Gadling http://www.gadling.com Gadling http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/%SiteURL%/media/feedlogo.gif Gadling http://www.gadling.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[The 10 smallest countries in the world]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/02/01/the-10-smallest-countries-in-the-world/http://www.gadling.com/2012/02/01/the-10-smallest-countries-in-the-world/http://www.gadling.com/2012/02/01/the-10-smallest-countries-in-the-world/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

ten smallest countries in the world

The world's ten smallest countries in terms of area fall into two general categories: European microstates (Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, San Marino, and the Vatican) and small island nations of the Indian Ocean, Pacific, and Caribbean (Maldives, Marshall Islands, Nauru, St. Kitts and Nevis, and Tuvalu.) Some of these countries are quite new as independent nations: Tuvalu gained independence from the UK in 1978, while the Marshall Islands gained full independence from the US in 1986. Others have been around for a very long time. San Marino dates its founding as a republic to 301. These countries vary greatly from one another along other axes as well: population, income, life expectancy, industry, tourist facilities, and membership in various international organizations.

Gallery: World's ten smallest countries

TuvaluLiechtensteinMaldivesMaltaNevis


[Image of Tuvalu: Flickr | leighblackall]

The 10 smallest countries in the world originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Liechtensteinmaldivesmaltamarshall islandsMarshallIslandsmonaconauruSan marinoSanMarinost kitts and nevisStKittsAndNevisten smallest countries in the worldTenSmallestCountriesInTheWorldtuvaluvatican cityVaticanCityWed, 01 Feb 2012 11:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Little Countries, Big World: Gadling's pint-sized guide to the world's smallest countries]]>http://www.gadling.com/2009/11/13/little-country-big-world-gadlings-pint-sized-guide-to-the/http://www.gadling.com/2009/11/13/little-country-big-world-gadlings-pint-sized-guide-to-the/http://www.gadling.com/2009/11/13/little-country-big-world-gadlings-pint-sized-guide-to-the/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

I'm not sure what it is about small countries that makes me so interested in them. Maybe it's the fact that they seem so manageable, so knowable. I could spend the next five years in, say, China, and still feel like I hadn't seen a fraction of what it has to offer. But in some of my favorite smaller countries-- Ecuador, Guatemala, the Czech Republic-- I've always felt like I have a fighting chance.

As for the countries below, the world's five smallest, you could get to know most of them pretty well in an afternoon. Here's a quick 'n dirty guide that proves that size, as the old adage goes, is not everything...

Vatican City

In a nutshell: The world's smallest sovereign state at just under two-tenths of a square mile, Vatican City is headquarters of the Catholic Church and home to the Pope. The Vatican, an enclave within the city of Rome, features the magnificent Sistine Chapel, famous for its Michelangelo-painted ceiling, as well as St. Peter's Basilica, the world's biggest Christian church.

Turn-ons: Carpenters from Nazareth, piety, extolling the Christian virtues of humility and simplicity in the midst of unparalleled opulence

Turn-offs: Prostitution, drugs, promiscuity, and just about anything else fun

Interesting factoid: The College of Cardinals has never made it to an NCAA Tournament.

Continue reading Little Countries, Big World: Gadling's pint-sized guide to the world's smallest countries

Little Countries, Big World: Gadling's pint-sized guide to the world's smallest countries originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>micronationmicrostatemonaconaurusan marinoSanMarinost petersStPeterstuvaluvatican cityVaticanCityFri, 13 Nov 2009 10:30:00 EST<![CDATA[A country you've never heard of (continued)]]>http://www.gadling.com/2007/12/31/a-country-youve-never-heard-of-continued/http://www.gadling.com/2007/12/31/a-country-youve-never-heard-of-continued/http://www.gadling.com/2007/12/31/a-country-youve-never-heard-of-continued/#commentsFiled under:

Here's a bit more about Nauru, the third smallest country in the world, for readers who were intrigued by my post from last week on it.

