Which Countries Are The Least Visited In The World?

The list of the most visited countries in the world is a who’s who of popular and accessible vacation destinations, with France, the U.S., China, Spain and Italy all in the top five positions. Of course they are, they’re big, they’re (mostly) rich in culture, and sadly enough, the majority are home to a popular destination with a famous mouse as its mascot. But for the truly independent, off-the-beaten-path, I-bet-you’ve-never-been-there traveler, wouldn’t you like to know about the least visited countries in the world?

Well, we’ve got you covered for your trip planning. Norwegian CEO and travel enthusiast Gunnar Garfors decided to extrapolate the data from a recent UNWTO report and figured out which countries receives the fewest number of travelers. Some are countries you probably have never heard of, and some you’ve heard of but wouldn’t be surprised they’re on the list given the current political and military conditions around the world.

The record-holder for the least visited country is Naura, a small island that is part of Micronesia, which boasts an open phospate mine and little else. In 2011, Naura only received 200 visitors. Coming in at second was Somalia with 500 visitors (a decade-long war does tend to put a dent on domestic tourismz), followed by Tuvalu (1,200 visitors), Kiribati (4,700 visitors) and the Marshall Islands (5,000 visitors). Call me crazy, but an open pit mine and the likelihood of not running into any other visitors sounds like a dream, but that may just be me.

The full list of the bottom 10 are as follows:

1) Nauru
2) Somalia
3) Tuvalu
4) Kiribati
5) Marshall Islands
6) Equatorial Guinea
7) Turkmenistan
8) Sao Tome & Principe
9) Comoros
10) Afghanistan