LANDLOCKED COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD UPSC

Introduction

A landlocked state or landlocked country is a sovereign state entirely enclosed by land, or whose only coastlines lie on closed seas.
There are currently 49 such countries, including five partially recognised states.
Only two, Bolivia and Paraguay in South America, lie outside Afro-Eurasia (the Old World).

AFRICA

Out of Africa’s 55 countries, 17 of them are landlocked:
Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Niger, Rwanda, South Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
In other words, about a third of the continent is made up of countries that have no access to the ocean or sea.

ASIA

Asia has 12 landlocked countries: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Laos, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
Note that several of the countries in western Asia border the landlocked Caspian Sea, a feature that does open some transit and trade opportunities.

EUROPE

Europe has 15 landlocked countries: Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Czech Republic, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Moldova, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Switzerland, and Vatican City.

SOUTH AMERICA

In South America there are two countries that are landlocked: Bolivia and and Paraguay.

Note: North America has no landlocked countries, and Australia is rather obviously not landlocked.

Kazakhstan is the largest landlocked country of world. It has total area of 2,724,900 Sq Km. It is surrounded by 5 different neighbouring countries. These are – China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

The smallest landlocked country of world is Vatican City which has area of 0.44 Sq Km and it is totally bordered by Italy.

List showing surrounding countries

Country or Territory	Surrounding countries	Number of Surrounding Countries
Afghanistan	Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, China, Pakistan	6
Andorra	France, Spain	2
Armenia	Iran, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan	4
Austria	Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Liechtenstein, Switzerland	8
Azerbaijan	Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Iran, Turkey	4
Belarus	Poland, Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine, Latvia	5
Bhutan	India, China	2
Bolivia	Peru, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay	5
Botswana	Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa	4
Burkina Faso	Mali, Niger, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast	6
Burundi	Rwanda, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo	3
Central African Republic	Chad, Cameroon, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, South Sudan	6
Chad	Libya, Niger, Sudan, Central African Republic, Nigeria, Cameroon	6
Czech Republic	Austria, Germany, Poland, Slovakia	4
Ethiopia	Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan	6
Hungary	Austria, Croatia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine	7
Kazakhstan	China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan	5
Kosovo	Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia	4
Kyrgyzstan	China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan	4
Laos	Myanmar, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand	5
Lesotho	South Africa	1
Liechtenstein	Switzerland, Austria	2
Luxembourg	Belgium, Germany, France	3
Macedonia (F.Y.R.O.M.)	Kosovo, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, Albania	5
Malawi	Zambia, Tanzania, Mozambique	3
Mali	Algeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Senegal, Mauritania	7
Moldova	Romania, Ukraine	2
Mongolia	China, Russia	2
Artsakh	Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran	3
Nepal	China, India	2
Niger	Libya, Chad, Nigeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Algeria	7
Paraguay	Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia	3
Rwanda	Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo	4
San Marino	Italy	1
Serbia	Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania(viaKosovo and Metohija[c])	8
Slovakia	Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Hungary	5
South Ossetia	Georgia, Russia	2
South Sudan	Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic	6
Swaziland	Mozambique, South Africa	2
Switzerland	France, Germany, Liechtenstein, Austria, Italy	5
Tajikistan	Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, China	4
Transnistria	Moldova, Ukraine	2
Turkmenistan	Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Iran	4
Uganda	Kenya, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Tanzania	5
Uzbekistan	Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan	5
Vatican City	Italy	1
West Bank	Israel, Jordan	2
Zambia	Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Angola	8
Zimbabwe	South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Mozambique	4