Guinness Officials In Nepal To See If Chandra Bahadur Dangi Is World's Shortest Man (VIDEO)

A 72-year-old man may soon have a new title: The world's shortest man.

The man in question is Chandra Bahadur Dangi, who lives in a remote valley in southwestern Nepal, and, according to some sources is just 22 inches tall.

Officials from Guinness World Records are currently on their way to Dangi's village to verify the claim or see if it's just a tall tale.

While it might seem strange that someone as short as Dangi could go unnoticed for so long, MyRepublica.com claims that was because he lived in such a remote village with no access to communication.

Guinness World Records editor-in-chief Craig Glenday plans to make the trip personally and is currently "making provisions for medical professionals to assist us in the verification," according to the Telegraph.com.

If the claim holds up, that means that Dangi is shorter than Junrey Balawing from the Philippines -- who, at 23.5 inches, currently holds the title for shortest living man -- as well as the shortest living woman, India's Jyoti Amge, who measures just 24.7 inches.

In addition, Dangi might also beat Gul Mohammed of India, who, at 22.5 inches, was considered the shortest adult human to ever have their age and height verified by Guinness World Records before he died in 1997 at the age of 40.

If Dangi is verified, it also marks the return of the "shortest man title" to Nepal. The previous record holder before Balawing earned the honor was another Nepali, Khagendra Thapa Magar, who was measured in 2010 at slightly more than 26.3 inches, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

WORLD'S SHORTEST PEOPLE GALLERY

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• World's Shortest Man Meets World's Shortest Woman

  To promote the newest edition of Guinness World Records, Chandra Bahadur Dangi, who at 21.5 inches is the world's shortest man, met the world's Shortest Woman, Jyoti Amge, who measures 24.7 inches.

• World's Smallest Woman: Jyoti Amge

  Jyoti Amge, 18, of Nagpur, India, who is 24.7 inches tall, has just been declared the world's smallest living woman. Amge is a budding fashionista who customizes her own clothes and jewelry. She is also pursuing a career as an actress in Bollywood films.

• World's Smallest Siblings: Brad And Bridgette Jordan

  Bridgette Jordan, 22, of Sandoval, Ill., who is 2 feet 3 inches tall, and her brother Brad, 20, who is 3 feet 2.5 inches tall, are the world's shortest siblings. Bridgette loves dancing and cheerleading while Brad enjoys gymnastics and doing magic tricks.

• World's Smallest Mom: Stacey Herald

  Stacey Herald of Dry Ridge, Ky., is only 28.5 inches tall, but that hasn't stopped her from giving birth to three kids in the last five years. Or from running a business called "Katari's Corner," named after her oldest daughter, that sells used baby items.

• World's Smallest Living Man: Junrey Balawing

  The shortest living man, the Philippines' Junrey Balawing, 18, who measures 23.5 inches tall, has limited mobility preventing him from following in his dad's bigger footsteps and becoming a blacksmith. But he is developing into quite the foodie with an appreciation for chocolate and beer -- but only in small quantities.

• World's Smallest Married Couple: Douglas Maistre Breger da Silva and Claudia Pereira Rocha

  Douglas Maistre Breger da Silva, 42, and Claudia Pereira Rocha, 39, of Curitiba, Brazil, are the shortest married couple in the world. He measures 35 inches tall and she is an inch taller. Thirteen years of happy marriage is an even more impressive feat for anyone, tall or short.

• World's Smallest Firefighter

  Vince Brasco poses for a picture at a firefighter training station on Dec. 14, 2011 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Firemen are typically big with lots of braun but dwarf Vince Brasco is showing them it's not the size that counts. Determined Vince, 19, from Pittsburgh, USA, has been a volunteer fireman in his local area for four years and mans the hose at neighborhood blazes with the rest of his crew. Despite being only 4ft 2in, tough Vince, who works part time in an electronics store and is studying to become a nurse, can bench press over three times his own 6-stone 3lb weight, lifting a whopping 265 lbs. at his local gym. His strength - and his determination to never let his height stop him from doing anything - means he is powerful enough to wield the fire hose and go on rescue jobs.

Comments

[Burgandy Mechanic]

05:06 PM on 02/09/2012

It kinda looks like he's sinking in quick sand.

[Ray Russelburg]

08:33 AM on 02/08/2012

Does anyone else think his height looks kinda... fake? I don't know but I will wait for guiness' official results. Looks to me kinda like he is squatting and "duck walking".....

Your hands hang down to right around your hips, his , down to his knees..... a sign of him squatting?

[msferrari2000]

04:11 AM on 02/08/2012

" Honey I Shrunk the Kids "

[g5user1usa]

12:38 AM on 02/08/2012

I hear he made a living from up-skirting with a video camera. I wonder what the Nepalese word for "shorty" is? He must have heard it a lot but now he has the last laugh of making it into the record books. It must be a tough life where people are always making fun of you for no reason at all.

[Robert Grif]

10:30 PM on 02/07/2012

Jyoti Amge could get a job as a Barbie model. She is cute and has a great smile.

[stjoshy]

09:09 PM on 02/07/2012

why isnt anybody helping that dude out of that quicksand??

[XS VENOM]

07:52 PM on 02/07/2012

Dangi looks like a walking head. His head is bigger than his whole body. It looks like it is a great effort for him to walk around. I saw the video below of the short woman and at least she kinda looks normal. Her head is the appropriate size for her body. As for the 18 year old short man he looks like a little baby. He too has a big head but not like Dangi. Dangi looks like a walking head.

[Ramkshrestha]

06:58 PM on 02/07/2012

Congratulation Dangi

[Linda Wheeler Weigel]

04:53 PM on 02/07/2012

Those two men are just adorable! The second one is so cute, he looks like a baby really!

[siegfried728711]

04:20 PM on 02/07/2012

imagine this man having a wife his size or shorter & she giving birth , now, that baby would be the size of a thumb. and if it were a boy they would rightly call him " Tom Thumb, or a girl, they would call her : Tom Thumb.

[RustamnTanya Qazi]

10:29 AM on 02/07/2012

Good thing they found him...

[siegfried728711]

04:13 PM on 02/07/2012

Rustamn, yeah or they would have stepped on him...

[acarioti]

10:16 AM on 02/07/2012

Very nice, but why such a 'short' story?

[lneslusan]

08:13 AM on 02/07/2012

Where was he when they were casting for Lord of the RIngs? Actaully he might be a bit short for a hobbit.

[abbley]

08:11 AM on 02/07/2012

This is nitpicky of me, I know, but instead of Weird News, shouldn't this be under Health or Life or something. Just saying. And I think Jyoti Amge is one of the cutest people I have ever seen!!!

[siegfried728711]

04:23 PM on 02/07/2012

abbley, take him home to mom & say " look what I found, can I keep him , & mom would say " ok, but at night put him out......

[TBro61]

04:19 AM on 02/07/2012

She's such a doll