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Smallest Countries with at Least One Border

Can you name the smallest countries by land area that border at least one other country?
Not counting Bahrain which borders Saudi Arabia on a small artificial island
Quiz by nichster
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Last updated: June 12, 2024
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First submittedMarch 8, 2016
Times taken80,929
Average score70.0%
Rating4.91
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Keep scrolling down for answers and more stats ...
sq km
borders
country
0.44
1
Vatican City
2.02
1
Monaco
61
1
San Marino
160
2
Liechtenstein
468
2
Andorra
2,586
3
Luxembourg
5,765
1
Brunei
10,452
2
Lebanon
10,887
4
Kosovo
11,295
1
Gambia
sq km
borders
country
11,586
1
Qatar
13,812
5
Montenegro
14,919
1
East Timor
17,364
2
Eswatini
17,818
2
Kuwait
20,273
4
Slovenia
20,770
4
Israel
21,041
2
El Salvador
22,966
2
Belize
23,200
3
Djibouti
90 Comments
+34
Level 55
May 13, 2020
Thank you for the nice comments. If you want some more interesting stats then here you go:

All of the top 6 are in Europe.

6 are in Asia

Just 3 are in Africa

8 actually have just one border.

6 countries have two borders.

2 are wholly enclaved.

+6
Level 55
Sep 27, 2024
This quiz will be updated if the Bektashi State comes to fruition. However, plans are in the very early stages and it will require Albania's parliament and people to pass it, so don't expect an update too soon if at all!
+49
Level 97
May 12, 2020
Didn't realize Lesotho was larger than many of these! Great quiz
+17
Level 73
May 14, 2020
I tried it too and wasn't aware of the size of slovenia, though after running out of answers I knew for sure, that was my first estimated guess.

And somehow israel feels too big to be on here. I guess because it makes a lot of the lists european countries do, like higher education. Somehow it feels important so a bit bigger than it actually is.

+12
Level 24
Jul 1, 2020
I tried Lesotho and didn't think of Slovenia. I strongly suspect the distorted maps we're used to cause a bias, Slovenia looks bigger than it is because it's further away from the equator.
+1
Level 64
May 5, 2022
The Mercator Projection isn't used here, so no, Slovenia does not appear bigger.
+9
Level 65
Nov 4, 2022
Roger didn't say he thought the Mercator projection was used, he said that because most of us are used to the Mercator projection a lot of people incorrectly think Slovenia is bigger than it actually is.
+1
Level 65
Jun 13, 2024
I guess the fact that Lesotho being surrounded by one big country makes it smaller in our mind, while Slovenia being surrounded by other quite small countries prevents us to realize how small it is.

(+ Mercator effect of course)

