Smallest town in the world is just 100 metres long and only has 50 residents

If you go to a town, it can be difficult to see everything the place has to offer in just a day.

You wouldn't have that problem in the world's smallest town, and we're not talking about one of those models where none of the buildings go higher than your shin.

You can have a look around in the video below:

Tucked into a region of Croatia, to enter this tiny town that's only around 100 metres long is to step back in time and get a look at what the history of the place really was.

The world's smallest town is a place called Hum, in the Istria region which is the most north-western part of Croatia.

According to legend, Hum was built a long time ago by giants who thought they'd found a pretty nice part of the world and decided to build homes there, finally constructing Hum once they'd run out of big stones and had to make do with smaller ones.

Luís Henrique Boucault/Getty Images

That's probably not true, but the first mention of the tiny town comes in 1102 at which time it was called Cholm.

The settlement pretty much started life as a watchtower, a place for a few people to live and keep watch to make sure there wasn't a surprise army on the way.

Built to house those who kept watch and their families, the town did add a bell tower in 1552 and a parish church in 1802, because apparently if the year doesn't end in a '2', it's not getting built in Hum.

The entire town is enclosed by walls, with pretty much nothing built outside them, meaning everything inside the walls is a well preserved example of historical architecture.

Getty Stock Photo

The place itself is basically just a couple of streets and a handful of residents.

Some tourists have said it really depends on what time of year you show up for how many actually live there, while the 2011 census had it with a population of 30.

A 2021 census saw that number climb to 52, and for a town as small as Hum it's a wonder where they're putting them all.

As for what makes this town a town when it's smaller than all but the tiniest of villages and hamlets, perhaps the answer is that it just is.

Topics: Weird, World News, Travel

Joe Harker

Joe graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Journalism and worked for Reach before joining the LADbible Group. When not writing he enjoys the nerdier things in life like painting wargaming miniatures and chatting with other nerds on the internet. He's also spent a few years coaching fencing. Contact him via [email protected]

@MrJoeHarker