The 12 shortest adults whose heights were measured and recognised by Guinness World Records, ranked shortest first. Several lived with medical conditions that affect growth, and every person here is listed for the record they hold, not for how they are seen.
Pictured: Junrey Balawing of the Philippines, in a Guinness World Records video, #3 at 59.93 cm (the #1 entry, Chandra Bahadur Dangi, has no video from an authoritative channel).
| Rank | Name | Height (cm) | Height (ft/in) | Born | Died | Country | Sex | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chandra Bahadur Dangi | 54.6 cm | 1 ft 9.5 in | 1939* | 2015 | Nepal | Male | Deceased |
| 2 | Gul Mohammed | 57 cm | 1 ft 10.4 in | 1957 | 1997 | India | Male | Deceased |
| 3 | Junrey Balawing | 59.93 cm | 1 ft 11.6 in | 1993 | 2020 | Philippines | Male | Deceased |
| 4 | Pauline Musters | 61 cm | 2 ft 0.0 in | 1876* | 1895 | Netherlands | Female | Deceased |
| 5 | Jyoti Amge | 62.8 cm | 2 ft 0.7 in | 1993 | Living | India | Female | Living |
| 6 | Madge Bester | 65 cm | 2 ft 1.6 in | 1963 | 2018 | South Africa | Female | Deceased |
| 7 | Afshin Esmaeil Ghaderzadeh | 65.24 cm | 2 ft 1.7 in | 2002 | Living | Iran | Male | Living |
| 8 | Khagendra Thapa Magar | 67.08 cm | 2 ft 2.4 in | 1992 | 2020 | Nepal | Male | Deceased |
| 9 | Lucía Zárate | 68 cm | 2 ft 2.8 in | 1864* | 1890 | Mexico | Female | Deceased |
| 10 | Bridgette Jordan | 69 cm | 2 ft 3.2 in | 1989 | 2019 | United States | Female | Deceased |
| 11 | Edward Niño Hernández | 70.21 cm | 2 ft 3.6 in | 1986 | Living | Colombia | Male | Living |
| 12 | He Pingping | 74.61 cm | 2 ft 5.4 in | 1988 | 2010 | China | Male | Deceased |
No matching rows.
Rule and status, as of 2026-10-12. Only adults (18 or older at the time of measurement) are listed, using the height Guinness World Records or a named reputable source recognised. Unverified claims and anyone measured only as a child are excluded. An asterisk (*) marks a birth year that sources dispute or estimate (Dangi, Musters, Zárate). The three living people on the list are Jyoti Amge (shortest woman living), Afshin Esmaeil Ghaderzadeh (shortest man living, mobile) and Edward Niño Hernández; we found no newer Guinness announcement, but Guinness’s own pages are the final check.[5][7] Hernández is listed at his 2010 Guinness measurement of 70.21 cm; he was re-measured at 72.10 cm in 2020.[11] Historical heights, especially Pauline Musters’ and Lucía Zárate’s, are less certain than modern ones.
Measured at 54.6 cm (21.5 in) in Kathmandu on 26 February 2012, he is the shortest adult whose height Guinness World Records has verified, taking the title from Gul Mohammed. Guinness required three measurements within 24 hours, which averaged 54.6 cm. He said he was 72, although his exact birth year could not be documented. He died in 2015.[1]
Examined at a New Delhi hospital on 19 July 1990, he stood 57 cm and weighed 17 kg, and was recognised by Guinness as the shortest verified adult until 2012. He died in 1997 after a long struggle with asthma and bronchitis.[2]
From Sindangan in the Philippines, he was declared the world’s shortest man by Guinness on his 18th birthday in 2011, measuring 59.93 cm. His father said he stopped growing in his first year. He died in July 2020 at the age of 27.[3]
Known on stage as Princess Pauline, the Dutch performer is recorded by Guinness as the shortest woman ever, at 61 cm. Her height comes from a post-mortem measurement, and sources disagree on her birth year (1876 per Guinness; 1878 elsewhere) and on whether she was 17 or 19 when she died in New York in 1895. She is included on Guinness’s adult age.[4]
From Nagpur, India, she has achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism. Guinness measured her at 62.8 cm on her 18th birthday, 16 December 2011, and she has held the shortest woman living title ever since. She is also the shortest woman ever to act in a major television series.[5]
A disability-rights campaigner from Bloemfontein, South Africa, who had osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease) and used a wheelchair. She measured 65 cm in 1991 and was recognised as the shortest woman living. She died in 2018.[6]
Born in 2002 near Bukan in north-western Iran, he was measured in Dubai on 13 December 2022 and named the shortest man living, beating Edward Niño Hernández by 6.86 cm. As of 2026-10-12 we found no later Guinness announcement of a new holder.[7]
From Nepal, he was named the world’s shortest man on his 18th birthday, 14 October 2010, at 67.08 cm, and later held the shortest living mobile man title again. He died of pneumonia in Pokhara in January 2020, aged 27.[8]
A Mexican performer who toured the United States in the 19th century. Guinness lists her as the lightest adult on record (about 2.1 kg at 17) and gives her height as 26.8 in (68 cm), though period measurements of about 51 cm also exist, and her birth and death dates vary between sources. She died in 1890, and her condition is generally described as a type of primordial dwarfism.[9]
From Illinois, she was named the shortest woman living in September 2011, aged 22, at 69 cm, until the age rule passed the title to Jyoti Amge three months later. She and her brother Brad, who both have Majewski osteodysplastic primordial dwarfism type II, held the shortest siblings record. Wikipedia reports that she died in 2019; we found no second source for this.[10]