Landlocked country explained

A landlocked country is a country that does not have any territory connected to an ocean or whose coastlines lie solely on endorheic basins. Currently, there are 44 landlocked countries, two of them doubly landlocked (Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan), and three landlocked de facto states in the world. Kazakhstan is the world's largest landlocked country, while Ethiopia is the world's most populous landlocked country.[1] [2]

Generally, being landlocked creates political and economic disadvantages that having access to international waters would avoid. For this reason, nations large and small throughout history have fought to gain access to open waters, even at great expense in wealth, bloodshed, and political capital.

The economic disadvantages of being landlocked can be alleviated or aggravated depending on degree of development, surrounding trade routes and freedom of trade, commonality of language, and other considerations. Some landlocked countries in Europe are affluent, such as Andorra, Austria, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, San Marino, Switzerland, and Vatican City, all of which, excluding Luxembourg (a founding member of NATO), frequently employ neutrality in global political issues.

However, 32 out of the 44 landlocked countries, including those in Africa, Asia, and South America, have been classified as Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) by the United Nations.[3] Nine of the twelve countries with the lowest Human Development Index rankings are landlocked.[4] International initiatives are aimed at reducing inequalities resulting from issues such as these, such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 10, which aims to reduce inequality substantially by 2030.[5]

History

In 1990, there were only 30 landlocked countries in the world. However, the dissolutions of the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia; the breakup of Yugoslavia; the independence referendums of South Ossetia (de facto state), Eritrea, Montenegro, South Sudan, and the Luhansk People's Republic (de facto state); and the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo (de facto state) created 15 new landlocked countries and five landlocked de facto states while the former landlocked country of Czechoslovakia ceased to exist on 1 January 1993.[6]

On 30 September 2022, the Luhansk People's Republic (de facto state) was annexed by Russia and ceased to exist as a landlocked de facto state.[7]

On 19 September 2023, Azerbaijan launched a new offensive against the Republic of Artsakh (de facto state) and achieved a decisive victory.[8] The Government of Artsakh was officially dissolved on 1 January 2024. As a result, Artsakh ceased to exist as a landlocked de facto state and the Nagorno-Karabakh region was reintegrated into Azerbaijan.[9]

As of 1 April 2024, there were 44 landlocked countries and three landlocked de facto states (Kosovo, South Ossetia, and Transnistria) in the world.

Significance

Historically, being landlocked has been disadvantageous to a country's development. It cuts a nation off from important sea resources such as fishing, and impedes or prevents direct access to maritime trade, a crucial component of economic and social advance. As such, coastal regions, or inland regions that have access to the World Ocean, tended to be wealthier and more heavily populated than inland regions that have no access to the World Ocean. Paul Collier in his book The Bottom Billion argues that being landlocked in a poor geographical neighbourhood is one of four major development "traps" by which a country can be held back. In general, he found that when a neighbouring country experiences better growth, it tends to spill over into favorable development for the country itself. For landlocked countries, the effect is particularly strong, as they are limited in their trading activity with the rest of the world. He states, "If you are coastal, you serve the world; if you are landlocked, you serve your neighbors."[10] Others have argued that being landlocked has an advantage as it creates a "natural tariff barrier" that protects the country from cheap imports. In some instances, this has led to more robust local food systems.[11] [12]

Landlocked developing countries have significantly higher costs of international cargo transportation compared to coastal developing countries (in Asia the ratio is 3:1).[13]

Historically, traveling between a landlocked country and a country which did not border said country required the traveler to pass border controls twice or more. In recent times the advent of air travel has largely negated this impediment.

Actions to avoid being landlocked

Countries have acted to overcome being landlocked by acquiring land that reaches the sea:

Trade agreements

Countries can make agreements on getting free transport of goods through neighbouring countries:

Political repercussions

Losing access to the sea is generally a great loss to a nation, politically, militarily, and economically. The following are examples of countries becoming landlocked.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea now gives a landlocked country a right of access to and from the sea without taxation of traffic through transit states. The United Nations has a programme of action to assist landlocked developing countries,[22] and the current responsible Undersecretary-General is Anwarul Karim Chowdhury.

