Microstate

Not to be confused with Micronation.

This article is about political geography. For the specific configuration of particles of a material in statistical mechanics, see microstate (statistical mechanics).

The world's five smallest sovereign states, from largest to smallest: San Marino, Nauru, Monaco, Vatican City, and Tuvalu shown in the same scale for size comparison.

A microstate or ministate is a sovereign state having a very small population or very small land area, and usually both. As the meaning of neither "state" nor "very small" is clear, the recent attempts to define microstates focus on identifying political entities with unique qualitative features linked to their geographic or demographic limitations. According to a qualitative definition, microstates are: "modern protected states, i.e. sovereign states that have been able to unilaterally depute certain attributes of sovereignty to larger powers in exchange for benign protection of their political and economic viability against their geographic or demographic constraints." In line with this and most other definitions the examples of microstates include: Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino, Niue, Andorra and the Federated States of Micronesia.

The smallest political unit recognized as a sovereign state is Vatican City, with 842 citizens as of July 2013 and an area of only 0.44 km². However, some scholars dispute qualifying Vatican as a state arguing that it does not meet the "traditional criteria of statehood" and that the "special status of the Vatican City is probably best regarded as a means of ensuring that the Pope can freely exercise his spiritual functions, and in this respect is loosely analogous to that of the headquarters of international organisations."

Microstates are distinct from micronations, which are not recognized as sovereign states. Special territories without full sovereignty, such as the British Crown Dependencies, the Chinese Special Administrative Regions and overseas territories of Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom, are also not considered microstates.

Quantitative definitions of microstates and their limitations

Most scholars identify microstates by using a quantitative threshold and applying it to either one variable (such as territory or population size) or a composite of different variables. While it is agreed that microstates are the smallest of all states, there is no consensus on what variable (or variables) or what cut-off point should be used to determine which political units should be labelled as "microstates" (as opposed to small states or "normal" states).

Map of microstates bordering the European Union. Including: Lichtenstein, San Marino, Monaco, Vatican and Andorra

Sovereign states with a non-sea area less than 1,000 km² (386 sq mi)

Rank	Country / Territory	Area (km²/sqmi)	Region
1	Vatican City	0.44 km2 (0.17 sq mi)	Europe
2	Monaco	2.02 km2 (0.78 sq mi)	Europe
3	Nauru	21 km2 (8 sq mi)	Oceania
4	Tuvalu	26 km2 (10 sq mi)	Oceania
5	San Marino	61 km2 (24 sq mi)	Europe
6	Liechtenstein	160 km2 (62 sq mi)	Europe
7	Marshall Islands	181 km2 (70 sq mi)	Oceania
8	Saint Kitts and Nevis	261 km2 (101 sq mi)	Caribbean
9	Maldives	298 km2 (115 sq mi)	Asia – Indian Ocean
10	Malta	316 km2 (122 sq mi)	Europe – Mediterranean Sea
11	Grenada	344 km2 (133 sq mi)	Caribbean
12	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	389 km2 (150 sq mi)	Caribbean
13	Barbados	430 km2 (166 sq mi)	Caribbean
14	Antigua and Barbuda	443 km2 (171 sq mi)	Caribbean
15	Seychelles	455 km2 (176 sq mi)	Africa – Indian Ocean
16	Palau	459 km2 (177 sq mi)	Oceania
17	Andorra	468 km2 (181 sq mi)	Europe
18	Saint Lucia	616 km2 (238 sq mi)	Caribbean
19	Federated States of Micronesia	702 km2 (271 sq mi)	Oceania
20	Singapore	714 km2 (276 sq mi)	Asia
21	Tonga	747 km2 (288 sq mi)	Oceania
22	Dominica	751 km2 (290 sq mi)	Caribbean
23	Bahrain	765 km2 (295 sq mi)	Asia – Persian Gulf
24	Kiribati	811 km2 (313 sq mi)	Oceania
25	São Tomé and Príncipe	964 km2 (372 sq mi)	Africa – Atlantic Ocean

With the exceptions of Singapore and Bahrain, all the above have fewer than 500,000 people.

Sovereign states with fewer than 500,000 people by latest national statistics or CIA Factbook estimate 2014.

