Smallest Countries in the World: The top ten smallest countries, in square miles, as of 2012. 1. Vatican City0.17 2. Monaco0.75 3. Nauru8.11 4. Tuvalu10.04 5. San Marino23.63 6. Liechtenstein61.78 7.Saint Kitts and Nevis100.77 8. Maldives115.83 9. Malta122.01 10. Grenada132.82 NOTE: Country rankings of the type presented below cannot pretend to be definitive; instead they aspire only to provide the reader with an approximation of the high and low ends on a particular scale. Country data vary enormously depending on the sources, and the absence of reliable data on some countries requires their omission, which further skews the results. Only countries for which statistics were available in sources 1 and 2 figure in these lists. *Size refers to the total area of a country, which includes the land area plus bodies of water.Sources:1.The World Factbook.2. U.S. Census Bureau, International Database.

Highest Population Density: The top ten most densely populated countries, in square kilometers, in 2011. 1. Monaco15,293 2. Singapore6,843 3. Holy See1,884 4. Maldives1,328 5. Malta1,287 6. Bangladesh1,199 7. Bahrain971 8. Taiwan714 9. Barbados664 10. Mauritius637 NOTE: Country rankings of the type presented below cannot pretend to be definitive; instead they aspire only to provide the reader with an approximation of the high and low ends on a particular scale. Country data vary enormously depending on the sources, and the absence of reliable data on some countries requires their omission, which further skews the results.Only countries for which statistics were available figure in these lists. †Population density calculated using population and land area.Source:The World Factbook, 2011.

Lowest Population Density: The top ten least densely populated countries, in square kilometers, in 2011. 1. Western Sahara1.85 2. Mongolia1.99 3. Namibia2.59 4. Australia2.80 5. Iceland3.08 6. Mauritania3.11 7. Suriname3.12 8. Botswana3.58 9. Libya3.67 10. Canada3.71 NOTE: Country rankings of the type presented above cannot pretend to be definitive; instead they aspire only to provide the reader with an approximation of the high and low ends on a particular scale. Country data vary enormously depending on the sources, and the absence of reliable data on some countries requires their omission, which further skews the results. Only countries for which statistics were available figure in these lists. †Population density calculated using population and land area.Source:The World Factbook, 2011.

Highest GDP Per Capita: The countries with the highest gross domestic product per capita in U.S. dollars, in 2011. 1. Qatar$98,900 2. Liechtenstein89,400 3. Luxembourg80,600 4. Bermuda69,900 5. Singapore59,700 6. Jersey57,000 7. Falkland Islands55,400 8. Norway51,600 9. Brunei49,500 10. Hong Kong49,400 NOTE: Country rankings of the type presented below cannot pretend to be definitive; instead they aspire only to provide the reader with an approximation of the high and low ends on a particular scale. Country data vary enormously depending on the sources, and the absence of reliable data on some countries requires their omission, which further skews the results. Only countries for which statistics were available in sources 1 and 2 figure in these lists.Sources:1.The World Factbook, 2012.2. U.S. Census Bureau, International Database.

Columbus Day: Columbus, his journeys and legacy, and other great explorers and explorations Biographies of Famous Explorers Roald Amundsen Vasco Núnez de Balboa Ibn Batuta Richard Burton John Cabot Jacques Cartier Lewis & Clark Christopher Columbus James Cook Francisco Coronado Hernando Cortés Vasco da Gama Leif Ericsson Sir Edmund Hillary Henry Hudson Ponce de León David Livingstone Ferdinand Magellan Mungo Park Robert E. Peary Francisco Pizarro Marco Polo Sir Ernest Shackleton John Speke Sir Henry M. Stanley [More...] Christopher Columbus Columbus Day Timeline The first commemoration of Columbus took place in 1792 Just Where Was Columbus? Pinpointing the famous explorer's whereabouts Biography of Christopher Columbus Early years, voyages, and historical perspective Columbus's Unknown Legacy How food from the Americas revolutionized Europe Fun Stuff Crossword: Columbus Day 66 Across:* As a young man, Columbus had different occupations, such as chart maker, sugar buyer, weaver and what? Quiz: Explorers Who was the first mountain climber to summit all fourteen of the world's 8,000-meter peaks without the use of supplemental oxygen? Other Great Explorers Explorers and Explorations From the Cape of Good Hope to the South Pole, a chart of notable explorers and their explorations. Myths About Explorers Did Columbus really discover America? Who was the first explorer to sail around the world?