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Countries Less Populous Than Their Neighbors

Can you name the 52 countries of the world that have a smaller population than any country they share a land border with?
Not including neighboring overseas territories or dependencies
This quiz excludes countries with no borders
Quiz by Quizzer6794
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Last updated: December 1, 2022
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First submittedJune 11, 2015
Times taken59,259
Average score71.2%
Rating4.97
6:00
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Country
Andorra
Armenia
Belize
Bhutan
Brunei
Burundi
Canada
Central African Republic
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominican Republic
East Timor
Ecuador
Country
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Estonia
Eswatini
Gambia
Guinea-Bissau
Ireland
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Country
Libya
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg
Mauritania
Moldova
Monaco
Mongolia
Montenegro
Namibia
Nepal
North Korea
Norway
Oman
Country
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Portugal
Qatar
San Marino
Slovakia
Slovenia
Suriname
Togo
Turkmenistan
Uruguay
Vatican City
120 Recent Comments
+1
Level 24
Dec 20, 2015
I was sure Eritrea would be on the list but forgot about Djibouti. Singapore only borders on Malaysia and Indonesia, both who have higher populations than Singapore does.
+21
Level 24
Dec 20, 2015
Singapore is an island, which is why it's not here.
+7
Level 55
Dec 20, 2015
Singapore is an island.
+6
Level 90
Jul 17, 2018
I'll third that. Singapore is an island.
+5
Level 44
Jul 25, 2019
I’ll fourth that. Singapore is an island.
+4
Level 56
Apr 10, 2020
I'll fifth that. Singapore is an island.
+3
Level 17
Dec 14, 2020
I'll sixth that. Singapore is an island.
+2
Level 51
Jan 8, 2021
I'll seventh that. Singapore is an island.
+1
Level 43
Jan 21, 2021
I'll eighth that. Singapore is an island.
+2
Level 45
Oct 21, 2021
I'll seventh that. Singapore is an island.
+2
Level 49
Nov 9, 2021
I'll eighth that. Singapore is an island.
+2
Level 47
Dec 14, 2021
I´ll ninth on that. Singapore is an island
+6
Level 68
Feb 6, 2022
I'll tenth that. Singapore is islam... wait no I mean an island
+2
Level 36
Mar 25, 2022
I´ll eleventh on that. Singapore is an island
+2
Level 76
Dec 2, 2022
I'll twelfth that; Singapore's an island, gosh dang it!
+1
Level 48
Dec 5, 2022
I'll seventh that, Singapore is an island.
+7
Level 73
Jan 1, 2023
Imma broke this chain. Happy New Year
+4
Level 48
Jan 1, 2023
(Chain fixer) I’ll thirteenth on that. Singapore is an island.
+3
Level 49
Jan 1, 2023
I'll fourteenth that! Singapore is an Icela... oops I meant island
+2
Level 64
Feb 10, 2023
I'll fifteenth that, Singapore is an Irel- wait no, Island.
+2
Level 67
Oct 6, 2023
I'll sixteenth that. Singapore is an island.
+2
Level 29
Dec 3, 2023
I’ll seventeenth that. Singapore is an ice machine.
+1
Level 40
Dec 3, 2023
I'll eighteenth that. Singapore is an isle of its own
+1
Level 55
Feb 2, 2024
I'll whatever the next number is that. Singapore is your mother
+1
Level 31
Feb 7, 2024
I'll 20th that- Singapore is an island
+1
Level 68
Apr 6, 2024
I'll 21st that: Singapore is an island
+2
Level 18
Dec 9, 2019
It has a bloody bridge on it.
+17
Level 29
Mar 23, 2020
And? If Britain was connected to France by a bridge, that wouldn’t make Britain part of mainland Europe and not an island would it.
+3
Level 74
Apr 12, 2020
Actually it is a tunnel, not a bridge.
+5
Level 70
Apr 23, 2020
@Nerd0921 "If".
+9
Level 48
Nov 24, 2020
denmark and sweden have a bridge too. bridges dont count as land borders
+1
Level 53
Mar 10, 2022
it woudlnt
+10
Level 56
Dec 15, 2020
Singapore is in Iceland
+3
Level 40
Mar 2, 2021
bruh
+2
Level 68
Feb 6, 2022
burh
+1
Level 68
Feb 7, 2022
bhur
+1
Level 53
Mar 10, 2022
singapore bordes neither
+1
Level 49
May 5, 2023
I'll sixteenth that. Singapore is an Ic.. Ire.. Island
+1
Level 31
Feb 7, 2024
ill 19th that Singapore is an island
+1
Level 57
May 20, 2024
I'll Singapore it that 20th is an island
+26
Level 24
Dec 20, 2015
Wait... Libya has less people than Tunisia?! The more you know...
+7
Level 65
Dec 21, 2015
I was thinking the same, especially taking the land area into account. Also Norway/Finland was a surprise, though the differences are small.
+9
Level 58
Dec 21, 2015
Yes, that one surprised me too. As was not seeing Malawi (it has more inhabitants than Zimbabwe)
+2
Level 71
Jul 27, 2022
Malawi does not border Zimbabwe, it borders Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique
+1
Level 55
Dec 4, 2023
Malawi has 20 million inhabitants whereas Zambia only has 19.
+6
Level 73
Jan 29, 2020
The area is not as important as the length of the coastline since that's the only place people live. And here the difference isn't as different. Furthermore, Tunisia has a short way to Europe (historical speaking) and the city of Carthage.
+6
Level 80
Apr 10, 2020
...the less you think you know.
+1
Level 65
Jan 16, 2016
Shouldn't Bangladesh be on here? I know it's super populous and everything, but it's only border is with India, the second populous country in the world, so since Bangladesh isn't the first populous country, shouldn't it be on here?
