia
 Cyprus 5,900 km2 (2,300 sq mi) 962,232 Nicosia Europe Southern Europe
 Abkhazia 8,660 km2 (3,340 sq mi) 259,323 Sukhumi Asia Western Asia
 Bougainville[6] 9,500 km2 (3,700 sq mi) 310,013 Tendoo Oceania Melanesia
 Vanuatu 12,189 km2 (4,706 sq mi) 313,046 Port Vila Oceania Melanesia
 Montenegro 13,812 km2 (5,333 sq mi) 602,445 Podgorica Europe Southern Europe
 Bahamas 13,880 km2 (5,360 sq mi) 358,508 Nassau Americas Caribbean
 Fiji 18,274 km2 (7,056 sq mi) 947,760 Suva Oceania Melanesia
 Belize 22,966 km2 (8,867 sq mi) 419,137 Belmopan Americas Central America
 Djibouti 23,200 km2 (9,000 sq mi) 976,143 Djibouti City Africa Eastern Africa
 Solomon Islands 28,896 km2 (11,157 sq mi) 714,766 Honiara Oceania Melanesia
 Bhutan 38,394 km2 (14,824 sq mi) 876,181 Thimphu Asia Southern Asia
 Iceland 103,000 km2 (40,000 sq mi) 360,872 Reykjavík Europe Northern Europe
 Suriname 163,820 km2 (63,250 sq mi) 639,759 Paramaribo Americas South America
 Guyana 214,969 km2 (83,000 sq mi) 791,739 Georgetown Americas South America
 Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic 266,000 km2 (103,000 sq mi) 646,191 Laayoune Africa Northern Africa
 Greenland[7] 2,166,086 km2 (836,330 sq mi) 57,777 Nuuk Americas North America

References

[change | change source]
  1. Microstate, Demography of
  2. Warrington, E. (1994). "Lilliputs Revisited". Asian Journal of Public Administration, 16(1).
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Including Bougainville and Greenland
  4. CIA - The World Factbook
  5. CIA - The World Factbook
  6. 95% of the population voted for independence.
  7. Greenland effort 95% of autonomy and started a referendum for independence from Denmark.