Asia is the biggest and most populous continent on Earth. Fittingly, it is home to some of the largest and most powerful nations not only today but throughout history. However not all countries in Asia are large and powerful. Many are small and overshadowed by their more influential neighbours. But what are the smallest countries in Asia? Well in this list I will answer that question, but there are some caveats. First, there are places that are considered by some to be countries but not by others. Among them are Hong Kong and Macau – special semi autonomous areas of China. But in my view this is all they are, and not independent countries. I will not be including them or cases like them here. So from the middle east to the far east, here are the smallest countries in Asia – taking all 48 nation states into account.
10: Taiwan
Taiwan is not a UN member state and is claimed by China, meaning some class it as disputed territory rather than it’s own country. However Taiwan has a population north of 23 million, a strong economy, and enough recognition to be seen as a country by enough to be included in a list of the smallest countries in Asia. Although it is important to note that only 17 countries have official relations with Taiwan. This is because of China’s policy of denying diplomatic relations with any nation that recognizes Taiwan as a legitimate country. This policy is successful only because of how small and relatively powerless Taiwan is. A tiny island, her land area is just 36 thousand square kilometers.
9: Israel
You might not consider Israel to be an Asian country by virtue of it being a Mediterranean state and bordering Egypt. But the fact remains that Israel is in Asia, although on the crossroads between that and Africa. In fact several other of the smallest countries in Asia can be found in the middle east, as you’ll see further down this list. Israel is among the most interesting and controversial countries on earth.
Formed as a modern state in 1948, her borders have changed many times since. Today she remains a small but reasonably powerful nation, with a relatively strong economy, and a very strong military and defense industry. This is partly why she has the highest standard of living in the middle east, as well as one of the world’s most educated work forces. Like a lot of other countries in Asia, Israel could soon grow in or shrink in size – depending on how it’s various land disputes unfold.
8: Kuwait
I did say several of the smallest countries in Asia happen to be middle-eastern, and here is the proof. Kuwait is the tiny but rich nation sandwiched between Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Most of her wealth comes from the vast amount of oil to be found there, but also because Kuwait has a lot of coast. In fact it’s largest cities are on the coast, giving Kuwait the means to transport it’s oil through shipping.
This is part of the reason Iraq invaded Kuwait, as Iraq has so little coastal access that their ports are relatively tiny and need to go through Kuwait to ship oil. So clearly Kuwait’s size doesn’t hamper it’s prosperity. The Kuwaiti Dinar is actually the most highly valued currency in the world. This gives the Kuwaiti government massive power, which is concentrated in the hands of the Royal family, like many of it’s surrounding countries.
7: Timor-Leste
Timor Leste is one of the lesser known countries of the world. It is also one of the youngest. Timor Leste became a country in 1975. But just one year later Indonesia annexed the tiny state by force. From then until 1999 it was ruled by Indonesia, but the international community never accepted this, and nor did the people of Timor Leste. In 1999 the United Nations took over control of the area, until Timor Leste once again became an independent state in 2002. East Timor, as Timor-Leste is better known, covers roughly half of an island in south East Asia.
The other half of the island is fully part of Indonesia. The island alone is pretty small, meaning Timor-Leste is incredibly small – just under 15 thousand square kilometers. It is a small country in every sense, with a population around 1.1 million, and a weak economy. Interestingly, Timor Leste is just one of two Christian countries in this region, and is the only Portuguese speaking country in Asia. Macau does speak Portuguese but as I said in the intro, I don’t consider that a legitimate nation. So including Macau would stop this from truly being as list of the smallest countries in Asia.
6: Qatar
Qatar has it’s own peninsula, which not a lot of countries can say. However the Qatar peninsula is tiny. Bordering only Saudi Arabia, this tiny coastal nation has a total land area of just 11,586 square kilometres. Yet over two million people call Qatar home, making it a surprisingly densely populated little state. Another surprise is how rich Qatar is, with the 14th greatest oil reserves of any nation on Earth.