+10
Level 65
Jan 16, 2016
Bangladesh also has a border with Burma, a country far less populated than it.
+9
Level 65
Jul 29, 2016
arggggghh! I'll add that to the list of borders I always forget about, along with North Korea/Russia, Spain/Morocco, and France/Netherlands at Saint Marten.
+5
Level 43
Sep 2, 2016
(in French) Je rappelle que la frontière entre la France et les Pays-Bas ne comptent pas dans ce genre de quizz... (ce n'est pas une région mais une collectivité)
+9
Level 72
Dec 8, 2019
They arent talking about suriname, but sint maarten/saint martin. Which share an island.
+1
Level 67
Oct 6, 2023
Chattogram would like to know you're location.
+1
Level 64
Apr 27, 2017
Very cool! But I would need more time to get them all
+1
Level 65
May 28, 2017
You forgot to update this to have Dominican Republic instead of Haiti after you updated the original quiz.
+1
Level 48
Jul 2, 2017
Please put Guinea-Bissau in the right order
+2
Level 90
Jul 17, 2018
Not another quiz that says France borders Brazil, is it?
+17
Level 65
Jan 14, 2020
Many other quizzes say this, most notably "Countries Bordering France"
+5
Level 72
Nov 3, 2022
..What? Of course it does, not really relevant to the quiz though.
+2
Level 80
Apr 25, 2019
Needs an update for the name change of Swaziland to Eswatini
+2
Level 56
Jul 25, 2019
Swaziland should be Eswatini now
+1
Level 31
Jul 25, 2019
That's right it needs a name change.
+3
Level 65
Jul 25, 2019
Just changed it, thanks everyone!
+3
Level 18
Dec 9, 2019
Bangladesh doesn't border Bhutan.
+1
Level 68
Feb 7, 2022
It borders Burma
+1
Level 74
Dec 9, 2019
Why isn't Lithuania here? I checked it has a lower pop than other countries around it
+11
Level 65
Jan 14, 2020
Latvia has half of Lithuania's population
+4
Level 65
Apr 14, 2020
Not really, but approximately 2 thirds.
+4
Level 79
Dec 31, 2022
What are all those Lithuanians doing in Latvia?
+1
Level 67
Oct 6, 2023
I think bro mixed up Latvia and Lithuania...
+1
Level 66
Dec 10, 2019
make another one but with sizes
+2
Level 65
Jan 14, 2020
I don't have one, but someone else made it here :)
+1
Level 88
Mar 17, 2020
Why, on some quizzes, does Sri Lanka border India, but not on this one?
+8
Level ∞
Mar 17, 2020
The official stance of JetPunk is that Sri Lanka and India do not border each other.
+2
Level 88
Mar 17, 2020
I distinctly remember a very recent quiz (or recently reset...don't remember which one) where there was a comment at the top about "at low tide", and the clue requiring the answer "Sri Lanka" was flagged in red.
+7
Level ∞
Mar 17, 2020
We're phasing that out.
+6
Level 54
Apr 10, 2020
Why isn't Central African Republic (CAR) here? It borders Cameroon, Chad, both Sudans and both Congos. Every singe one of those is more populous than CAR.
+1
Level 76
Apr 10, 2020
I am confused as well.
+2
Level 60
Apr 10, 2020
Yep, totally should be included in here. Unless the source of the quiz puts Rep. of Congo below Central African Republic, because it is the closest one in terms of rank.
+1
Level 76
Apr 10, 2020
If we do just do a simple Wikipedia check, the difference is like 800,000 so that must be a very strange source then.
+2
Level 63
Aug 7, 2020
I do not understand this quiz. Why is Switzerland not included? It has a smaller population than basically every country it borders. The quiz rules state "smaller than any country it shares a border with" not every. Also Russia borders China. Why is Russia not included? Sorry if I'm missing something
+6
Level 57
Nov 16, 2020
It borders Liechtenstein, which has a smaller population.
+2
Level 55
Nov 16, 2021
Russia borders Mongolia, which has a smaller population.
+3
Level 67
Feb 2, 2022
By saying smaller than any country it borders, the quiz instructions really mean smaller than EVERY country it borders. I can see how there might be confusion.
+1
Level 43
Aug 18, 2020
Remember, it's in alphabetical order.
+3
Level 78
Sep 16, 2020
This was one of my favorite quizzes. You need to know SO much to do well. You need to have a good handle on country population, names of countries, AND borders. Got them all with 11 seconds to spare.
+1
Level 72
Feb 10, 2021
Shouldn't Malawi be on this list? What am I missing?
+2
Level 63
May 19, 2021
Malawi has a population of about 18.63 million. It's neighbor, Zambia, has about 17.86 people.
+6
Level 79
Dec 5, 2022
Wow, Zambia has less than 18 people?
+3
Level 76
Apr 21, 2021
Got a slow start, then realized the instructions should say "... that have a smaller population than *each* country they share a land border with..." Good quiz!
+1
Level 72
Nov 15, 2021
Why isn't King Fahd Passport Island considered a land border between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain?
+1
Level 80
Dec 23, 2021
ABC order allowed me to get the last three or four.
+1
Level 65
Feb 6, 2022
Shouldn't CAR be on this list ? It is less populated than all its neighbors
+1
Level ∞
Dec 1, 2022
Yes, updated
+3
Level 68
Mar 5, 2022
Microstates' time to shine!
+1
Level 68
Aug 5, 2022
That was fun, ty
+1
Level 96
Dec 1, 2022
Why was there an update? What changed since the last time?
+2
Level ∞
Dec 1, 2022
Botswana, Jordan removed.