Some countries have a long coastline, but much of it may not be readily usable for trade and commerce. For instance, in its early history, Russia's only ports were on the Arctic Ocean and frozen shut for much of the year. The wish to gain control of a warm-water port was a major motivator of Russian expansion towards the Baltic Sea, Black Sea, and Pacific Ocean. On the other hand, some landlocked countries can have access to the ocean along wide navigable rivers. For instance, Paraguay (and Bolivia to a lesser extent) have access to the ocean through the Paraguay and Paraná rivers.

Several countries have coastlines on landlocked bodies of water, such as the Caspian Sea and the Dead Sea. Since these seas are in effect lakes without access to wider seaborne trade, countries such as Kazakhstan are still considered landlocked. Although the Caspian Sea is connected to the Black Sea via the man-made Volga–Don Canal, large oceangoing ships are unable to traverse it.

Some countries or important parts of countries have coastlines or river ports reachable by oceangoing ships, but only through a strait or river part of the territory of another country. The other country can put restriction on passage. Between 1429 and 1857 Poland, Sweden, Russia and more Baltic countries were suffering from the Sound Dues, a toll needed to be paid to reach Western European waters. Sweden bypassed it by conquering Scania in 1658.

By degree

Landlocked countries may be bordered by a single country having direct access to the high seas, two or more such countries, or be surrounded by other landlocked countries, making a country doubly landlocked.

Landlocked by a single country

Three countries are landlocked by a single country (enclaved countries):

Landlocked by two countries

Seven landlocked countries are surrounded by only two mutually bordering neighbours (semi-enclaved countries):

To this group could be added three landlocked territories, two of them de facto states with limited or no international recognition:

Doubly landlocked

A country is "doubly landlocked" or "double-landlocked" when it is surrounded only by landlocked countries (i.e. requiring the crossing of at least two national borders to reach a coastline).[27] [28] There are two such countries:

After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Württemberg became a doubly landlocked state, bordering Bavaria, Baden, Switzerland, the Grand Duchy of Hesse (Wimpfen exclave), Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, and Hohenzollern-Hechingen. The latter two were themselves landlocked between each other, Württemberg, and Baden. In 1866 they became an exclave of Prussia, giving Württemberg a border with a coastal country but any path to a coast would still lead across at least two borders. The Free City of Frankfurt which was independent between 1815 and 1866 was doubly landlocked as it bordered the Electorate of Hesse, the Grand Duchy of Hesse, Hesse-Homburg, and Nassau. In the German Confederation there were several other landlocked states that only bordered landlocked states and landlocked exclaves of coastal states: the Grand Duchy of Hesse, Hesse-Homburg, Nassau (all until 1866), Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Saxe-Hildburghausen (both until 1826), and Reuss, elder line (until 1871). All of these bordered Prussia but not the main territory with sea access.

There were no doubly landlocked countries from the unification of Germany in 1871 until the end of World War I. Liechtenstein bordered the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which had an Adriatic coastline, and Uzbekistan was then part of the Russian Empire, which had both ocean and sea access.

With the dissolution of Austria-Hungary in 1918 and creation of an independent, landlocked Austria, Liechtenstein became the sole doubly landlocked country until 1938. In the Anschluss that year, Austria was absorbed into Nazi Germany, which possessed a border on the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. After World War II, Austria regained its independence and Liechtenstein once again became doubly landlocked.

Uzbekistan, which had been part of the Russian Empire and then the Soviet Union, gained its independence with the dissolution of the latter in 1991 and became the second doubly landlocked country.

However, Uzbekistan's doubly landlocked status depends on the Caspian Sea's status dispute: some countries, especially Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, claim that the Caspian Sea should be considered as a real sea (mainly because this way they would have larger oil and gas fields), which would make Uzbekistan only a simple landlocked country since its neighbours Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan have access to the Caspian Sea.

