Microstate

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Microstate

A microstate or ministate is a sovereign state

State

A state is a political Social contract with effective sovereignty over a geographic area and representing a population. These may be nation states, State or multinational states....
having a very small population or very small land area, but usually both. Some examples include Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country microstate located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. It lies 137 kilometres north of the equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands....
, Liechtenstein

Liechtenstein

The Principality of Liechtenstein is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked country alpine country microstate in Western Europe, bordered by Switzerland to the west and by Austria to the east....
, Monaco

Monaco

Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a small sovereign city-state located in South Western Europe . The territory lies on the northern coast of the Mediterranean Sea....
, and Vatican City

Vatican City

Vatican City , officially the State of the Vatican City , is a Landlocked country sovereignty city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, the Capital of Italy....
. The influence of microstates in the United Nations General Assembly

United Nations General Assembly

The United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal United Nations System and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation....
is disproportionately large due to the one state, one vote rule.

The smallest fully sovereign microstate is Vatican City

Vatican City

Vatican City , officially the State of the Vatican City , is a Landlocked country sovereignty city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, the Capital of Italy....
, with 911 citizens as of July 2003 and an area of only 0.44 km².

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Encyclopedia

A microstate or ministate is a sovereign state

State

Singapore

Liechtenstein

Monaco

Vatican City

United Nations General Assembly

Vatican City

Vatican City , officially the State of the Vatican City , is a Landlocked country sovereignty city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, the Capital of Italy....
, with 911 citizens as of July 2003 and an area of only 0.44 km². In Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM) (not to be confused with Malta

Malta

Malta , officially the Republic of Malta , is a densely populated developed country European microstates microstate in the European Union....
, an island microstate in the Mediterranean) is an effectively non-territorial sovereign entity that might also be considered to be a microstate; its sovereignty

Sovereignty

File:Leviathan gr.jpgSovereignty is the exclusive right to control a government, a State, a people, or oneself. A sovereign is a supreme lawmaking authority....
is recognized by 105 states, 100 of which have entered into full diplomatic relations, but unlike the Vatican City

Vatican City

Vatican City , officially the State of the Vatican City , is a Landlocked country sovereignty city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, the Capital of Italy....
state, it has no substantive territorial base (the SMOM's only property, its headquarters buildings, holds extraterritorial status

Extraterritoriality

Extraterritoriality is the state of being exempt from the jurisdiction of local law, usually as the result of diplomatic negotiations. Extraterritoriality can also be applied to physical places, such as embassy, consulates, or military bases of foreign countries, or offices of the United Nations....
, similar to an embassy building). Neither the Vatican nor SMOM are members of the United Nations, although both have permanent observer status

United Nations General Assembly observers

In addition to the current United Nations member states, the United Nations welcomes many international agencies, entities, and one non-member state as observers....
at the UN: Vatican City is a "non-member state", SMOM is an "other entity".

Microstates should not be confused with micronation

Micronation

Micronations — sometimes also referred to as model countries and new country projects — are entities that resemble independent nations or states but which are unrecognized by world governments or major international organisations....
s, which are not recognized as sovereign states. Special territories without full sovereignty, such as the Channel Islands

Channel Islands

The Channel Islands are a group of islands in the English Channel, off the France coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey....
, are not considered microstates either.

List of sovereign nations with an area less than 1000 km²

Sovereign states with an area less than 1000 km².

