my $limit = $array[0]; for(my $i = 1; $i <= $#array; $i++) { my $chk = $array[$i]; $limit = $chk if($chk->[0] lt $limit->[0] || ($chk->[0] eq $limit->[0] && $chk->[1] lt $limit->[1])); } print "Smallest is $limit->[1]\n";