18-year-old in India named world's shortest woman (798 hits)
(CNN) -- Standing just over 2 feet tall, Jyoti Amge of Nagpur, India, was confirmed Friday as the world's shortest living woman.
Guinness World Records, known as the global authority on record-breaking -- albeit odd -- achievements, flew to India on Amge's 18th birthday to take final measurements and confirm the new record. The title previously belonged to Bridgette Jordan, 22, of the United States, who measures 2 feet, 3 inches tall.
Amge's birthday was celebrated at a party in Nagpur with cake and guests from her hometown as well as Guinness representatives from London. Amge, wearing a purple sari and celebratory henna, stood proudly next to a copy of the 2012 Guinness record book and her official certificate, which was almost as big as Amge herself.
Amge, at 2 feet, 0.06 inches tall, is the same height as an average 2-year-old as a result of being born with a form of dwarfism called achondroplasia. But Amge is every bit an 18-year-old woman, attending a regular high school and dreaming of becoming a Bollywood star. She will star in two Bollywood movies next year, according to Guinness.
"It is wonderful to celebrate my 18th birthday with a new world record. It's like an added birthday present," Guinness quoted Amge as saying. "I feel grateful to be this size, after all, if I weren't small and had not achieved these world records, I might never have been able to visit Japan and Europe and many other wonderful countries."
The record for the shortest woman in history remains with Pauline Musters, who died in 1895 at 2 feet tall even.