Rank	Country / Territory	Area (km²)	Location
1	Vatican City Vatican City Vatican City , officially the State of the Vatican City , is a Landlocked country sovereignty city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, the Capital of Italy....	0.44	Southern Europe Southern Europe The term *Southern Europe*, at its most general definition, is used to mean 'all countries in the south of Europe'. However, the concept, at different times, has had different meanings, providing additional Policy, Linguistics and Culture context to the definition in addition to the typical Geography, Phytogeography or Clime approach....
2	Monaco Monaco Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a small sovereign city-state located in South Western Europe . The territory lies on the northern coast of the Mediterranean Sea....	1.95	Southern Europe Southern Europe The term *Southern Europe*, at its most general definition, is used to mean 'all countries in the south of Europe'. However, the concept, at different times, has had different meanings, providing additional Policy, Linguistics and Culture context to the definition in addition to the typical Geography, Phytogeography or Clime approach....
3	Nauru Nauru Nauru , officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island nation in the Micronesian Pacific Ocean....	21	Oceania Oceania Oceania is a geography, often geopolitics, region consisting of numerous lands—mostly islands in the Pacific Ocean and vicinity. The term "Oceania" was coined in 1831 by French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville.... - Micronesia Micronesia Micronesia , from the Greek language mikros and nesos , is a subregion of Oceania, comprising hundreds of small islands in the Pacific Ocean....
4	Tuvalu Tuvalu Tuvalu , formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean midway between Hawaii and Australia....	26	Oceania Oceania Oceania is a geography, often geopolitics, region consisting of numerous lands—mostly islands in the Pacific Ocean and vicinity. The term "Oceania" was coined in 1831 by French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville.... - Polynesia Polynesia Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising a large grouping of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean....
5	San Marino San Marino The Most Serene Republic of San Marino is a country in the Apennine Mountains. It is a landlocked country Enclave and exclave, completely surrounded by Italy....	61	Southern Europe Southern Europe The term *Southern Europe*, at its most general definition, is used to mean 'all countries in the south of Europe'. However, the concept, at different times, has had different meanings, providing additional Policy, Linguistics and Culture context to the definition in addition to the typical Geography, Phytogeography or Clime approach....
6	Liechtenstein Liechtenstein The Principality of Liechtenstein is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked country alpine country microstate in Western Europe, bordered by Switzerland to the west and by Austria to the east....	164	Central Europe Central Europe Central Europe is the region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Eastern Europe and Western Europe Europe. In addition, Northern Europe, Southern Europe and Southeastern Europe may variously delimit or overlap into Central Europe....
7	Marshall Islands Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands , officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands , is a Micronesian island nation in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator....	181	Oceania Oceania Oceania is a geography, often geopolitics, region consisting of numerous lands—mostly islands in the Pacific Ocean and vicinity. The term "Oceania" was coined in 1831 by French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville.... - Micronesia Micronesia Micronesia , from the Greek language mikros and nesos , is a subregion of Oceania, comprising hundreds of small islands in the Pacific Ocean....
8	Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis The Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis , located in the Leeward Islands, is a federal two-island nation in the West Indies. It is the smallest nation in the Americas, in both List of countries by area and List of countries by population....	261	Caribbean Caribbean The Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts. The region is located southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and Northern America, east of Central America, and to the north of South America....
9	Maldives Maldives The Maldives , or Maldive Islands, officially the Republic of Maldives, is an island nation consisting of a Atolls of the Maldivess stretching south of India's Lakshadweep islands between Minicoy Island and the Chagos Archipelago, and about seven hundred kilometres south-west of Sri Lanka in the Laccadive Sea of Indian Ocean....	298	Southern Asia - Indian Ocean Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean ....
10	Malta Malta Malta , officially the Republic of Malta , is a densely populated developed country European microstates microstate in the European Union....	316	Southern Europe Southern Europe The term *Southern Europe, at its most general definition, is used to mean 'all countries in the south of Europe'. However, the concept, at different times, has had different meanings, providing additional Policy, Linguistics and Culture context to the definition in addition to the typical Geography, Phytogeography or Clime approach.... - Mediterranean Sea Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea* is a sea or Ocean off the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by Asia....
11	Grenada Grenada Grenada is an island nation that includes the southern Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea. Grenada is located northwest of Trinidad and Tobago, northeast of Venezuela, and southwest of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines....	344	Caribbean Caribbean The Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts. The region is located southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and Northern America, east of Central America, and to the north of South America....
12	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles island arc of the Caribbean Sea. Its territory consists of the main island of Saint Vincent and the northern two-thirds of the Grenadines....	388	Caribbean Caribbean The Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts. The region is located southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and Northern America, east of Central America, and to the north of South America....
13	Barbados Barbados Barbados , situated just east of the Caribbean Sea, is an independent Continental Island-island nation in the western Atlantic Ocean. Located at roughly 13? North of the equator and 59? West of the prime meridian, it is considered a part of the Lesser Antilles....	430	Caribbean Caribbean The Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts. The region is located southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and Northern America, east of Central America, and to the north of South America....
14	Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda is an island nation located on the eastern boundary of the Caribbean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean. As its name suggests, it consists of two major islands Antigua and Barbuda as well as a number of smaller islets....	442	Caribbean Caribbean The Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts. The region is located southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and Northern America, east of Central America, and to the north of South America....
15	Seychelles Seychelles Seychelles , officially the Republic of Seychelles , is an archipelago Country of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar....	455	Indian Ocean Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean .... /Africa Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
16	Palau Palau Palau , officially the Republic of Palau , is an borderless country in the Pacific Ocean, some 500 miles east of the Philippines and 2,000 miles south of Tokyo....	459	Oceania Oceania Oceania is a geography, often geopolitics, region consisting of numerous lands—mostly islands in the Pacific Ocean and vicinity. The term "Oceania" was coined in 1831 by French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville.... - Micronesia Micronesia Micronesia , from the Greek language mikros and nesos , is a subregion of Oceania, comprising hundreds of small islands in the Pacific Ocean....
17	Andorra Andorra Andorra , officially the Principality of Andorra , also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra, is a small landlocked country in western Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France....	468	Southern Europe Southern Europe The term *Southern Europe*, at its most general definition, is used to mean 'all countries in the south of Europe'. However, the concept, at different times, has had different meanings, providing additional Policy, Linguistics and Culture context to the definition in addition to the typical Geography, Phytogeography or Clime approach....
18	Saint Lucia Saint Lucia Saint Lucia is an island nation in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the islands of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique....	539	Caribbean Caribbean The Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts. The region is located southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and Northern America, east of Central America, and to the north of South America....
19	Singapore Singapore Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country microstate located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. It lies 137 kilometres north of the equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands....	683	Southeast Asia Southeast Asia Southeast Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India and north of Australia....
20	Bahrain Bahrain The Kingdom of Bahrain, in , , literally Kingdom of the Two Seas).Bahrain is an Arabic island country in the Persian Gulf ruled by the Al Khalifa regime....	694	Asia Asia Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population.... - Persian Gulf Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, in the Southwest Asian region, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. Historically and commonly known as the Persian Gulf, this body of water is sometimes Persian Gulf naming dispute referred to as the Arabian Gulf by certain Arab countries or simply The Gulf, although nei...
21	Federated States of Micronesia Federated States of Micronesia The Federated States of Micronesia is an island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, north of Papua New Guinea. The country is a sovereign state in Associated state with the United States....	702	Oceania Oceania Oceania is a geography, often geopolitics, region consisting of numerous lands—mostly islands in the Pacific Ocean and vicinity. The term "Oceania" was coined in 1831 by French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville.... - Micronesia Micronesia Micronesia , from the Greek language mikros and nesos , is a subregion of Oceania, comprising hundreds of small islands in the Pacific Ocean....
22	Kiribati Kiribati Kiribati , officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island nation located in the central tropical Pacific Ocean. It is composed of List of islands belonging to Kiribati and one Tectonic uplift island, dispersed over 3,500,000 square kilometres, straddling the equator, and bordering the International Date Line to the east....	726	Oceania Oceania Oceania is a geography, often geopolitics, region consisting of numerous lands—mostly islands in the Pacific Ocean and vicinity. The term "Oceania" was coined in 1831 by French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville.... - Micronesia Micronesia Micronesia , from the Greek language mikros and nesos , is a subregion of Oceania, comprising hundreds of small islands in the Pacific Ocean....
23	Tonga Tonga The Kingdom of Tonga in the south Pacific Ocean comprises an archipelago of 171 islands, 48 of them inhabited, stretching over a distance of about 800 kilometres in a north-south line....	747	Oceania Oceania Oceania is a geography, often geopolitics, region consisting of numerous lands—mostly islands in the Pacific Ocean and vicinity. The term "Oceania" was coined in 1831 by French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville.... - Polynesia Polynesia Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising a large grouping of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean....
24	Dominica Dominica The Commonwealth of Dominica, commonly known as Dominica, is an island nation in the Caribbean Sea. To the north/northwest lies Guadeloupe, to the southeast Martinique....	751	Caribbean Caribbean The Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts. The region is located southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and Northern America, east of Central America, and to the north of South America....
25	São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe S?o Tom? and Pr?ncipe, officially the Democratic Republic of S?o Tom? and Pr?ncipe, is a Portuguese-speaking island nation in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Africa....	964	Central Africa Central Africa Central Africa is a core region of the African continent often considered to include Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda....

