Vatican City Is the Least Populated Country—Use the Right Count

Vatican City is the least populated country in the world, when comparing independent countries by population. (Population ranking) Its government reports 882 residents as of 31 December 2024, including citizens and non-citizens. That is a dated resident count—not a live 2026 estimate. (Official population statistics)

If you are preparing a public country-population table, the important part is preserving what that number measures. A population value without its date, definition and source can produce a misleading ranking.

Residents are not the same as citizens

The Vatican’s population page also reports 673 citizens, of whom 458 live inside the walls. Those figures answer different questions from the 882-resident total: some citizens live abroad, while some residents are not citizens. Do not substitute either citizenship figure for resident population. (Vatican City population page)

There is also an entity distinction. Vatican City State is a sovereign entity separate from the Holy See. If your source uses “Holy See” as its statistical label, preserve that original label alongside your display name rather than silently treating the names as interchangeable. (Vatican City’s official description)

Finally, least populated means the fewest people, not the lowest population density. Density divides population by area; it belongs in a separate column and answers a different question.

A source-labeled row to start your spreadsheet

This is a single official-source record, not a same-year global ranking:

In your file, keep population numeric and use separate fields for reference_date, measure and source_url. Use 882, not text such as 882 residents. Put explanatory notes in their own column so readers can compare numbers without losing their meaning.

Build and publish a comparable ranking

For a full least-populated-country table, use a consistent statistical series rather than assembling each country’s latest available figure.

The UN’s World Population Prospects 2024 supplies estimates and projections for 237 countries or areas, with Excel and CSV downloads. Its coverage is broader than sovereign countries, so an ascending sort alone does not establish a country ranking. (UN dataset overview)

Prepare the file in this order:

1. Define coverage. State whether the table includes sovereign states, UN member states only, or all countries and areas in the source. Keep a documented inclusion field rather than deleting rows without explanation.
2. Match the reference date and series. Use the same date for every row and the same projection variant where applicable. Label a projection as a projection; do not insert the Vatican’s December 2024 administrative count into a 2026 projection ranking without identifying the difference.
3. Normalize the values. Check the source’s units, convert consistently to persons if needed, and leave missing populations blank—not zero.
4. Sort and rank valid values. Apply the coverage filter, then sort the numeric populations from smallest to largest and assign ranks. Keep missing values unranked and disclose which included countries lack data; a blank must not become the smallest population.
5. Publish with context. Give the page a title that includes its reference date and coverage. Retain source links, measurement notes and the dataset revision in the published file.

TablePage accepts CSV, TSV, XLSX and XLS uploads and generates a public dataset page with a shareable link and filterable table. Upload only the reviewed public data, then check that the smallest values, dates and source fields display correctly. (TablePage)

For a reusable publication checklist, see the disclosures every public ranking table needs.