List of landlocked countries and landlocked de facto states

CountryArea (km2)PopulationUN regionUN subregionNeighbouring country(ies)Countwidth=80Neighbours with ocean access
Afghanistan652,23033,369,945AsiaSouthern AsiaChina, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan63
Andorra46877,543EuropeSouthern EuropeFrance and Spain22
Armenia29,7433,000,756AsiaWestern AsiaAzerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, and Turkey43
Austria83,8719,027,999EuropeWestern EuropeCzechia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Liechtenstein, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Switzerland83
Azerbaijan86,60010,353,296AsiaWestern AsiaArmenia, Georgia, Iran, Russia, and Turkey54
Belarus207,6009,255,524EuropeEastern EuropeLatvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine55
Bhutan38,394691,141AsiaSouthern AsiaChina and India22
1,098,58112,054,379AmericasSouth AmericaArgentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Peru54
Botswana582,0002,384,246AfricaSouthern AfricaNamibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe42
Burkina Faso274,22221,935,389AfricaWestern AfricaBenin, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, the Niger, and Togo64
Burundi27,83411,865,821AfricaEastern AfricaDR Congo, Rwanda, and Tanzania32
Central African Republic622,9845,454,533AfricaMiddle AfricaCameroon, Chad, the Congo, DR Congo, South Sudan, and the Sudan64
Chad1,284,00017,963,211AfricaMiddle AfricaCameroon, the Central African Republic, Libya, the Niger, Nigeria, and the Sudan64
78,86710,516,707EuropeEastern EuropeAustria, Germany, Poland, and Slovakia42
17,3641,160,164AfricaSouthern AfricaMozambique and South Africa22
Ethiopia1,104,300113,656,596AfricaEastern AfricaDjibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, Somaliland, South Sudan, and the Sudan6/75/6
Hungary93,0289,689,010EuropeEastern EuropeAustria, Croatia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine74
Kazakhstan2,724,90019,644,100AsiaCentral AsiaChina, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan52
10,9081,806,279EuropeSouthern EuropeAlbania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia42
Kyrgyzstan199,9516,071,750AsiaCentral AsiaChina, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan41
236,8007,749,595AsiaSouth-eastern AsiaCambodia, China, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam55
Lesotho30,3552,281,454AfricaSouthern AfricaSouth Africa11
Liechtenstein16035,789EuropeWestern EuropeAustria and Switzerland20
Luxembourg2,586502,202EuropeWestern EuropeBelgium, France, and Germany33
Malawi118,48420,091,635AfricaEastern AfricaMozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia32
Mali1,240,19221,473,764AfricaWestern AfricaAlgeria, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mauritania, the Niger, and Senegal75
33,8463,559,500EuropeEastern EuropeRomania, and Ukraine22
Mongolia1,566,5003,227,863AsiaEastern AsiaChina and Russia22
Nepal147,51630,666,598AsiaSouthern AsiaChina and India22
Niger1,267,00024,484,587AfricaWestern AfricaAlgeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Libya, Mali, and Nigeria74
25,7131,836,713EuropeSouthern EuropeAlbania, Bulgaria, Greece, Kosovo, and Serbia4/53
Paraguay406,7527,356,409AmericasSouth AmericaArgentina, Bolivia, and Brazil32
4,163505,153EuropeEastern EuropeMoldova and Ukraine21
Rwanda26,33812,955,736AfricaEastern AfricaBurundi, DR Congo, Tanzania, and Uganda42
San Marino6131,716EuropeSouthern EuropeItaly11
Serbia88,3616,690,887EuropeSouthern EuropeAlbania (via Kosovo and Metohija), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia,
Hungary, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Romania
85/6
Slovakia49,0355,460,185EuropeEastern EuropeAustria, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Ukraine52
3,90072,000AsiaWestern AsiaGeorgia and Russia22
644,32911,544,905AfricaEastern AfricaThe Central African Republic, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, the Sudan, and Uganda63
Switzerland41,2848,636,896EuropeWestern EuropeAustria, France, Germany, Italy, and Liechtenstein53
Tajikistan143,1009,119,347AsiaCentral AsiaAfghanistan, China, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan41
Turkmenistan488,1005,636,011AsiaCentral AsiaAfghanistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan41
Uganda241,03845,853,778AfricaEastern AfricaDR Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Tanzania53
Uzbekistan449,10036,001,262AsiaCentral AsiaAfghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan50
0.49826EuropeSouthern EuropeItaly11
Zambia752,61219,610,769AfricaEastern AfricaAngola, Botswana, DR Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe85
Zimbabwe390,75715,121,004AfricaEastern AfricaBotswana, Mozambique, South Africa, and Zambia42
Total14,776,228475,818,737N/A
Percentage of the World9.9%5.9%

