Using medical data, Insider calculated average height figures for the 25 shortest countries.
Scroll down to see the nations with the shortest people on earth.
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Worldwide, scientists have found that there's around a 20 centimeter, or 7.8 inch, difference between the average height of a child in the tallest and shortest countries, according to the BBC.
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.
Insider compiled a ranking of average height data 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.
We took an average of those two figures to get a rough idea of the average height of a person in each country, and also listed the separate male and female figures.
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Scroll down to see the 25 countries with the shortest average populations.
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25. Sri Lanka — 160.12cm (5 feet 3.04 inches)
REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte
The average Sri Lankan is 160.12cm (5 feet 3.04 inches) tall.
The average man in Sri Lanka is 165.68cm (5 feet 5.23 inches) tall.
The average woman in Sri Lanka is 154.56cm (5 feet 0.85 inches) tall.
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24. Honduras — 160.11cm (5 feet 3.03 inches)
Moises Castillo/AP Photo
The average person in Honduras is 160.11cm (5 feet 3.03 inches) tall.
The average Honduran man is 166.39cm (5 feet 5.5 inches) tall.
The average Honduran woman is 153.84cm (5.056 inches) tall.
An average Filipino is 156.41cm (5 feet 1.57 inches) tall.
The average Filipino man is 163.22cm (5 feet 4.25 inches) tall.
The average Filipino woman is 149.6cm (4 feet 10.89 inches) tall.
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4. Guatemala — 156.39cm (5 feet 1.57 inches)
Reuters/Stringer
The average Guatemalan is 156.39cm (5 feet 1.57 inches) tall.
The average Guatemalan man is 163.4cm (5 feet 4.33 inches) tall.
The average Guatemalan woman is 149.38cm (4 feet 10.81cm) tall.
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3. Madagascar — 156.36cm (5 feet 1.56 inches)
Alessandra Tarantino/AP Photo
The average person in Madagascar is 156.36cm (5 feet 1.56 inches) tall.
The average Malagasy man is 161.54cm (5 feet 3.6 inches) tall.
The average Malagasy woman is 151.18cm (4 feet 11.51 inches) tall.
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2. Laos — 155.89cm (5 feet 1.37 inches)
Vincent Thian/AP Photo
An average person from Laos is 155.89cm (5 feet 1.37 inches) tall.
A Lao man is on average 160.51cm (5 feet 3.19 inches) tall.
Lao women are 151.26cm (4 feet 11.55 inches) tall on average.
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1. Timor-Leste — 155.47cm (5 feet 1.28 inches)
Reuters
People on the Southeast Asian island of Timor are on average 155.47cm (5 feet 1.28 inches) tall.
The average Timorese man is 159.79cm (5 feet 2.9 inches) tall.
The average Timorese woman is 151.15cm (4 feet 11.5 inches) tall.
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What's behind these height differences?
Evan Vucci/AP Photo
Genetics is only part of the answer, Majid Ezzati, who runs the NCD study at Imperial College London, told BBC News.
Speaking of how national average heights change over decades, he said: "About a third of the explanation could be genes, but that doesn't explain the change over time.
"Genes don't change that fast and they don't vary that much across the world," he said, adding:"So changes over time and variations across the world are largely environmental."
Environmental factors such as poor diet are likely part of the answer, according to the BBC, citing a study that found a 20cm (7.9 in) difference between children in the tallest and shortest nations.
It could also help explain why average heights in several nations have both risen and fallen over the last decades — while nations like Japan, South Korea and China have seen height increases, some sub-Saharan African nations like Uganda and Sierra have seen male height decreases, the BBC reported.
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The world's smallest living men and women, though?
Only one of the officially listed world's shortest living people is from a country on this list. Their heights stem from forms of dwarfism.
In 2009, the Guinness Book of Records split the category of shortest person into mobile and non-mobile people, to differentiate between people who can walk unassisted and those who cannot.
The world's shortest mobile man and woman are actress Jyoti Amge from India, who stands at 62.8 centimetres (2 ft 0.75 inches), and social media personality Afshin Esmaeil Ghaderzadeh from Iran, who is 65.24 cm (2 ft 1.6 inches).
The world's shortest non-mobile woman is Wildine Aumoithe, a Haitian-American who is 72 cm (2 ft 3.5 in). As of 2021, she was studying to be a pharmacist.
At present, there is no non-mobile male record holder.
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