A landlocked country has no coastline: every border is a land border, or the shore of a lake or a closed sea. Of the 195 countries in GlobeQuizz, 44 are landlocked. They include some of the largest and some of the smallest countries on Earth, and their outlines make excellent Shapes questions, because they never have a coastline to give them away.
Where they are
- Africa (16): Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Niger, Rwanda, South Sudan, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
- Europe (14): Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Czechia, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Moldova, North Macedonia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Switzerland and Vatican City.
- Asia (12): Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
- South America (2): Bolivia and Paraguay.
Oceania has none: every Pacific country is an island or an archipelago.
The largest and the smallest
Kazakhstan is the largest landlocked country by far, about 2.7 million km², and the ninth-largest country in the world. Mongolia comes second, then Chad. At the other extreme, Vatican City, less than half a square kilometre, is the smallest country in the world, and it is landlocked inside Rome.
Ethiopia is the most populous landlocked country, with well over a hundred million people. It lost its coast when Eritrea became independent in 1993, and today most of its trade passes through the port of Djibouti.
Doubly landlocked
A doubly landlocked country is surrounded only by other landlocked countries, so reaching the sea means crossing at least two borders. There are just two in the world. Liechtenstein, between Switzerland and Austria, is one. Uzbekistan, in Central Asia, surrounded by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, is the other.
Countries inside countries
Three countries are completely surrounded by a single other country. Lesotho is enclosed by South Africa, a mountain kingdom whose lowest point is higher than the lowest point of any other country. San Marino and Vatican City are both enclosed by Italy.
The Caspian question
Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan all have long shores on the Caspian Sea. So why are they landlocked? Because the Caspian, despite its name, has no outlet to the ocean. It is the largest lake on Earth, and a ship sailing on it cannot reach the open sea except through rivers and canals in Russia.
A navy without a sea
Bolivia lost its Pacific coast to Chile in the War of the Pacific (1879 to 1884). It has never accepted the loss: it still keeps a navy, which trains on Lake Titicaca and the country's rivers, and every 23 March it marks the Day of the Sea. Paraguay also has a navy, patrolling the great rivers that link it to the Atlantic.
Not a single Arab country
Here is a fact that surprises many players: none of the 22 members of the Arab League is landlocked. Some have very short coastlines. Jordan has only about 26 km of shore around Aqaba on the Red Sea, and Iraq reaches the Gulf through a narrow strip near Umm Qasr. But every one of them touches the sea. Their closest landlocked neighbours are Chad, Ethiopia and South Sudan in Africa, and Afghanistan in Asia.
Why it matters
Being landlocked has real costs. Goods must cross a neighbour's territory and use a neighbour's port, which adds time, fees and political risk. That is why landlocked countries sign transit agreements, build railways to the coast and, sometimes, look for a route through a river or a canal.
Play it
Outlines of landlocked countries often have unusual shapes, because their borders follow rivers, mountains and old treaties instead of a coast. Test yourself in the Shapes quiz, or play a mixed geography quiz and see how many of the 44 you can spot. On each country page, the facts table tells you whether it has a coastline.