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Asia has 14 of the world’s top 25 shortest countries – can you guess who’s No 1?
- Studies have found around a 20cm difference between children in the tallest and shortest nations. Environmental factors are a major determinant
- Of the other 11 countries with the shortest populations, 5 are in Africa, 3 in Central and South America, 2 in the Pacific and 1 in the Middle East
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Worldwide, scientists have found that there’s around a 20cm, or 7.8 inch, difference between the average height of a child in the tallest and shortest countries, according to the BBC.
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When it comes to adults, in countries like the Netherlands – ranked as the tallest on Earth – the average person towers as high as 175.62cm (5 feet 7.96 inches). But at the other end of the scale, the average height is considerably lower.
Below is a ranking of average height data compiled using a 2020 medical database run by NCD Risk Factor Collaboration, a project linked to Imperial College London. It lists separate figures for male and female heights for each country.
An average of those two figures was taken to get a rough idea of the average height of a person in each country. The separate figures for men and women are also listed.
Here are the 25 countries with the shortest average populations:
25. Sri Lanka
The average Sri Lankan is 160.12cm (5 feet 3.04 inches) tall.
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