PHOTOS: Indian teen becomes shortest woman alive

An Indian teenager measuring just 62.8 centimeters was on Friday named the world's shortest living woman, eclipsing the previous record of Bridgette Jordan of the United States, set earlier this year.

Jyoti Amge, who turned 18 on Friday, was officially declared the world's shortest living woman (measuring less then two feet one inch) by the Guinness World Records, barely two years after she was adjudged the shortest living girl in 2009 as a 16-year-old.

Amge took the title as she celebrated her birthday with family members and friends at her residence in Hiwri Nagar in eastern part of city, located some 830 km from India's financial capital Mumbai by road.

Official adjudicator for Guinness World Records, Rob Molloy, who was in city for the last two days, measured her height thrice during his stay at different time, considering the variations that could occur in height at different time of the day.

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"Doctors measured her in the presence of Guinness representative at three different times, both standing up and lying down," family sources said.

Amge, who is also currently world's shortest teenager, could not control her joy and tears rolled down her eyes as she accepted a certificate watched by her patents Kisan and Ranjana.

The teenager, wearing a traditional dark pink sari and sporting a broad smile while posing for photographs standing atop a plastic chair said, "I'm very happy to get this record."

Molloy, who is director of television for Guinness World Records, said that he was honoured to witness the record.

"It's such a symbolic record and one of the most popular," he said. 

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Amge, who finished her high school some time back, has a form of dwarfism called achondroplasia that has restricted her height to that of an average four-month-old infant.

She has already featured in a Japanese film and another produced by National Geography channel, family sources said.

Bridgette Jordan, 22, of the US was declared the shortest living woman in September this year measuring 69.49 cms but her record could not last long as Amge turned 18 and thus became eligible to be considered for the title.

Before Jordan, the record for the shortest living woman was held by Elif Kocaman of Kadirli, Turkey, who is 28.5 inches tall. The record for shortest woman who ever lived was

Pauline Musters, of the Netherlands, who measured 24 inches when she died from pneumonia at the age of 19 in 1895.