Notes:

Has a coastline on the inland saltwater Caspian Sea

De facto state

Landlocked by a single country

Doubly landlocked country

Groupings

The landlocked countries and de facto states can be grouped in contiguous groups as follows:[31]

Notes:

  1. If it were not for the 40km (30miles) of coastline at Moanda, DR Congo would join the two African clusters into one, making it the biggest contiguous cluster in the world instead.
  2. The Central and Southern Asian cluster and the Western Asian group can be considered contiguous, joined by the landlocked Caspian Sea. Mongolia is almost a part of this cluster too, being separated from Kazakhstan by only 30km (20miles), across Chinese or Russian territory.
  3. Before the Annexation of Sikkim by India, the Himalayan states of Bhutan, Nepal, and Sikkim formed their own Southern Asian group.

"Single" landlocked countries

There are the following 12 "single" landlocked countries (each of them borders no other landlocked country or de facto state):

Landlocked countries by continent

According to the United Nations geoscheme (excluding the de facto states), Africa has the most landlocked countries, at 16, followed by Europe (14), Asia (12), and South America (2). However, if Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and South Ossetia (de facto state) are counted as parts of Europe, then Europe has the most landlocked countries, at 20 (including all three landlocked de facto states). If these transcontinental or culturally European countries are included in Asia, then both Africa and Europe (including Kosovo and Transnistria) have the most, at 16. Depending on the status of Kazakhstan and the South Caucasian countries, Asia has between 9 and 13 (including South Ossetia). South America only has two landlocked countries: Bolivia and Paraguay.

Australia and North America have no landlocked countries, while Antarctica has no countries at all. Oceania (which is usually not considered a continent but a geographical region by the English-speaking countries) also has no landlocked countries.

