Landlocked country
A landlocked country is country with no access to any oceans or seas. As an example, Austria is landlocked. France is not landlocked because it has access to the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean. A sea is also landlocked if does not have access to an ocean. This is also called an endorheic basin. As an example, the Caspian Sea is landlocked. The Gulf of Mexico is not landlocked because it has access to the Atlantic Ocean.
If a country is landlocked by landlocked countries (surrounded by landlocked countries), then it is doubly landlocked. Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan are the only two doubly landlocked countries in the world.
List of landlocked countries and landlocked de facto states
Country | Area (km2) | Population | Continent | Region | Neighbouring countries | Number of countries | Number of countries with ocean access |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Afghanistan | 652,230 | 33,369,945 | Asia | Southern Asia | China, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan,[a] Uzbekistan[d] | 6 | 3 |
Andorra | 468 | 77,543 | Europe | Southern Europe | France and Spain | 2 | 2 |
Armenia | 29,743 | 3,000,756 | Asia | Western Asia | Azerbaijan,[a] Georgia, Iran, and Turkey | 4 | 3 |
Austria | 83,871 | 9,027,999 | Europe | Western Europe | Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Liechtenstein, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Switzerland | 8 | 3 |
Azerbaijan[a] | 86,600 | 10,353,296 | Asia | Western Asia | Armenia, Georgia, Iran, Russia, and Turkey | 5/6 | 4 |
Belarus | 207,600 | 9,255,524 | Europe | Eastern Europe | Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine | 5 | 5 |
Bhutan | 38,394 | 691,141 | Asia | Southern Asia | China and India | 2 | 2 |
Bolivia | 1,098,581 | 12,054,379 | Americas | South America | Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Peru | 5 | 4 |
Botswana | 582,000 | 2,384,246 | Africa | Southern Africa | Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe | 4 | 2 |
Burkina Faso | 274,222 | 21,935,389 | Africa | Western Africa | Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Niger, and Togo | 6 | 4 |
Burundi | 27,834 | 11,865,821 | Africa | Eastern Africa | DR Congo, Rwanda, and Tanzania | 3 | 2 |
Central African Republic | 622,984 | 5,454,533 | Africa | Middle Africa | Cameroon, Chad, the Congo, DR Congo, South Sudan, and the Sudan | 6 | 4 |
Chad | 1,284,000 | 17,963,211 | Africa | Middle Africa | Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Libya, Niger, Nigeria, and the Sudan | 6 | 4 |
Czech Republic | 78,867 | 10,516,707 | Europe | Eastern Europe | Austria, Germany, Poland, and Slovakia | 4 | 2 |
Eswatini | 17,364 | 1,160,164 | Africa | Southern Africa | Mozambique and South Africa | 2 | 2 |
Ethiopia | 1,104,300 | 113,656,596 | Africa | Eastern Africa | Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, Somaliland[b], South Sudan, and the Sudan | 6/7 | 5/6 |
Hungary | 93,028 | 9,689,010 | Europe | Eastern Europe | Austria, Croatia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine | 7 | 4 |
Kazakhstan[a] | 2,724,900 | 19,644,100 | Asia | Central Asia | China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Turkmenistan,[a] and Uzbekistan[d] | 5 | 2 |
Kosovo[b] | 10,908 | 1,806,279 | Europe | Southern Europe | Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia | 4 | 2 |
Kyrgyzstan | 199,951 | 6,071,750 | Asia | Central Asia | China, Kazakhstan,[a] Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan[d] | 4 | 1 |
Laos | 236,800 | 7,749,595 | Asia | South-eastern Asia | Cambodia, China, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam | 5 | 5 |
Lesotho[c] | 30,355 | 2,281,454 | Africa | Southern Africa | South Africa | 1 | 1 |
Liechtenstein[d] | 160 | 35,789 | Europe | Western Europe | Austria and Switzerland | 2 | 0 |
Luxembourg | 2,586 | 502,202 | Europe | Western Europe | Belgium, France, and Germany | 3 | 3 |
Malawi | 118,484 | 20,091,635 | Africa | Eastern Africa | Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia | 3 | 2 |
Mali | 1,240,192 | 21,473,764 | Africa | Western Africa | Algeria, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal | 7 | 5 |
Moldova | 33,846 | 3,559,500 | Europe | Eastern Europe | Romania, Transnistria,[b] and Ukraine | 2/3 | 2 |
Mongolia | 1,566,500 | 3,227,863 | Asia | Eastern Asia | China and Russia | 2 | 2 |
Nepal | 147,181 | 30,666,598 | Asia | Southern Asia | China and India | 2 | 2 |
Niger | 1,267,000 | 24,484,587 | Africa | Western Africa | Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Libya, Mali, and Nigeria | 7 | 4 |
North Macedonia | 25,713 | 1,836,713 | Europe | Southern Europe | Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Kosovo,[b] and Serbia | 4/5 | 3 |
Paraguay | 406,752 | 7,356,409 | Americas | South America | Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil | 3 | 2 |
Rwanda | 26,338 | 12,955,736 | Africa | Eastern Africa | Burundi, DR Congo, Tanzania, and Uganda | 4 | 2 |
San Marino[c] | 61 | 31,716 | Europe | Southern Europe | Italy | 1 | 1 |
Serbia | 88,361 | 6,690,887 | Europe | Southern Europe | Albania (via Kosovo and Metohija), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Kosovo,[b] Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Romania | 8 | 5/6 |
Slovakia | 49,035 | 5,460,185 | Europe | Eastern Europe | Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Ukraine | 5 | 2 |
South Ossetia[b] | 3,900 | 72,000 | Asia | Western Asia | Georgia and Russia | 2 | 2 |
South Sudan | 644,329 | 11,544,905 | Africa | Eastern Africa | The Central African Republic, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, the Sudan, and Uganda | 6 | 3 |
Switzerland | 41,284 | 8,636,896 | Europe | Western Europe | Austria, France, Germany, Italy, and Liechtenstein | 5 | 3 |
Tajikistan | 143,100 | 9,119,347 | Asia | Central Asia | Afghanistan, China, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan[d] | 4 | 1 |
Transnistria[b] | 4,163 | 505,153 | Europe | Eastern Europe | Moldova and Ukraine | 2 | 1 |
Turkmenistan[a] | 488,100 | 5,636,011 | Asia | Central Asia | Afghanistan, Iran, Kazakhstan,[a] and Uzbekistan[d] | 4 | 1 |
Uganda | 241,038 | 45,853,778 | Africa | Eastern Africa | DR Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Tanzania | 5 | 3 |
Uzbekistan[d] | 449,100 | 36,001,262 | Asia | Central Asia | Afghanistan, Kazakhstan,[a] Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan[a] | 5 | 0 |
Vatican City[c] | 0.49 | 826 | Europe | Southern Europe | Italy | 1 | 1 |
Zambia | 752,612 | 19,610,769 | Africa | Eastern Africa | Angola, Botswana, DR Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe | 8 | 5 |
Zimbabwe | 390,757 | 15,121,004 | Africa | Eastern Africa | Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, and Zambia | 4 | 2 |
Total | 14,776,228 | 475,818,737 | N/A | ||||
Percentage of the World | 9.9% | 5.9% |
- a Has a coastline on the inland saltwater Caspian Sea
- b Has limited international recognition
- c Landlocked by a single country
- d Doubly landlocked
Landlocked Country Media
Bolivia's loss of its coastline in the War of the Pacific (1879–1884) remains a major political issue