Top 10 Shortest People in History

Countdown · 9 min read

Height is one of the most striking ways human beings differ from one another, and the ten people on this list sit at the very bottom of the recorded spectrum. Every figure here stood under 71 centimetres — smaller than a suitcase, shorter than a supermarket trolley, and in the most extreme case not much taller than a bowling pin. These are individuals verified by Guinness World Records and documented in medical literature, and their stories are as remarkable as their sizes. The challenge with numbers like "54.6 cm" is that they are almost impossible to feel on a page. That is exactly what NGFINITY is built for: a shared ruler that places every figure against the same visible centimetre scale, and a 3D scene that lets you walk around them. What follows is a countdown from the tenth shortest person ever recorded down to the shortest.

The Countdown — 10 to 1

#10 — Edward Niño Hernández 72.10 cm

Colombian man Edward Niño Hernández was first recognised by Guinness World Records in 2010 as the world's shortest living man at 70.21 centimetres. In February 2020, Guinness remeasured him to reinstate his title as the world's shortest living mobile man, and his official verified height was updated to 72.10 cm — the figure Guinness now publishes.

Even at #10 — the tallest person on this list — 72.10 cm is less than half the height of the average adult male. Placed against NGFINITY's centimetre ruler, he reaches barely past the 70 cm mark, while a standard reference figure of 175 cm towers well above him.

#9 — Lin Yü-chih 67.5 cm

Taiwanese man Lin Yü-chih was recognised as one of the shortest living people in the world during the 2000s at 67.5 centimetres. He became a well-known public figure in Taiwan, and his story helped build awareness of primordial dwarfism across East Asia.

On the 2D ruler view, the difference between him and the average adult is stark — Lin's full height sits just under the 70 cm line, while the average person's chest is already past 120 cm.

#8 — Khagendra Thapa Magar 67.08 cm

Nepali man Khagendra Thapa Magar was officially verified by Guinness World Records in 2010 as the world's shortest man, at 67.08 centimetres. He was born in Baglung, Nepal, and became a national figure after his record was confirmed. He passed away in 2020 at the age of 27.

At 67.08 cm, he was fractionally shorter than Lin Yü-chih — just 4 millimetres apart on the ruler — which makes both of them perfect examples of how much difference a few millimetres of height can represent when comparing people at this scale.

#7 — Afshin Ghaderzadeh 65.24 cm

Iranian man Afshin Esmaeil Ghaderzadeh was officially recognised by Guinness World Records in 2022 as the world's shortest living man. He measures 65.24 centimetres — a fraction over two feet tall.

His record was verified in Dubai and made international headlines as one of the most extreme height records confirmed in the 21st century. On the NGFINITY ruler, his full height falls a few centimetres short of the 70 cm mark, which is roughly the length of a typical 6-month-old infant, while a standard reference figure towers well over a metre above him.

#6 — Madge Bester 65 cm

South African woman Madge Bester was, for a period, recognised as the world's shortest living woman, standing 65 centimetres tall. She was a vocal advocate for the visibility and dignity of short-statured people, and her record drew attention to primordial dwarfism in southern Africa.

At 65 cm she is just barely shorter than Afshin Ghaderzadeh — a couple of millimetres apart — a reminder that at this end of the scale, tiny differences matter. On a shared ruler, the two are almost indistinguishable.

#5 — Lucía Zárate 62 cm

Mexican woman Lucía Zárate, born in 1864, was one of the earliest documented cases of severe primordial dwarfism. She stood 62 centimetres at her adult height and toured Europe and the United States as a performer during the 19th century.

Zárate's height was carefully measured by doctors of her era — which makes her one of the most reliably documented figures on this list, more than a century before modern Guinness verification.

#4 — Pauline Musters 61 cm

Dutch woman Pauline Musters, born in 1876, is the shortest woman ever recorded at 61 centimetres. She was exhibited across Europe as "The Princess Pauline" during the late 19th century and died at just 19 years old.

One point worth noting: during her lifetime, Pauline was measured at around 55 cm. The 61 cm figure most commonly cited today came from a post-mortem measurement taken in New York City, where her body had elongated. Guinness's record lists 61 cm as her peak figure, but her standing living height was closer to 55 cm — a useful reminder that historical height records are sometimes the product of measurement conditions as much as the person's actual stature.

#3 — Junrey Balawing 59.9 cm

Filipino man Junrey Balawing was recognised by Guinness World Records as the world's shortest living man in 2011. He measured just under 60 centimetres — about the height of a standard house cat standing on its hind legs. He was born in Zamboanga del Norte and became a local celebrity in the Philippines after his record was confirmed. He passed away in 2020.

At 59.9 cm he sits just barely under the 60 cm line, which on the ruler places him just below the height of a bowling pin.

#2 — Gul Mohammed 57 cm

Indian man Gul Mohammed stood 57 centimetres tall and held the title of the world's shortest man before Dangi was verified. He lived in New Delhi and worked as a waiter in a hotel dining room — a job he was famously well-suited to because he could walk under most tables.

His height remains one of the most extreme ever measured in an adult human. On the shared ruler view, his full height is less than a third of the way up to a 175 cm reference figure.

#1 — Chandra Bahadur Dangi 54.6 cm

Nepali man Chandra Bahadur Dangi holds the Guinness World Record for the shortest man who ever lived. He stood 54.6 centimetres — a little over 21 inches — and was officially verified by Guinness in 2012 at the age of 72, making him also the oldest person ever to receive the title.

He was born in a remote village in Nepal and was unaware that he was unusually short until a researcher discovered him in 2012. He died in 2015. At 54.6 cm, his entire height is less than the length of an average adult forearm — a fact that becomes viscerally clear the moment you place him beside a standard 175 cm reference figure on the NGFINITY canvas.