The smallest archipelago nation in the world by land area is Tuvalu.
Tuvalu is a Polynesian country in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. It consists of nine main islands: six atolls and three reef islands, scattered across a large stretch of ocean. Together, they cover only about 25–26 square kilometres of land.
Tuvalu’s small size is easy to confuse with Nauru, which has less land but is a single raised coral island rather than an archipelagic nation. The Maldives and Seychelles are also archipelago countries, but both have substantially larger total land areas.
The islands are extremely low-lying. Tuvalu’s highest natural point is only about 4.6 metres above sea level on Niulakita, making the country especially vulnerable to coastal flooding, storm surges and rising seas. Its land area is tiny, but its surrounding exclusive economic zone covers hundreds of thousands of square kilometres.