Curiously, there are plenty of immigrants who've made it to Nauru (of all places!). Australians work as doctors and engineers, the Chinese run the restaurants and shops, and Polynesian immigrants hold the rest of the jobs. In total, 4,000 out of the 12,000 inhabitants are foreigners. That was fine when phosphate paid the locals' bills. But now nine in ten natives are overweight and unemployed. One in two has diabetes. And one in three kids have never received any schooling; those who do well in academics inevitably leave the country. Perhaps it's no wonder that the most popular event of the past few years was a "Big is Beautiful" beauty pageant. Aside from that, the most popular pastime seems to be driving around the island's eleven miles of roads drinking beers.

Ironically, when a British captain discovered the place in 1798, he named it "Pleasant Island". Over the next 150 years, Westerners decimated the local population through disease, civil war (they gave firearms to the twelve local clans and encouraged them to kill each other), colonization, and of course, phosphate mining. By the end of World War II, there were only 600 Nauruans left and two-thirds of the phosphate was already gone. But with independence in 1968, the government lavished money on everyone, along with luxuries like three television channels, a golf course, and free health care. In the 1990s, all that disappeared along with the phosphate.

But there's also plenty of rich history here, in particular, the legacy of environmental exploitation and how that has led to their plight today. While their neighbors have adjusted to globalization, Nauruans are still trying to make something out of their eight-square-mile speck of land.

A country you've never heard of (continued) originally appeared on Gadling on Mon, 31 Dec 2007 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>environmentpleasant islandPleasantIslandpolynesiansMon, 31 Dec 2007 17:00:00 EST<![CDATA[GADLING TAKE FIVE: Week of December 22-28]]>http://www.gadling.com/2007/12/28/gadling-take-five-week-of-december-22-28/http://www.gadling.com/2007/12/28/gadling-take-five-week-of-december-22-28/http://www.gadling.com/2007/12/28/gadling-take-five-week-of-december-22-28/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

Because Catherine is stuck at the Dallas Airport right now trying to get back to Alaska, I'm bringing you this week's GADLING TAKE FIVE. Stay-tuned for Catherine's tales of her holiday travels. In the meantime, here's what happened this week in the midst of holiday mayhem.

Seriously, it's very hard to choose from what's written each week so I'm turning to the numbers game. For starters, here are the three posts that have been forwarded the most.

Aaron's post "Are you smarter than a two-year-old" is one that can wow you or make you feel terrible that your geography skills are worse than a toddler's. This toddler is also getting her 15 minutes of fame and more as she makes the TV circuit showing off her skills.

Grant's "Christmas in Saigon" is one indication of how cultural traditions travel and that sometimes when a culture takes on another culture's trait (Santa hats) it goes even further with it. I've seen the Santas on the motorcycles that Grant refers to. The man knows what he's taking about.

Abha's "Don't miss the sky this christmas" gives reasons why it's good to look up this time of year. The winter sky is perfect for star gazing. Christmas Eve may have been a perfect night, but there are still plenty of others.

Also this week, Neil's must -read series on traveling in North Korea ended with his post, "Infiltrating North Korea Part 19: A Final Word." If you haven't read the series, click here to read it from the beginning.

As a series of sorts to follow, Jerry is embarking on a look at Nauru, a country you may not have heard of. Obviously, it's one of the world's smallest. His post appropriately named "A country you've never heard of" is the only posting so far, but I assure you there are others in the line-up.

GADLING TAKE FIVE: Week of December 22-28 originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 28 Dec 2007 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>astronomyGadling Take FiveGadlingTakeFiveHo Chi Minh CityHoChiMinhCitySaigonFri, 28 Dec 2007 17:30:00 EST<![CDATA[A country you've never heard of]]>http://www.gadling.com/2007/12/28/a-country-youve-never-heard-of/http://www.gadling.com/2007/12/28/a-country-youve-never-heard-of/http://www.gadling.com/2007/12/28/a-country-youve-never-heard-of/#commentsFiled under: ,

Would you guys want to read a magazine article about this destination? It's a place that I definitely want to make it to in my life-time and write about. Unfortunately a few years ago someone beat me to it, in the pages of the New York Times Magazine.

