Friday, December 16, 2011

  Shortest woman: Jyoti Amge sets world record (Video)

 NAGPUR, India -- At just 62.8 cm (24.7 in), Indian student Jyoti Amge is shorter than the average 2-year-old - and sets the new world record for the Shortest woman, according to World Record Academy (www.worldrecordacademy.com).

  Photo: Jyoti Amge, The World's shortest Woman.
  ( enlarge photo )

  The Guinness world record for the shortest woman living (mobile) is Jyoti Amge (India, born 16 Dec 1993), who measured 62.8 cm (24.7 in) in Nagpur, India.

Guinness World Records also recognized the world record for the shortest ever female, set by Pauline Musters, known as Princess Pauline (Netherlands). She measured 30 cm (12 in) at birth. At nine years of age she was 55 cm (21.5 in) tall and weighed only 1.5 kg (3 lb 5 oz).

  Guinness representatives visiting from London measured her at a ceremony attended by about 30 relatives and friends in the town of Nagpur, in Maharashtra state.

  A teary-eyed Amge, dressed in one of her finest saris, called the honor an "extra birthday present" and said she felt grateful for being small, as it had brought her recognition. After receiving a plaque, she and her guests cut a birthday cake.

  "I have put Nagpur on the world map. Now everyone will know where it is," said Amge, who says she dreams of one day becoming a Bollywood film star as well as pursuing a university degree after she finishes high school this year.

 "I want to be an actor," she said.

   She measured 7 centimeters (2.76 inches) shorter than 22-year-old American Bridgette Jordan, who had held the Guinness world record title since September.

  Until Friday she was considered the world's shortest teenager, but in turning 18 qualified for the new title.

  She has grown less than 1 centimeter (0.4 inch) in the last two years, Guinness world records said in a statement, and will grow no more due to a form of dwarfism called achondroplasia.