A microstate or ministate is a sovereign state having a very small population or very small land area, but usually both. Some examples include: Nauru, Singapore, Liechtenstein, Monaco, and Vatican City.
The smallest fully sovereign microstate is Vatican City, with 911 citizens as of July 2003 and an area of only 0.44 km²[1]. In Rome, Italy, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM) (not to be confused with Malta, an island microstate in the Mediterranean) is an effectively non-territorial sovereign entity that might also be considered to be a microstate; its sovereignty is recognized by 105 states, 100 of which have entered into full diplomatic relations,[2] but unlike the Vatican City state, it has no substantive territorial base (the SMOM's only property, its headquarters buildings, holds extraterritorial status, similar to an embassy building). Neither the Vatican nor SMOM are members of the United Nations, although both have permanent observer status at the UN: Vatican City is a "non-member state" under the name of the atypical international entity of the Holy See, SMOM is an "other entity".
Microstates should not be confused with micronations, which are not recognized as sovereign states. Special territories without full sovereignty, such as the Channel Islands, are not considered microstates either.
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Sovereign states with a non-sea area less than 1,000 km2 (386 sq mi).[3][4]
| Rank | Country / Territory | Area (km²/sqmi) | Region |
| 1 |  Vatican City |
0.44 km2 (0 sq mi) | Europe |
| 2 |  Monaco |
1.95 km2 (1 sq mi) | Europe |
| 3 |  Nauru |
21 km2 (8 sq mi) | Oceania |
| 4 |  Tuvalu |
26 km2 (10 sq mi) | Oceania |
| 5 |  San Marino |
61 km2 (24 sq mi) | Europe |
| 6 |  Liechtenstein |
164 km2 (63 sq mi) | Europe |
| 7 |  Marshall
Islands |
181 km2 (70 sq mi) | Oceania |
| 8 |  Saint
Kitts and Nevis |
261 km2 (101 sq mi) | Caribbean |
| 9 |  Maldives |
298 km2 (115 sq mi) | Asia - Indian Ocean |
| 10 |  Malta |
316 km2 (122 sq mi) | Europe - Mediterranean Sea |
| 11 |  Grenada |
344 km2 (133 sq mi) | Caribbean |
| 12 |  Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines |
388 km2 (150 sq mi) | Caribbean |
| 13 |  Barbados |
430 km2 (166 sq mi) | Caribbean |
| 14 |  Antigua and
Barbuda |
442 km2 (171 sq mi) | Caribbean |
| 15 |  Seychelles |
455 km2 (176 sq mi) | Africa - Indian Ocean |
| 16 |  Palau |
459 km2 (177 sq mi) | Oceania |
| 17 |  Andorra |
468 km2 (181 sq mi) | Europe |
| 18 |  Saint Lucia |
539 km2 (208 sq mi) | Caribbean |
| 19 |  Bahrain |
694 km2 (268 sq mi) | Asia - Persian Gulf |
| 20 |  Singapore |
700 km2 (270 sq mi) | Asia |
| 21 |  Federated States of
Micronesia |
702 km2 (271 sq mi) | Oceania |
| 22 |  Kiribati |
726 km2 (280 sq mi) | Oceania |
| 23 |  Tonga |
747 km2 (288 sq mi) | Oceania |
| 24 |  Dominica |
751 km2 (290 sq mi) | Caribbean |
| 25 |  São Tomé and Príncipe |
964 km2 (372 sq mi) | Africa |
| Rank | Country/territory/entity | Population | Date | % of world population | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vatican City |
900 | 0.00001% | UN estimate | |
| 2 | Nauru |
10,000 | 0.0001% | UN estimate | |
| 3 | Tuvalu |
11,000 | 0.0002% | UN estimate | |
| 4 | Palau |
20,000 | 0.0003% | UN estimate | |
| 5 | San Marino |
31,000 | 0.0005% | UN estimate | |
| 6 | Monaco |
33,000 | 0.0005% |
UN estimate |
|
| 7 | Liechtenstein |
35,365 | December 31, 2007 | 0.0005% | Statistik Liechtenstein |
| 8 | Saint
Kitts and Nevis |
50,000 | 0.001% | UN estimate | |
| 9 | Marshall
Islands |
59,000 | 0.001% | UN estimate | |
| 10 | Dominica |
67,000 | 0.001% | UN estimate | |
| 11 | Andorra |
84,484 | 2008 | 0.001% | Andorra Departament d'Estadística |
| 12 | Antigua and
Barbuda |
85,000 | 0.001% | UN estimate | |
| 13 | Seychelles |
87,000 | 0.001% | UN estimate | |
| 14 | Kiribati |
95,000 | 0.001% | UN estimate | |
| 15 | Tonga |
100,000 | 0.001% | UN estimate | |
| 16 | Grenada |
106,000 | 0.002% | UN estimate | |
| 17 | Federated States of
Micronesia |
111,000 | 0.002% | UN estimate | |
| 18 | Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines |
120,000 | 0.002% | UN estimate | |
| 19 | São Tomé and Príncipe |
158,000 | 0.002% | UN estimate | |
| 20 | Saint Lucia |
165,000 | 0.002% | UN estimate | |
| 21 |  Samoa |
188,540 | 2008 | 0.003% | Samoa Statistics Department |
| 22 |  Vanuatu |
226,000 | 0.003% | UN estimate | |
| 23 |  Belize |
288,000 | 0.004% | UN estimate | |
| 24 | Barbados |
294,000 | 0.004% | UN estimate | |
| 25 | Maldives |
306,000 | 0.005% | UN estimate | |
| 26 |  Iceland |
316,252 | April 1, 2008 | 0.005% | Hagstofa Íslands |
| 27 |  Bahamas |
331,000 | 0.005% | UN estimate | |
| 28 |  Brunei |
390,000 | 0.006% | UN estimate | |
| 29 | Malta |
407,000 | 0.006% | UN estimate | |
| 30 |  Suriname |
458,000 | 0.007% | UN estimate | |
| 31 |  Luxembourg |
483,800 | January 1, 2008 | 0.007% | Le portail des statistiques du Luxenbourg |
A small number of microstates are founded on historical anomalies or eccentric interpretations of law. These types of microstates are usually located on small (usually disputed) territorial enclaves, generate limited economic activity founded on tourism and philatelic and numismatic sales, and are tolerated or ignored by the nations from which they claim to have seceded.
One example is the Republic of Indian Stream, now the town of Pittsburg, New Hampshire — A geographic anomaly left unresolved by Treaty of Paris that ended the U.S. Revolutionary War, and claimed by both the U.S. and Canada. Between 1832 and 1835, the area's residents refused to acknowledge either claimant.
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