+7
Level 73
May 12, 2020
Needs more time.
+5
Level 72
May 12, 2020
I would second that. In some ways it's good as it stops you just guessing half the world's countries, but most similar quizzes do have longer times (I think). Really good idea for a quiz though - I'd never appreciated how small Israel and Lebanon are.
+1
Level 68
May 12, 2020
Thirded
+1
Level 72
May 12, 2020
Fourthed. If not a full minute, at least another 30 seconds. (In 3 other quizzes I took today, I commented that I thought 30 seconds should be removed :) ).
+2
Level ∞
May 12, 2020
Adjusted the time. Thanks!
+1
Level 73
May 14, 2020
Ah allready adjusted, I wanted to comment it feels just right for me, but apparently before it was shorter. Only missed one and was going em that country next to israel, but time was up before I could type it.
+10
Level 81
May 12, 2020
I found out today that I can type "Djibouti" in about half a second.
+28
Level 88
May 13, 2020
The sign of a true Jetpunker.
+7
Level 54
May 13, 2020
How about Cyprus? It has borders with the British sovereign bases.
+1
Level 70
May 13, 2020
Indeed. And not mentioning that there is a real border to Northern Cyprus.
+13
Level 76
May 13, 2020
I still don't understand why the difference between the Vatican and Palestine, as both are UN observers. Guess I'll have to come to terms with the US based choices (even Taiwan gets recognized which neither the US, nor the UN do). In my world Taiwan, the Vatican, Kosovo and Palestine are all countries. :)
+2
Level 59
Jul 1, 2020
that "border" is not recognized which means it's not a border
+5
Level 62
Jan 17, 2021
Pjotr, it's probably because Palestine doesn't de facto rule their territory meanwhile Taiwan and Vatican have full sovereignty over their territory. You have to draw the line somewhere.
+1
Level 55
Nov 2, 2022
Hamas controls their chunk from what I understand.
+3
Level 47
Jun 13, 2024
Not anymore.
+10
Level 77
May 13, 2020
Would have never guessed that Djibouti is larger than Belize or Slovenia. Stupid Mercator Projection . . .
+4
Level 69
Jul 2, 2020
I don't think mercator projection is causing much of a difference between Belize and Djibouti. They're only like 4° different.
+7
Level 76
May 14, 2020
I'm shocked that Slovenia and Israel are larger than Rwanda, Burundi, or Equatorial Guinea.
+18
Level 73
May 14, 2020
you mean smaller?
+2
Level 70
May 25, 2020
yes
+1
Level 63
Oct 18, 2021
I'm surprised about Israel and Djibouti.
+7
Level 70
May 14, 2020
I was surprised that Haiti has a greater area than some of these, on the map it looks so small.
+2
Level 40
Jun 9, 2020
Haiti? Singapore?
+15
Level 67
Jun 17, 2020
Singapore is an island
+5
Level 46
Jun 24, 2020
What about Singapore it is connected by bridges?
+7
Level 59
Jun 30, 2020
Bahrain is connected to Saudi Arabia by a bridge as well...
+1
Level 80
Jun 30, 2020
But not connected by a land mass.
+1
Level 64
May 5, 2022
Bridges are man made
+1
Level 36
Jun 13, 2024
I dunno why it's not here, it's an island that has borders.
+1
Level 73
Dec 16, 2024
Islands don't have land borders. Like, by definition. 🤦🏻‍♀️
+2
Level 1
Jun 30, 2020
Porque en la prueba de países pequeños me salían mal, países como líbano, mónaco, san marino, brunei y otros que al final salían, inclusive salió un país eswatini?
+1
Level 56
Jun 13, 2024
este quiz esta en ingles entonces solamente puedes utilizar los nombres de paises en ingles
+6
Level 24
Jun 30, 2020
Kosovo is not country.
+6
Level 57
Jun 30, 2020
Yes.
+10
Level 64
May 5, 2022
More UN member states recognize Kosovo as an independent country than as a Serbian province.

Also Kosovo has full sovereignty over its borders.

+2
Level 35
Nov 2, 2022
L
+5
Level 66
Aug 5, 2023
And the Earth is flat.
+1
Level 80
Jun 30, 2020
Just forgot Montenegro!
+2
Level 48
Jun 30, 2020
A lot of people are commenting on Israel being so small! I agree that it somehow seems bigger, but it is interestingly smaller than Djibouti or Belize.
+1
Level 65
Jun 30, 2020
This quiz is great - really had me thinking hard, and I feel lucky to have got it with time to spare.
+3
Level 53
Jun 30, 2020
Nice quiz thanks. Missed Slovenia, I was thinking about it but didn't write. I was surprised not to see Haiti and Dominican republic on the list.
+1
Level 37
Jul 1, 2020
Haiti/Dominican Republic are clearly absent and a nice trivia
+6
Level 38
Jul 3, 2020
No, Haiti = 27,750 sq km; Dominican Republic = 48,442 sq km so neither makes this list.
+5
Level 64
May 5, 2022
"I feel like they should be here so add them."
+4
Level 55
Jun 19, 2024
I really don't understand these comments: information readily available, but let's assert something anyway and make yourself look stupid!
+1
Level 38
Jul 3, 2020
I really enjoyed this one. It was only after doing this quiz that I realised Lesotho is bigger than I thought!

Managed to guess them all, though I was sitting with one missing for ages - The Gambia! Totally forgot about it for ages.

+4
Level 36
Jul 19, 2020
Kosovo is Serbia!

I don't understand this quiz!