Rank	Country/territory/entity	Population	Density (pop./km²)	Region
1	Vatican City	842	1913.6	Europe
2	Nauru	9,488	451.8	Oceania
3	Tuvalu	10,782	414.7	Oceania
4	Palau	21,186	46.2	Oceania
5	Monaco	30,508	15103	Europe
6	San Marino	32,742	536.8	Europe
7	Liechtenstein	37,313	233.2	Europe
8	Saint Kitts and Nevis	51,538	197.5	Caribbean
9	Marshall Islands	70,983	392.2	Oceania
10	Dominica	73,449	97.8	Caribbean
11	Andorra	85,458	182.6	Europe
12	Antigua and Barbuda	91,295	206.1	Caribbean
13	Seychelles	91,650	201.4	Africa - Indian Ocean
14	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	102,918	264.6	Caribbean
15	Kiribati	104,488	128.8	Oceania
16	Federated States of Micronesia	105,681	150.5	Oceania
17	Tonga	106,440	142.5	Oceania
18	Grenada	110,152	320.2	Caribbean
19	Saint Lucia	163,362	265.2	Caribbean
20	São Tomé and Príncipe	190,428	197.5	Africa - Atlantic Ocean
21	Samoa	196,628	69.5	Oceania
22	Vanuatu	266,937	21.9	Oceania
23	Barbados	289,680	673.7	Caribbean
24	Iceland	317,351	3.1	Europe
25	Bahamas	321,834	23.2	Atlantic Ocean
26	Belize	340,844	14.8	Central America
27	Maldives	393,595	1320.8	Asia - Indian Ocean
28	Malta	412,655	1305.9	Europe - Mediterranean Sea
29	Brunei	422,675	73.3	Asia

With the exceptions of Samoa, Vanuatu, Iceland, Bahamas, Belize, and Brunei, all the above have a non-sea area less than 1,000 km² (386 sq mi).

While employing simple quantitative criteria may seem straightforward, it can also be perceived as potentially problematic. According to some scholars the quantitative approach to defining microstates suffers from such problems as "inconsistency, arbitrariness, vagueness and inability to meaningfully isolate qualitatively distinct political units"

Qualitative definitions

In response to the problems associated with the quantitative definitions of microstates, some academics have suggested finding states with unique features linked to their geographic or demographic smallness. Newer approaches have proposed looking at the behaviour or capacity to operate in the international arena in order to determine which states should deserve the microstate label. Yet, it has been argued that such approaches could lead to either confusing microstates with weak states (or failed states) or relying too much on subjective perceptions.

Microstates as modern protected states

In order to address both the problems with quantitative approaches and with definitions based on qualitative features, it has been argued that a useful and meaningful way to isolate microstates from other types of states, would be to see them as "modern protected states". According to the definition proposed by Dumienski (2014): "microstates are modern protected states, i.e. sovereign states that have been able to unilaterally depute certain attributes of sovereignty to larger powers in exchange for benign protection of their political and economic viability against their geographic or demographic constraints." Adopting this approach permits limiting the number of microstates and separating them from both small states and autonomies or dependencies. Examples of microstates understood as modern protected states include such states as: Liechtenstein, San Marino, Monaco, Niue, Andorra, the Cook Islands or Palau.

Historical anomalies and aspirant states

A small number of tiny sovereign political units are founded on historical anomalies or eccentric interpretations of law. These types of states, often labelled as "microstates," are usually located on small (usually disputed) territorial enclaves, generate limited economic activity founded on tourism and philatelic and numismatic sales, and are tolerated or ignored by the nations from which they claim to have seceded.

One example is the Republic of Indian Stream, now the town of Pittsburg, New Hampshire—a geographic anomaly left unresolved by the Treaty of Paris that ended the U.S. Revolutionary War, and claimed by both the U.S. and Canada. Between 1832 and 1835, the area's residents refused to acknowledge either claimant.

Another example is the Cospaia Republic, which became independent through a treaty error and survived from 1440 to 1826. Its independence made it important in the introduction of tobacco cultivation to Italy.

See also

• Island country
• City state
• European microstates
• List of countries and dependencies by population density
• List of countries and outlying territories by total area
• List of countries by population