List of sovereign nations with fewer than one million people

Rank	Country/territory/entity	Population	Date	% of world population	Source
41		855,000		%	UN estimate
40		841,000		%	UN estimate
39		833,000		%	UN estimate
38		827,900	2007	%
37		738,000		%	UN estimate
36		682,000	July 2007	%
35		620,000		%	UN estimate
34		530,000		%	UN estimate
33		507,000		%	UN estimate
32		506,992		%
31		483,800	January 1, 2008	%
30		458,000		%	UN estimate
29		407,000		%	UN estimate
28		390,000		%	UN estimate
27		331,000		%	UN estimate
26		316,252	April 1, 2008	%
25		306,000		%	UN estimate
24		294,000		%	UN estimate
23		288,000		%	UN estimate
22		226,000		%	UN estimate
21		188,540	2008	%
20		165,000		%	UN estimate
19		158,000		%	UN estimate
18		120,000		%	UN estimate
17		111,000		%	UN estimate
16		106,000		%	UN estimate
15		100,000		%	UN estimate
14		95,000		%	UN estimate
13		87,000		%	UN estimate
12		85,000		%	UN estimate
11		83,137	December 31, 2007	%
10		67,000		%	UN estimate
9		59,000		%	UN estimate
8		50,000		%	UN estimate
7		35,365	December 31, 2007	%
6		33,000		%	UN estimate
5		31,000		%	UN estimate
4		20,000		%	UN estimate
3		11,000		%	UN estimate
2		10,000		%	UN estimate
1		900		0.00002%	UN estimate

Microstate

List of sovereign nations with an area less than 1000 km²

List of sovereign nations with fewer than one million people

See also