A TINY Pacific island nation of just 100,000 people has become the new powerhouse of the Commonwealth Games - according to a 'real' medal table which measures success in terms of a country's population.

Kiribati, situated half way between Hawaii and Australia, finds itself top of the population-based medal analysis after native David Katoatau won gold in weightlifting's 105kg Group A. He had previously finished 17th out of 21 in the same category in the 2012 Olympics.

His gold was the 310-square-mile state's first medal at a major event.

An updated unofficial table which works out the number of golds per million of population put Kiribati top with 9.9 golds as of 6pm yesterday, Grenada, with a population of 105,000, was second with 9.52, New Zealand was third with 2.69 and Scotland fourth with 2.45.

Official table-toppers England, with a population of 53.5 million, dropped from eighth to tenth in the table compiled by statistical experts in New Zealand.

Famed Scots novelist Robert Louis Stevenson spent time in 1888 and 1889 on Kiribati, then known as the Gilbert Islands, and his wife reputedly designed a new flag for the natives. But they were less than pleased with the result which was a shark with a crown on its head.

Britain discovered the islands in 1788 and they were originally named after the captain who first set foot on the islands. Kiribati was given self rule in 1971 and complete independence in 1979 under the new name.

When it comes to the overall strike rate for medals of any hue, Grenada now tops the list as its gold and bronze count equates to 19.05 medals per million of population.

Samoa (15.87) places second, and the Isle of Man (11.76) takes third, while Scotland (7.34) is in seventh position.