So basically I was bored one night and started to wonder if "small town" Davis is really as small as it claims. I picked 8 of the world’s smallest countries and superimposed their borders over Davis for size comparison. I guess if you’re into geography you might find the results interesting. If you're not familiar with Davis it lies just west of Sacramento, California.
 #1 Vatican City
| What better way to size up Davis than to compare it to the world’s smallest country, the Vatican. Here we see the Vatican comfortably fits into downtown Davis and covers an area of just .17 sq miles. The entire country would easily fit within the U.C. Davis Campus visible to the left. With just above 800 citizens, the Vatican also looses the population battle to Davis’ 64,000! | .JPG) |
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 #2 Monaco
| The principality of Monaco comes in second on this list and is also the world’s second smallest independent nation. It’s total area is .78 square miles which allows it to fit on the U.C. Davis campus. In terms of width the whole country rarely extends more than a few blocks. The population is just under half that of Davis but with all those people crammed into such a small space, it ranks first in population density. If only Davis had some beaches and a casino… | .JPG) |
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 #3 San Marino
| The most serene republic of San Marino just barely covers the width of Davis but has double the land area at 24 sq miles. A drive across Davis at its widest point is equal to a drive across the republic. The population is a bit less than half that of Davis (roughly 31,000). San Marino boasts it’s the world’s oldest surviving sovereign nation but I say the hell with that… Davis is the most bicycle friendly town in the world! |  |
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 #4 Liechtenstein
| Liechtenstein sizes up Davis for sure… well it’s not really that wide but at 61.960 sq miles. It reaches all the way from Woodland to Dixon. The population of roughly 35,000 is just above half that of Davis but given that most of their land is mountainous I guess it’s excusable. The national capital Vaduz would easily fit within the city of Davis and is shown right over campus on this map. | .JPG) |
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 #5 Malta
| Malta consists of three islands in the Mediterranean, the largest of which measures 95 sq miles. That’s almost big enough to fit 10 Davis’. Malta also destroys Davis in population with about 413,000 people. Don’t worry there is some good news… Malta’s capital Valletta only has 6,100 people and its land area is just .3 sq miles which easily fits within the U.C. Davis campus. | .JPG) |
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 #6 Barbados
| At 167 sq miles Barbados easily consumes Davis. A drive from downtown Davis to downtown Sacramento is roughly equal to a drive across Barbados at its widest point. The capital of Bridgetown also beats Davis at 15 sq miles. Davis has about six times the population density of Barbados however. Too bad it doesn’t have the beaches. | .JPG) |
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 #7 Andorra
| Hiding in the Pyrenees, Andorra sits waiting to pounce on Davis. With 180.55 sq miles and 84,000 people an Andorran victory seems assured. But while Andorra struggles to suck sustenance from its unforgiving mountain valleys, Davis is surrounded by farmland… rich farmland. Point for the Aggies. Besides, Andorra’s capital “Andorra la Vella” is about the same size as Davis but with less than half the people. | .JPG) |
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 #8 Singapore
| Yeah so, this was really no contest. With 5 million people and 274.2 sq miles… I realized it was probably time to stop these comparisons. Still, a drive from Davis to Woodland basically gets you across Singapore from south to north. |  |
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