Pokhara, Nepal:
A Nepalese teenager whose tiny stature has made him a celebrity in his homeland entered the record books as the world's shortest man on Thursday as he celebrated his 18th birthday.
Khagendra Thapa Magar, who stands just 25.8 inches (65.5 centimetres) tall and weighs 5.5 kilos, takes over from 24-year-old Edward "Nino" Hernandez from Colombia, who is almost two inches taller.
A team of adjudicators from the Guinness World Records met Magar this week and conducted exhaustive checks on his claim to the record in the picturesque Himalayan town of Pokhara in central Nepal, near the village where he grew up.
"An 18-year-old from Nepal has today been named the new world's shortest man by Guinness World Records adjudicators who flew to the country to measure him," the London-based organisation said in a statement.
"At two feet 1.8 inches, Khagendra Thapa Magar has been officially recognised as the shortest man in the world, snatching the title from 24-year-old Edward 'Nino' Hernandez from Colombia who has held the title for just five weeks."
Magar, the son of a fruit seller from rural Nepal, who dreams of marrying and travelling the world in his wife's handbag, will receive his official Guinness World Records certificate in a short ceremony on Thursday.
He has met the Prime Minister on several occasions, been named a tourism ambassador and hit headlines across the world when he travelled to New York and London last month on a publicity drive.
His family had previously laid claim to the record for Nagar, but the teenager needed to reach his 18th birthday before being officially recognised as the smallest man.
In Pokhara, a lakeside town popular with tourists, shouts of recognition greeted the teenager wherever he went this week, and Magar's father said his son was enjoying the attention.
"Khagendra may be small, but his size has earned him a big name," Rup Bahadur Thapa Magar told AFP.
"People are always so nice to him. They come up and ask to have their photograph taken with him. It makes us feel that he is loved, and he likes it too. Khagendra is a true blessing from God."
Magar senior, who runs a fruit shop in the family's village in central Nepal, said he did not know what caused his son to stop growing.
But reports say that the teenager suffers from primordial dwarfism, a condition that typically reduces life expectancy to as little as 20 years.
"He was so tiny when he was born that he could fit in the palm of your hand, and it was very hard to bathe him because he was so small," said his father. (AFP)