Few people know which city is the smallest on the planet. Based on the Guinness Book of Records, this title is carried by Hum, which is located in Croatia. Only 23 people now live in it, most of whom only spend the night here and go to work outside it. The town appeared on the ruins of an ancient Roman village. According to local legends, the giants made a fortress of several stones that remained with them after the creation of other structures on the Mirna River.
The smallest city in the world, many historians call the museum, which boasts documentary history dating back almost a thousand years. The official version of the appearance of the fortress says that it was erected by Count Ulrich the First during the time of French power in this territory. The first historical memory of Hume dates back to 1102. Then, according to the deed of gift, signed by Count Ulrich the Second, he was transferred to the possession of the Aquilian Patriarchate, along with several more castles. It should be noted that in all documents the city was designated as a fortress until the seventeenth century, inclusive.
In the early Middle Ages, Hum began to take on its present form. The smallest city in the world is surrounded by an ancient fortress wall, which is well preserved to our time. True, it was slightly damaged after the town in 1412 became part of the Venetian Republic. You can get inside only one way - through the gate, built back in 1562. On the territory of the village there are twenty buildings located on two small streets paved with stone, and a cemetery. It should be noted that the smallest city in the world for all the time of its existence developed exclusively inside the fortress walls, beyond which nothing was built.
The highest flowering of Huma fell at the end of the fifteenth - beginning of the sixteenth century. Then the population was about three hundred people. However, in 1618 the town was burned down and heavily rebuilt. Starting from the nineteenth century, when the Church of the Ascension of Mary was built, the time seemed to stop here, because the appearance of Huma has not changed to this day.
The smallest city in the world has all the modern urban attributes. There is a post office, a square, two churches, a shop and even a museum, which shows the atmosphere of ordinary rural housing in medieval Croatia. Huma also has its own mayor, whose elections are held annually, in the month of June, during the celebration of City Day. Only men, residents of the village and 33 villages nearby, have the right to take part in them. It should be noted that this position is symbolic. The main responsibilities of the mayor are to resolve disputes between local residents. As a rule, he has another, basic job.
As for domestic champions, the smallest city in Russia is Magas, which has been the capital of Ingushetia for more than twenty years. The population as of 2010 was 524 people. The village, which was founded in 1995, is located on the river Sunzhe, at an altitude of 560 meters above sea level.