+19
Level 62
May 12, 2021
Don't start this.
+4
Level 63
Oct 18, 2021
JetPunk policy. Not sure why you're arguing with this quiz about it.
+2
Level 64
May 5, 2022
I don't understand why so many people think they can't comment this garbage.

More UN members recognize Kosovo as an independent country than a province of Serbia. On top of this, Kosovo has full sovereignty over its borders.

You can't decide what Kosovo is because you feel like it. JetPunk leans toward de facto sovereignty over recognization, which is why Taiwan is a JetPunk country, but Palestine is not.

+2
Level 21
Aug 11, 2022
A lot of the world agrees that kosovo is a country.

Palistine is different.

+4
Level 62
Apr 13, 2021
I'm suprised that Rwanda and Burundi aren't here.
+2
Level 59
Oct 19, 2021
Mercator strikes again. :-D
+3
Level 64
May 5, 2022
No it does not. JetPunk doesn't use it.
+2
Level 70
Nov 28, 2024
That doesn't mean JetPunkers won't be fooled by it
+1
Level 79
Jun 13, 2022
Always assumed that Equatorial Guinea was some tiny country.
+2
Level 70
Jul 2, 2022
equatorial guinea is 17,430km squared. It should be here
+1
Level 75
Nov 2, 2022
28,050 km2
+1
Level 21
Aug 13, 2022
great quiz! i really love it!

Its a lot harder than it looks!

i got it with 2:05 left.

+4
Level 76
Nov 2, 2022
Eswatini is...... Eswatiny :)
+1
Level 39
Nov 3, 2022
What about Bahrain? Its only 760km2.
+2
Level 81
Nov 3, 2022
Generally not considered to have a land border with Saudi Arabia even though it sorta does.
+1
Level 73
Dec 16, 2024
Because it's an island...
+1
Level 32
Nov 13, 2022
The UK borders cyprus...
+3
Level 70
Nov 26, 2022
This makes no sense regarding Palestine, even without getting into politics. The figure for Israel excludes the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which combined would make it too big to qualify for the list. However, they don't seem to be counted as Palestinian either or it would make the list easily. Who else would count as owning that land?
+1
Level 72
Mar 30, 2023
Palestine doesn't exactly seem like a unified country. Palestine has two governments, one of which (Hamas) has been ruled as a terrorist organization. This is among various other problems plaguing a potential Palestinian state. I'd like to be able to recognize one, but there are just too many things that need to change before that can happen.
+1
Level 87
Jun 13, 2024
When the Palestinian Charter was written in 1964, it explicitly stated that Gaza was part of Egypt and the West Bank was part of Jordan and that Palestine had absolutely no designs on those territories. When the charter was amended in 1968, that article was removed. However, it was never replaced with any other article explicitly declaring those territories to be part of Palestine. The world has simply been left to assume that they are.
+1
Level 73
Dec 16, 2024
Even without getting into politics... the West Bank and the Gaza strip are two completely different things. Learn some history before commenting.
+1
Level 55
Jan 21, 2023
what about bahrain
+2
Level 73
Dec 16, 2024
It's an island. 🤦🏻‍♀️
+1
Level 38
Feb 6, 2023
what about singapore, or is this seen the same way as bahrain which is an island but simply very close
+2
Level 55
Feb 6, 2023
Island
+1
Level 63
Mar 29, 2023
19/20 didn't get Slovenia, even though I thought of it but dismissed it without typing.
+1
Level 66
Aug 5, 2023
East Timor is way smaller than I thought it was.
+1
Level 52
Jun 13, 2024
no lesotho?
+1
Level 8
Jun 13, 2024
malta ?
+4
Level 73
Jun 13, 2024
No borders dawg
+1
Level 47
Jun 14, 2024
Lestho should be on here as it's 11,720sq mi
+1
Level 53
Apr 22, 2025
...which equates to 30,355 square km, the unit that the countries are measured in for this quiz.
+1
Level 62
Jul 11, 2024
Greenland?

(jk

+1
Level 50
Sep 21, 2024
here is singapore?
+1
Level 53
Apr 22, 2025
Singapore is an island and therefore has no land borders.