The Country Without Any Land
The smallest country in the world is the Vatican City, boasting just 0.5 square kilometres (0.2 square miles) in size and a permanent population of just 453 people. Despite its size, it has diplomatic relations with nearly every country and international organisations, as at least an observer, and an incredible amount of influence through the Catholic Church in countries ranging from Brazil to Italy to the Philippines - especially considering the country’s size. In fact, it’s amazing to think that the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics defer to a piece of land that less than 500 people live in full-time.
But the Vatican technically isn’t the smallest sovereign entity in the world. In fact, it technically isn’t even the smallest sovereign entity in Catholicism.
I’ve been intentionally careful with my words there, since the Sovereign Order of Malta - not to be confused with Malta - isn’t a country per se, but rather a humanitarian organisation with origins in the 11th century, a papal endorsement, and nearly 120,000 personnel. It’s so large that it has formal diplomatic relations with 113 countries (all of which are listed here), as well as permanent observer status at the UN, European Union, African Union, and numerous other regional blocs - despite not formally owning any territory.
So what does it actually do?
As the oldest medical mission in the world, the Sovereign Order currently works in a humanitarian capacity for refugees, disaster victims, medical care, and social services throughout the world. They even have a wing dedicated to elderly, palliative, and dementia care, and run soup kitchens in areas of economic crisis. At a diplomatic level, they have even imported emergency medical materials and served as mediators in raging conflicts.
Interested in working for them? They accept volunteers - and currently boast 95,000 of them - but anything beyond that gets a little tricky. Becoming a member requires an invitation from an existing member, a history in service to the poor, approval by an executive committee, a year of preparation and mentorship, and being a Roman Catholic.
