LANDLOCKED COUNTRIES

As we all know, planet Earth is covered with about 75% water. This means we only populate about 25% of the planet. Most countries have a lot of advantages in terms of coastal regions. They contribute to tourist attractions, fisheries, resources, and many more, that helps the country to increase economical development. However, there are some countries that do not have this advantage. Yes, and I am stressing that countries that do not border seas. Imagine what would be like to live in a country where you can't enjoy the beaches and you have to cross an immigration border to another country to do just that. That seems like a harsh challenge to fulfill just a simple task, but that's what life is for some people, and they seem to not complain about it.

Image source: Link

As seen in the image above, the highlighted countries are landlocked. As you can see, they don't border any oceans or seas or don't have any coastlines. As of today, there are currently 44 landlocked countries, 48 if you count the partially recognized countries. These countries have been cut off direct access to seaborne trade which apparently is one of the largest international trade. The only way to get them is to ask other countries to import the products into their country, which is often a burden due to tax and service consumption.

The 48 countries, by region, are:

SOUTH AMERICA
- Bolivia
- Paraguay

EUROPE
- Andorra
- Austria
- Belarus
- Czech Republic
- Hungary
- Kosovo*
- Liechtenstein
- Luxembourg
- Macedonia, FYR
- Moldova
- San Marino
- Serbia
- Slovakia
- Switzerland
- Transnistria*
- Vatican City

AFRICA
- Botswana
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Ethiopia
- Lesotho
- Malawi
- Mali
- Niger
- Rwanda
- South Sudan
- Swaziland
- Uganda
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe

ASIA
- Afghanistan
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- Bhutan
- Kazakhstan
- Kyrgyzstan
- Laos
- Mongolia
- Nagorno-Karabakh*
- Nepal
- South Ossetia*
- Tajikistan
- Turkmenistan
- Uzbekistan

*Partially recognized countries

Some interesting facts

1. The newest addition to landlocked countries is South Sudan, the newest country in the world gaining independence in 2011.
2. The largest landlocked country is Kazakhstan, and the smallest landlocked country is Vatican City.

Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan borders the saltwater Caspian and Aral Sea, but they are still landlocked countries because they do not have a coastline or border a sea region even though the two saltwater bodies are called 'Seas', they are technically somewhat a 'lake' surrounded by land.

3 of the countries are surrounded completely by only one country. This term is called 'enclave'. Vatican City and San Marino are enclaves of Italy, whereas Lesotho is an enclave of South Africa, making it the largest enclave in the world by area.

Locations of San Marino and Vatican City,
with the size of Lesotho in comparison.
Image source: Link

Location of Lesotho
Image source: Link

In fact, the misery of no coast lines doesn't end there. 2 of the landlocked countries are surrounded by other landlocked countries. These countries are called 'doubly-landlocked countries'. That's right, to get to the closest coastline, people have to go through 2 borders to get there. That is misery level 9000. And they are Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan.

The location of Liechtenstein
(labelled as LIECH.)
Image source: Link

As seen in the image above, Liechtenstein is surrounded by two landlocked countries of Switzerland and Austria. But putting it's area in perspective and where its location is, we can safely say and logically accept the fact that Liechtenstein is a doubly-landlocked country.

Location of Uzbekistan
Image source: Link

Uzbekistan, on the other hand, is the mother of doubly-landlocked countries, where it is surrounded by 5 landlocked countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. Despite being about 2800 times larger than Liechtenstein, it even baffles me to thinking a country quite large can be a doubly-landlocked country. This also officially makes Uzbekistan the largest doubly-landlocked country.

So to sum this up, even though you live way inland from the coast (like people living in Nebraska, Kansas or Missouri), please be thankful. You probably don't have a clue about the lives of people living in landlocked countries.

Article by,

DARELL NONIS