Because of this, Qatar has the 4th highest 1 GDP per capita in the world, and has a level of influence on the world stage you would truly not expect from such a tiny place. You might be wondering why Qatar is an independent country instead of just being part of Saudi Arabia. Well that’s because it was part of the British Empire, only becoming independent in 1971. This was long after Saudi Arabia had expanded to it’s fullest extent, and there would have been no way legally to annex Qatar.
5: Lebanon
At just 10 and a half thousand square kilometers, Lebanon clearly ranks among the smallest countries in Asia. But is it in Asia? Well Lebanon is at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, just like Turkey. But unlike Turkey, Lebanon has no European lands so it’s fair to call it an Asian country. In fact, Lebanon is the smallest internationally recognized country on mainland Asia.
Unlike many of it’s neighbors, Lebanon doesn’t have very much oil at all, and so it’s economy is quite weak. High levels of public debt and low productivity means it will likely remain mired in financial woes for quite some time. On top of that, Lebanon is a reasonably dangerous country, especially since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war. But it wasn’t always like this. In the 1960s Lebanon was known as the “Switzerland of the east” as it was a very safe and stable country, receiving many tourists from Europe.
4: Brunei
Brunei is a tiny nation on Borneo island, completely surrounded by Malaysia. Strangely, Brunei is vastly wealthy thanks to it’s large oil reserves. Why do all the smallest countries in Asia seem to always have so much oil? It’s weird. At 5765 square kilometres, Brunei is small enough to be the only country entirely located within Borneo island. Brunei is an absolute monarchy ruled by a Sultan, who live a life of luxury, which is fitting of a Sultan. And especially fitting of a Sultan of Brunei, a nation that in 2011 was one of just three countries to have 0 percent public debt. Strangely, Brunei only gained independence from Britain in 1986, which explains why it never joined the union of Malaysia, unlike Singapore – as we will later look into. It’s a very strange country.
3: Bahrain
Just off the coast of Saudi Arabia is an island nation so small it makes Qatar look big. That nation is Bahrain, yet another oil rich absolute monarchy in the gulf of Persia. Bahrain is just 765 square kilometers, which is ridiculously small. Yet Bahrain has a population of over 1.4 million – about half of which is made up of immigrants. The number of immigrants should not be surprising; Bahrain is, after all, a high income economy. To make things worse, over 90 percent of Bahrain is covered by desert.
But things are changing for Bahrain. Because it is such a small country with such a rapidly growing population, the government has been carrying out land reclamation operations. Because of this, Bahrain has increased from 36 islands to 80. It seems Bahrain is growing larger by the year. So that’s Bahrain – a tiny rich island. From here on out all the smallest countries in Asia are miniscule islands, the smallest of which you might not even have known existed.
2: Singapore
At 716 square kilometers, Singapore is a lot smaller than you might assume. Singapore is a well known country, partly because it’s economy is so strong, but also due to it’s diplomatic strength. Few nations enjoy the diplomatic sway of Singapore, which can be seen in the strength of the Singapore passport and the fact so many diplomatic meetings are held there. After all, the first meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un took place in Singapore.
Long before Singapore became a diplomatic and economic star, few would have predicted anything much. That is why it was so easy for Malaysia to persuade Singapore to join a union with them. In 1963 Singapore was absorbed into the country of Malaysia. This seemed like a good choice for Singapore, considering how small it was compared to Malaysia both in size and population. Surely it would be best for the people of this small city to remain Malaysian. However the union broke down just two years later, and Singapore once against became an independent city state.
1: Maldives
The Maldives is the smallest country is Asia at just 300 square kilometers. It is also the smallest country is Asia by population, being home to just 440 thousand people. It’s such a small and remote country you might not even know it exists. The Maldives is actually 26 Atolls in the Indian Ocean. Being over 600 miles from the Asian continent, it’s amazing the Maldives is even a functioning country. But it is and they have their own language. It also has natural beauty, white sandy beaches among a sea of unspoiled untainted blue ocean. This acts to attract an increasingly large number of tourists – in fact, tourism is responsible for around 30 percent of the total economy of the Maldives. It’s a really interesting country – one that I would like to visit myself one day.
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