- Europe is home to the top five tallest countries, but the UK isn't one of them
- READ MORE: World's most polluted countries revealed
By Chloe Louise
Published: | Updated:
Latvia is home to the tallest women in the world, figures show.
Females born in 1996 in the Baltic state are, on average, 169.80cm — oraround 5ft 7in.
UK women, for comparison, measure 164.4cm, roughly 5ft 5in.
This puts Britain 38th in the international league table.
The US ranks 42nd, with its women being 163.54cm (5ft 4in) tall, on average.
Results shown above were calculated by dividing the sum of total heights by the female population
Height data, shared by Our World in Data, an Oxford University-backed platform, is available for 195 countries and involves millions of participants.
Results were calculated by dividing the sum of total heights by the female population.
Sharing their results, the Our World in Data team wrote: 'Poor nutrition and illness in childhood limit human growth.
'As a consequence, average height of a population is strongly correlated with living standards in a population.'
The ten tallest countries
- Latvia - 169.80cm
- Netherlands - 168.72cm
- Estonia - 168.67cm
- Czechia - 168.46cm
- Serbia - 167.69cm
- Slovakia - 167.47cm
- Denmark - 166.62cm
- Lithuania - 166.35cm
- Belarus - 166.34cm
- Ukraine - 166.05cm
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The ten smallest countries
- Guatemala - 149.39cm
- Philippines - 149.61cm
- Bangladesh - 150.79cm
- Nepal - 150.86cm
- East Timor - 151.15cm
- Madagascar - 151.18cm
- Laos - 151.27cm
- Marshall Islands - 151.31cm
- India -152.59cm
- Indonesia - 152.80cm
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But height can't be used as a direct measure of well-being. Researchers believe genetic factors largely determine an individual's height.
Their results shown that, as with men, the tallest women in the world are European.
Rounding off the top five isthe Netherlands (168.72cm),Estonia (168.67cm),Czechia (168.46 cm) and Serbia (167.69cm).
At the other end of the scale, Guatemala is home to the smallest women in the world — 149.39cm (4ft 11in), on average.
It was followed by the Philippines (149.61cm), Bangladesh (150.79cm), Nepal (150.86cm) and East Timor (151.15cm).
According to Guinness World Records, the world's tallest woman is Rumeysa Gelgi, from Turkey, who stands at a towering 215.16 cm (7ft 0.7in).
The world's shortest woman is Jyoti Amge, from Nagpur, India, who is 62.8cm (2ft 0.7in).
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