RECORD-BREAKER: Photo of World’s Shortest Man among 2012′s best

Chandra Bahadur Dangi, 72, is the world’s shortest man. Prakash Mathema/AFP/Getty Images files

VANCOUVER DESI

As the calendar counts down to the end of 2012, many news agencies are starting to put together their “Best of” lists, including the best photographs of the year.

Over at AFP, included among images of the biggest news events of the year, including the strife in Gaza and U.S. President Barack Obama’s re-election, is a scenic snapshot of someone much smaller – literally.

Nepal resident Chandra Bahadur Dangi broke records this year for being both the world’s shortest living man and the world’s shortest person every recorded in Guinness World Records history.

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Dangi, 72, was confirmed by officials earlier in 2012 as measuring 21 and a half inches tall.

According to the U.K.’s Daily Mail, Dangi wants to use his newfound fame to travel across his native country as well as abroad.

Dangi overtook the previous shortest man, Junrey Balawing of the Philippines, who is 23.5 inches tall. Balawing had claimed the title last year from Khagendra Thapa Magar, 18, whose height is 26 inches tall.

The photo that AFP is running in its end-of-year list accompanies this article. It shows Dangi walking near his home in Reemkholi village in Dang district, some 540 kilometres southwest of Kathmandu on Feb. 21, 2012.