All landlocked countries, except Bolivia and Paraguay, are located on the continental mainland of Afro-Eurasia.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Largest LLC . United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
  2. Web site: Landlocked country | Meaning, Examples, Maps, List, & Navies | Britannica . 5 August 2023 .
  3. Book: Paudel, R. C. . 2012 . Growth and Export Performance of Developing Countries: Is Landlockedness Destiny? . Landlockedness and Economic Growth: New Evidence . Australian National University . Canberra, Australia . https://digitalcollections.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/12009/1/Paudel_R.C._2013.pdf . 13–72 .
  4. Faye . M. L. . McArthur . J. W. . Sachs . J. D. . Jeffrey Sachs . Snow . T. . 2004 . The Challenges Facing Landlocked Developing Countries . Journal of Human Development . 5 . 1 . 31–68 [pp. 31–32] . 10.1080/14649880310001660201 . 10442596 .
  5. Web site: Goal 10 targets. 2020-09-23. UNDP. en. 2020-11-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20201127140337/https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals/goal-10-reduced-inequalities/targets.html. dead.
  6. https://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/01/world/czechoslovakia-breaks-in-two-to-wide-regret.html Czechoslovakia Breaks in Two, To Wide Regret
  7. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/9/21/mapping-the-ukraine-regions-voting-on-joining-russia Mapping the occupied Ukraine regions Russia is formally annexing
  8. https://www.fairobserver.com/world-news/how-azerbaijan-found-victory-and-armenia-defeat-in-nagorno-karabakh How Azerbaijan Found Victory, and Armenia Defeat, in Nagorno-Karabakh
  9. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/nagorno-karabakh-republic-will-cease-exist-jan-1-2024-nagorno-karabakh-2023-09-28/ Nagorno-Karabakh Republic will cease to exist from Jan 1 2024 – Nagorno-Karabakh authorities
  10. Book: Collier, Paul . The Bottom Billion . registration . Paul Collier . 2007. Oxford University Press. New York . 978-0-19-537338-7 . 56, 57 .
  11. Moseley . W. G. . J. . Carney . L. . Becker . 2010 . Neoliberal Policy, Rural Livelihoods and Urban Food Security in West Africa: A Comparative Study of The Gambia, Côte d'Ivoire and Mali . . 107 . 13 . 5774–5779 . 10.1073/pnas.0905717107 . 20339079 . 2010PNAS..107.5774M . 2851933 . free .
  12. Moseley . W. G. . 2011 . Lessons from the 2008 Global Food Crisis: Agro-Food Dynamics in Mali . Development in Practice . 21 . 4–5 . 604–612 . 10.1080/09614524.2011.561290 . 153852580 .
  13. Book: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) . United Nations Conference on Trade and Development . Review of Maritime Transport, 2010 . 160 . 2010 . . New York and Geneva . PDF . 978-92-1-112810-9 .
  14. Web site: Jennings. Ken. This Country's Coastline Is So Short, You Could Walk It in A Day. 2021-01-04. Condé Nast Traveler. 19 September 2016. en-us.
  15. Web site: Danube River Basin. June 30, 2018. International Waterway Governance.)
  16. Book: Martin, McCauley. The Cold War 1949-2016. Routledge. 2017. 978-1-315-21330-9. New York. 4, 5, 6.
  17. Web site: 2015-12-02 . What next for Czech port lot after Hamburg's rejection of Olympics? . 2023-07-11 . Radio Prague International . en.
  18. Web site: History UNECE . 2023-07-11 . unece.org.
  19. Book: Iyob, Ruth. The Eritrean Struggle for Independence - Domination, resistance, nationalism 1941-1993. Cambridge University Press. 1997. 978-0-521-47327-9. Cambridge. 11–25.
  20. Book: P. N. . Chopra . B. N. . Puri . M. N. . Das . A Comprehensive History of India . 3 . 298 .
  21. Web site: 2022-11-02 . The 10 Newest Countries In The World . 2023-07-11 . WorldAtlas . en-US.
  22. https://www.un.org/special-rep/ohrlls/lldc/default.htm UN Report
  23. Sweileh. Waleed M.. Al-Jabi. Samah W.. Sawalha. Ansam F.. Zyoud. Sa'ed H.. 2009-04-07. Pharmacy Education and Practice in West Bank, Palestine. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. 73. 2. 38. 10.5688/aj730238. 0002-9459. 2690900. 19513177. The West Bank is a landlocked territory on the west bank of the Jordan River in the Middle East..
  24. Daghara. Azza. Al-Khatib. Issam A.. Al-Jabari. Maher. 2019-06-23. Quality of Drinking Water from Springs in Palestine: West Bank as a Case Study. Journal of Environmental and Public Health. 2019. 1–7. 10.1155/2019/8631732. 1687-9805. 6612393. 31341486. The West Bank is a landlocked region close to the Mediterranean shoreline of Western Asia. free.
  25. Musaee. Anwar H. M.. Abbas. Eeman Muhammad. Mujani. Wan Kamal. Sidik. Roziah. 2014. Financial Analysis of Waqf Real Estate Revenues in the West Bank: 1994-2014. Asian Economic and Financial Review. 4. 10. 1260–1274. The West Bank is a landlocked territory near the eastern Mediterranean coast. 2020-09-05. 2015-09-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20150908043236/http://econpapers.repec.org/article/asiaeafrj/2014_3ap_3a1260-1274.htm. dead.
  26. ARCA. Sperti. Luigi. Instruments and Methods for the Survey and Analysis of Amphitheatres. 10278/3684456. free. The West Bank is a landlocked territory bordering Jordan. 10.1515/9789048519590-038.
  27. Web site: Landlocked Countries . Dempsey Morais . Caitlin . Geolounge . November 4, 2015 .
  28. Web site: Landlocked Countries . . November 4, 2015 . September 6, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150906114011/http://geography.about.com/od/politicalgeography/a/landlocked.htm . dead .
  29. 10.1007/BF00273120 . GeoJournal . 28 . 4 . IGU regional conference on environment and quality of life in central Europe. 1992 . 189889904 .
  30. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/uzbekistan/ CIA World Factbook Uzbekistan
  31. Web site: Economic Development Problems of Landlocked Countries . Wien Institute for Advanced Studies . 12 . Landis . MacKellar . Andreas . Wörgötter . Julia . Wörz.
  32. https://gisgeography.com/africa-map/ Map of Africa
  33. https://gisgeography.com/europe-map/ Map of Europe (Countries and Cities)
  34. https://gisgeography.com/asia-map/ Map of Asia – Country Atlas
  35. https://gisgeography.com/south-america-map/ South America Map – Countries and Cities