Do you know what nation has the rarest passport in the world?
I’ll pause while you think it over, but there’s no possible way you could even guess it.
The answer is The Sovereign Military Order of Malta, which goes by the much easier name to remember Knights of Malta.
This religious Catholic order has been around for 1,000 years, and has active humanitarian “refugee camps and disaster relief programs in some 120 countries around the world.” according to an article on CNN.
The Sovereign Military Order of Malta is actually a sovereign nation that has observer status with the United Nations. They have their own constitution, and make their own stamps, currency and passports. They even issue license plates, but ironically they don’t actually have any roads for their citizens to drive on. That’s because the only property the order still partially owns is Fort St. Angelo, located on the island country of the Republic of Malta.
The passport is crimson in color, and has gold lettering spelling out the organization’s name in French “Ordre Souverain Militaire de Malte” with a picture of their crest.
There are only approximately 500 of these diplomatic passports in circulation, and they are reserved for members of the Sovereign Council, leaders of diplomatic missions around the world, and their families.
This makes The Sovereign Military Order of Malta the rarest passport in the world.
