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Tiny Liechtenstein Loses A Precious Quarter-Acre

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

To a different foreign land now with its own point of pride. Not poetry, in this case, but size. Liechtenstein is that tiny principality in Europe with a population smaller than Hoboken, N.J. The country is a grand total of 62 square miles. And now it's getting even smaller.

Last month, when the government altered its official map, bits and pieces of land disappeared altogether, making it a quarter of an acre smaller. But as the Wall Street Journal reports, no one seemed to mind. In fact, Liechtensteiners pride themselves on their tiny homeland. Where else in the world could the head of state invite all the citizens up to the castle for a beer? Ah, Liechtenstein. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Prior to moving into the host position in the fall of 2012, Martin started as National Security Correspondent for NPR in May 2010. In that position she covered both defense and intelligence issues. She traveled regularly to Iraq and Afghanistan with the Secretary of Defense, reporting on the US wars and the effectiveness of the Pentagon's counterinsurgency strategy. Martin also reported extensively on the changing demographic of the US military – from the debate over whether to allow women to fight in combat units – to the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. Her reporting on how the military is changing also took her to a US Air Force base in New Mexico where the military for a rare look at how the military trains drone pilots.
Rachel Martin
Rachel Martin is a host of Morning Edition, as well as NPR's morning news podcast Up First.