If you meant population, you should have said population. The phrase "postage-stamp-sized European countries" is pretty broadly understood and used to mean thin

If you meant population, you should have said population. The phrase "postage-stamp-sized European countries" is pretty broadly understood and used to mean things like Andorra, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, &c. By no stretch of the imagination is interpreting a widely-used phrase as it's widely used "being intentionally obtuse."