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Jyoti Amge (India) is one of the most iconic members of the Guinness World Records family. 🤩
In 2009 she became the shortest teenager living (female) after being measured at 61.95 cm (2 ft) tall.
On her 18th birthday in 2011, Jyoti officially became the shortest female living (mobile). She had grown less than one centimetre, measuring 62.8 cm (2 ft 0.72 in).
Jyoti also achieved her lifelong dream of becoming an actress in 2014. After appearing as character Ma Petite in American Horror Story: Freak Show, Jyoti became the world’s shortest actress.
Read more about her record-breaking journey in Jyoti's Hall of Fame profile.
Being one of the shortest people ever can sometimes be challenging in a world designed for average-sized people.
The 14 pictures below show just how large the world can feel for Jyoti. 😲
Here’s Jyoti standing on top of a police car whilst speaking into a microphone. 🎤
Jyoti was helping the police communicate the message of how important it was for people to wash their hands and wear facemasks during the COVID-19 pandemic. 😷
Standing at just over two feet, Jyoti is shorter than an average two-year-old.
Jyoti loves being around babies and thinks they're super cute. 👶
In 2010, Jyoti met Khagendra Thapa Magar (Nepal), who was the shortest living teenager (male) at the same time Jyoti was the shortest living teenager (female).
Khagendra went on to be the world’s shortest male living (mobile), before sadly passing away in 2020.
"When I met the shortest man in the world and got to know him, I felt very happy," said Jyoti.
"I felt more included and more satisfied that there is somebody like me too."
When visiting Venice, Italy in 2011, Jyoti spotted these big birds (big from her perspective) 😜
Jyoti is often carried around by her family so she can see the world from their point of view. 👪
Having such a supportive family is one of the reasons Jyoti has such a positive personality. 😊
Jyoti’s father said that people “used to tease her”, but since achieving her record, Jyoti has been happier than ever.
“With this she has got everything she ever wanted. She is very happy and so are we.”
An average can of soda is just 11.52 cm (4.5 in) tall, but it requires two hands for Jyoti to hold.
Jyoti has two university degrees in English Literature and she has also taken acting and dance classes. 📚
However, Jyoti’s school experience was probably a lot different to yours.
In addition to needing her own special desk and chair, Jyoti’s sister needed to go to college with her to carry her among crowds of larger students.
Despite the challenges, Jyoti never gave up and she achieved her dream of becoming a Hollywood actress. 💃
If she ever starts losing her eyesight, Jyoti will need specially-made spectacles! 😎
The Guinness World Records book is 30.3 cm (11.9 in) tall, roughly half of Jyoti’s total height.
To get around her home city of Nagpur, Maharashtra, Jyoti often sits at the front of her parents’ motorbike, holding onto the middle of the handlebars. 🛵
For Jyoti, holding an iPhone probably feels similar to how an iPad feels to you. 📱
Jyoti needs to use both hands whenever she wants to have a hot drink. An average coffee cup, like the one above, has a height of approximately 9.5 cm (3.74 in). ☕️
Talking of hands, this picture shows just how much smaller Jyoti’s hands are compared to an average-sized person.
How do your hands compare? ✋
In 2018, Jyoti met the world’s tallest man living, Sultan Kösen, in Egypt.
Sultan is 251 cm (8 ft 2.8 in) tall. That’s four times taller than Jyoti!
Their size difference is so great that the length of Sultan’s feet is more than Jyoti’s height. 🦶️
"I never knew people could be so oddly different. After meeting them I felt happy that there were others like me too."
QUIZZES: How many of the world's shortest people and tallest people do you know?