350px|thumb|right|Landlocked countries of the world according to The World Factbook.A
landlocked country is commonly defined as one enclosed or nearly enclosed by land. As of 2008, there are 44 landlocked countries in the world. Of the major landmasses that have more than one country, only North America does not have a landlocked country.
Many countries also have constricted access to the sea. If a country's only coastline is on a sea that is almost landlocked, such as the
Baltic Sea, the
Mediterranean Sea, and the
Black Sea, this may allow ocean access to be easily blocked. This may be of strategic importance, with one or two other countries controlling the entrance, and/or be relevant to
tides and
freshwater content. Areas without a warm water port will be landlocked during the winter months.
An
island country can conversely be considered waterlocked as it is entirely surrounded by water. In such cases, one must cross water to reach land abroad.
History and significance
Historically, being landlocked was regarded as a disadvantageous position. It cuts the country off from sea resources such as
fishing, but more importantly cuts off access to seaborne
trade which, even today, makes up a large percentage of international trade. Coastal regions tended to be wealthier and more heavily populated than inland ones.
Countries thus have made particular efforts to avoid being landlocked:
Losing access to the sea is generally a great blow to a nation, politically, militarily, and particularly with respect to international trade and therefore economic security:
- The independence of Eritrea and Montenegro, brought about by successful separatist movements, have caused Ethiopia and Serbia respectively to become landlocked.
- Bolivia lost its coastline to Chile in the War of the Pacific. The Bolivian Navy still trains in Lake Titicaca for an eventual recovery, and the Bolivian people annually celebrate a patriotic "Dia del Mar" (Day of the Sea) to remember its territorial loss, which included both the coastal city of Antofagasta and what has proven to be one of the most significant and lucrative copper deposits in the world. In the 21st century, the selection of the route of gas pipes from Bolivia to the sea fueled popular risings.
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, and the current responsible Undersecretary-General is
Anwarul Karim Chowdhury.
Some countries may 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 by the
Paraguay and
Parana rivers.
Several countries have coastlines on landlocked
seas, such as the
Caspian Sea and the
Aral Sea. Since these seas are in effect
lakes, and do not allow access to seaborne trade, countries such as
Kazakhstan are still considered to be landlocked. (The Caspian Sea, however, is connected to the Black Sea via a man-made
canal between the
Volga and
Don rivers.)
List of landlocked countries
° Disputed region with limited international recognition
¤ Completely landlocked by exactly one country
They can be grouped in
contiguous groups as follows:
If it were not for the 40 km of coastline at
Muanda,
DR Congo would join all three African clusters into one, making them the biggest contiguous group in the world.
There are the following 'single' landlocked countries (each of them borders no other landlocked country):
If
Armenia and
Azerbaijan are counted as part of
Europe, then Europe has the most landlocked countries, at 17.
Kazakhstan is also sometimes regarded as a
transcontinental country, so if that is included, the count for Europe goes up to 18. If these countries are included in
Asia, then
Africa has the most, at 15. Depending on the status of the three transcontinental countries,
Asia has between 9 and 12, while
South America has only 2.
North America and
Oceania are the only continents with no landlocked countries. (Oceania is also notable for having almost no land borders.)
Doubly landlocked country
A landlocked country surrounded by only other landlocked countries may be called a "doubly landlocked" country. A person in such a country has to cross at least two borders to reach a coastline.
There are currently two such countries in the world:
Uzbekistan has borders with Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan that border the
landlocked but saltwater
Caspian Sea, from which ships can reach the
Sea of Azov by using the man-made
Volga-Don Canal, and thence the
Black Sea, the
Mediterranean Sea, and the oceans.
There was no doubly landlocked country in the world from the 1871
Unification of Germany until the end of
World War I. This is because Uzbekistan was part of the
Russian Empire; while Liechtenstein bordered
Austria-Hungary, which had an
Adriatic coast until 1918. Nor was there one from 1938 until the end of
World War II, as Nazi Germany had incorporated Austria and Uzbekistan was in the USSR.
Landlocked by a single country
There are only three countries that are landlocked by a single country – that is they are surrounded on all sides by just one country. Such a country is also called an
enclave.
The three countries are:
Nearly landlocked
The following countries are almost landlocked, because of their relatively short coastline:
- Slovenia (Adriatic Sea via Koper) 43 km (26.8 mi),
[CIA World Factbook: "Slovenia" [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/si.html]]
See also
