The other day my little son put me into thinking. The question he asked me “mama, which is the smallest country in the world?” I knew the largest country in the world was Russia, followed by Canada and USA in the descending order of their size or area. So I went back to my book shelves and took those geography lessons. And here is my study:

Let us assume that we are talking about the smallest country in terms of area. There are others in terms of population and population density. We will look at the top two smallest countries in the world. Having said that, the first smallest country in the world is the Vatican City.

Yes it's a country and not a city as the name spells. It is a tiny territory enclosed in walls within the city of Rome, which is the capital city of Italy in the European Continent. It has a land area of closely 110 acres and a small population of 826 as estimated in July 2009. The growth rate of population is 1.15%. This smallest country is also called Vatican City State or State of the City of Vatican. The official Languages spoken is Latin and Italian. It is ruled by the Pope-who is the Bishop of Rome. Now will give you some fascinating facts about this smallest country:

1) You will be surprised to know that there is a strict dress code followed in the country. For men, it is shirts with sleeves and for woman it is skirts till knees and no pants. Both of them black in color. Even the tourists must abide by these rules else they shall be restricted to enter into the church premises. So if you are visiting this country, make sure you pack your bags accordingly.

2) This smallest country in the world is home for the most famous art works in the world like Sistine Chapel,         Last Judgment, Pieta to name a few.

3) The economy is survived by selling stamps, museum tickets, books and tourist momentous.

4) The Vatican Bank has an ATM with instructions in Latin. And it's the only such ATM in the world.

5) The country has no airport and has a well developed railway network connected to Rome.

The second smallest country is Monaco. It is surrounded by France and Italy and is located in South Western Europe. It has a land area of 2.02 square kms and a population of 30,000 approximately as estimated in 2010 census. The official language is French while Italian, English and Monegasque are also widely spoken. Now will give you some fascinating facts about this second smallest country:

1) The economy is survived mainly by tourists who are attracted to the casinos and cruise ships.

2) The country is famous for Monaco Grand Prix, Monte Carlo Rally, Rugby and Football.

3) French nationals are a majority in this country and native Monegasques are a minority.

The capital of both these countries is the country itself. Both these countries are tax heavens. This means there are no taxes levied on the individuals. Real Heaven isn't it!