Namibia, CAR added.

+3
Level 82
Dec 3, 2022
Dang. I thought you'd removed Bhutan. I had heard that they've had some crazy population growth lately.
+2
Level 88
Dec 2, 2022
I only saw one other comment asking for more time. I'd think another minute might be reasonable. Am I otherwise alone (besides the other commenter)?
+2
Level 66
Dec 12, 2022
I believe Malawi should be on here
+1
Level 71
Dec 31, 2022
Malawi is less populous than its neighbor Zambia.
+3
Level 65
Dec 31, 2022
*more populous
+1
Level 66
Dec 31, 2022
Thanks for the quiz. Quite testing.
+3
Level 67
Dec 31, 2022
Canada should be removed
+1
Level 76
Jan 1, 2023
why?
+2
Level 64
Jun 30, 2023
Denmark
+1
Level 80
Dec 31, 2022
Super fun.
+1
Level 61
Dec 31, 2022
Tunisia seems to be missing from the list.
+1
Level 63
Dec 31, 2022
Tunisia population: 11,940,000

Libya population: 6,959,000

Which of those two numbers is the lower‽ That’s the one that belongs here, and it’s also the one that *is* here.

+2
Level 65
Dec 31, 2022
Libya is surprisingly empty. It's big on the map but only very small parts on the coastline are inhabitable, the rest is the Sahara desert. Meanwhile Tunisia has quite a lot of good lands for its size.
+1
Level 60
Jan 1, 2023
Fairly embarrassed by missing Denmark, Burundi, and Norway; the other ones I didn’t get (Turkmenistan, Libya, Mauritania), I’m fine with missing.
+1
Level 44
Jan 1, 2023
Shouldn't Finland be here too?
+1
Level 67
Jan 2, 2023
Finland borders Russia, Sweden and Norway. Norway has slightly less people.
+1
Level 62
May 10, 2023
43/52 i got
+1
Level 52
Jun 30, 2023
Definitely wouldn't have expected Libya to be more populous than Tunisia, cool quiz!
+1
Level 52
Jun 30, 2023
In your opposite quiz, Panama is considered to be more populous than Costa Rica which made none of the Central American countries viable. Here Panama is less populous than Costa Rica which would make Costa Rica a possible answer in the other quiz. I must ask if one of the quizzes is wrong or if it is me.
+2
Level 44
Sep 22, 2023
Description is misleading. It should say every country it shares a border with not any. My thought process was that it's asking for countries that border at least 1 country that is less populated than it.
+1
Level 59
Sep 25, 2023
I had the same problem.
+1
Level 73
Dec 11, 2023
Shouldn't Canada be removed since it borders Denmark now?