5.San Marino - 61 km²
The oldest state in Europe was founded as early as 301 AD. The country is located on the southwestern slope of the three-headed mountain massif of Monte Titano (738 m above sea level), which rises above the hilly plain of the Apennine foothills. The rock massifs occupy almost 80% of the country, while the arable land accounts for 16.6%. San Marino, like Liechtenstein, is neither a member of NATO nor the EU, and during World War II, although it remained neutral, it actively collaborated with the Italian fascists. The country uses the euro and is allowed to mint its own coins. The heads of state are two captains-regents who are elected for six months: from April 1 to October 1 and from October 1 to April 1 annually.
4.Tuvalu - 26 km²
The Polynesian state of Tuvalu is a cluster of atolls and islands located in the Pacific Ocean slightly south of the equator. Global warming is a great threat to the future of the country, including the associated rise in sea level, which could put low-lying islands no higher than 5 meters under water. Tuvalu has no railroads, but it has schools: one elementary and one high school. The country gained independence from Great Britain in 1978, but Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is the head of state in Tuvalu. Because of the small area, low altitude, and porous soils, the islands of Tuvalu do not have any rivers. Instead, water seeping through the land forms a lens of slightly brackish water. Therefore, locals are forced to collect rainwater from rooftops and store it in concrete cisterns.
3. The Republic of Nauru - 21 km²
In the 1980s Nauru was the world's smallest island nation and one of the world's wealthiest. Nauru had vast reserves of phosphate rock and was actively mining it. At the time, the value of phosphate exports was four times greater than imports, and the main foreign trade partners were Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Great Britain. But that is all in the past. About 90% of the forest that covered the plateau of the island has been destroyed due to mining. No action was taken to reclaim the land, and up to 80% of Nauru's land has turned into a desert. Today the country is a record-breaker, but in completely different categories: the highest unemployment rate (80% of the population) and the highest level of obesity (95% of the population is overweight). The country has no capital and no public transportation, but has 40 kilometers of highways and its own airline with a couple of old planes.
2.The Principality of Monaco - 2.02 km²
As of January 1, 2019, the minimum wage in Monaco is €1,695.07 per month. This is almost 150,000 rubles at the current exchange rate. In Russia, the minimum wage is 12,130 rubles. There is no income tax in Monaco. Apparently for these reasons, the average life expectancy in the country according to 2015 data is 89.63 years. The number of Monaco's national orchestra is 85 people, while the regular army is three less. Monaco's capital of the same name is home to the famous "Monaco Oceanographic Museum," whose director was the explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau. The country has a population density of 18,679 people per square kilometer, slightly larger than Gorky Park in the capital - first in the world.
1.Vatican City - 0.44 km²
The Vatican is 440,000 square meters, 1/27th of Moscow's Maryino district or the area of the two Luzhniki stadiums. The Vatican has its own and the shortest railroad in the world, but there is not a single maternity hospital, and therefore the birth rate in the country is zero. The Italian embassy in Vatican City is located in Italy itself. The population density in the country is half that of Moscow, but the level of militarization is three times higher than in North Korea. The Vatican conducts astronomical research using a state-of-the-art telescope located atop Mount Graham in southeastern Arizona, USA. In 2011, the Vatican held a census. The number of people holding citizenship of the dwarf country was 594. That's 71 cardinals, 109 members of the guard, 51 members of the clergy and one nun within the walls of the Vatican.
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