Anyways, for a brief moment in the 1970s, Nauruans were the second richest people in the world. That's quite a feat considering their island is roughly the size of downtown Manhattan (it's the third smallest country after Vatican City and Monaco). For over a century, 95% of their economy depended on a single export: phosphate, a key ingredient in fertilizer. While other South Pacific nations have found their niche, such as Fiji and its successful tourism industry, now that the phosphate's gone, Nauru is floundering in the sea. The country has become a modern-day Easter Island-a cautionary story highlighting the consequences of environmental exploitation taken to an extreme.

Nauru has recently marketed itself as an anything-goes offshore banking destination and as a satellite penal colony for Australia. For $25,000, you can set up your own bank; Russian gangsters laundered $70 million in one year alone. Other substitutes for strip-mining include selling passports and recognizing Taiwan, for which they receive $13 million a year. But by far their most lucrative cash cow has been holding Australian asylum-seekers, for which they've been paid $100 million since 2001. The detention camp currently holds 82 Sri Lankans, none of whom can leave the premises because of a recent alleged rape.

If for nothing else, I'm intrigued here by the cultural experience of growing up in a country of that size. If you're intrigued, tune in next week and I'll post some more.

A country you've never heard of originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 28 Dec 2007 05:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>environmentsmallest countriesSmallestCountriesFri, 28 Dec 2007 05:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The 5 Smallest Countries in the World]]>http://www.gadling.com/2007/01/25/the-5-smallest-countries-in-the-world/http://www.gadling.com/2007/01/25/the-5-smallest-countries-in-the-world/http://www.gadling.com/2007/01/25/the-5-smallest-countries-in-the-world/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

Traveling through Europe as a teenager, we made a stopover in Liechtenstein, a small, landlocked principality nestled between Switzerland and Austria. Crossing the border, I remember thinking to myself, "wow, this country has a lot of letters in its name. I'm hungry." And so we found a place to eat, but then I realized that all of Liechtenstein was less than 70 square miles! I couldn't believe it. I lived in Texas at the time, which was roughly 4,000 times larger, and it was only a state! This was an entire country, and I could probably run from one side to another in a few hours! Insane.

I was sad to find out, then, that Liechtenstein didn't even make the cut in the "5 Smallest Countries in the World" profile by Neatorama.com. What a bummer. Here are the countries that did make the list:
  1. Vatican City - 0.17 square miles
  2. Monaco - 0.8 square miles
  3. Nauru - 8 square miles
  4. Tuvalu - 9 square miles
  5. San Marino - 24 square miles
Liechtenstein comes in sixth. Sixth. So close. If I would have visited any of these on that trip, my head probably would have exploded for the shear novelty of being in such a small country. What can I say? I'm easily amused.

The 5 Smallest Countries in the World originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 25 Jan 2007 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Thu, 25 Jan 2007 10:40:00 EST<![CDATA[Our Plastic Seas and Nauru]]>http://www.gadling.com/2006/08/04/our-plastic-seas-and-nauru/http://www.gadling.com/2006/08/04/our-plastic-seas-and-nauru/http://www.gadling.com/2006/08/04/our-plastic-seas-and-nauru/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , ,

Neil beat me to the punch on this wonderfully bizarre article on these massive floating islands of trash in the Pacific. I saw it earlier and thought it was a marvelously morbid tale. But I'd heard something about these islands a long time ago on a great edition of This American Life, and so I thought I'd post about it. The story takes us there, to these Texas-sized mid-oceanic dumps, but the second story here is the one I also think you should hear because it is one of the best radio stories I've ever heard.

The story is by the writer Jack Hitt and tells the tale of the island of Nauru. Nauru is one of those places that is literally in the Middle of Nowhere, but even though it is far away and hardly anyone has ever heard of it, the island's story touches us all, in a way. The island was a key source of guano in the early century, when the Germans and others used the guano for phosphates in order to make gunpowder and other products. During a short spell, the island became awash in guano wealth, or guano dollars. But once bird turds were no longer used for this purpose because other synthetic and otherwise sources of phosphates were developed, the island went into serious decline.

Now it is a wasteland with yet another story attached: the story of Afghan refugees. I believe the story of the refugees has been resolved, but the way it is told here and the deeper history if Nauru just described makes this a fabulous Friday listening experience.


Our Plastic Seas and Nauru originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 04 Aug 2006 11:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>nauruFri, 04 Aug 2006 11:11:00 EST