44 Landlocked Countries — Doubly Landlocked and Lost Coastlines

Blue = 44 landlocked countries. In the doubly landlocked tab, red = doubly landlocked, amber = their neighbors.

What Is a Landlocked Country?

A country with no coastline. There are 44 in the world. Africa has the most (16). North America and Oceania have none.

Doubly Landlocked — 2 countries

A landlocked country surrounded entirely by other landlocked countries. You must cross at least 2 borders to reach the sea.

• Liechtenstein — Between Switzerland and Austria, both landlocked. Just 160 km²
• Uzbekistan — All 5 neighbors (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan) are landlocked

Countries That Lost the Sea

• Bolivia — Lost its Pacific coast to Chile in the War of the Pacific (1879–1884). Celebrates 'Day of the Sea' every March 23 and still maintains a navy despite having no ocean
• Ethiopia — Lost Red Sea access when Eritrea gained independence (1993). Now the world's most populous landlocked country (126M)
• Serbia — Lost Adriatic access when Montenegro declared independence in 2006

Countries Within Countries

• Lesotho — Completely surrounded by South Africa (the only non-microstate fully enclosed by one country)
• Vatican City & San Marino — Both completely enclosed by Italy

The Caspian Sea Trap

Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan border the Caspian Sea but are classified as landlocked. The Caspian's legal status was debated for decades — in 2018, the five surrounding nations agreed it has a "special legal status" that is neither sea nor lake.

Largest vs Smallest Landlocked

	Country	Area
Largest	Kazakhstan	2.72M km² (9th in the world)
Smallest	Vatican City	0.44 km²

Note: Andorra, Liechtenstein, San Marino, and Vatican City may not appear on the map (110m resolution limit).