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World Geography25 Essential Exam Concepts
What Is a Landlocked Country With No Access to the Sea? Physical Geography & UNCLOS
In political geography and international maritime law, a landlocked country is defined as a sovereign state that is entirely enclosed by land mass and possesses no direct coastline or sovereign territorial access to the open oceans of the world. Across the globe today, there are forty-four recognized sovereign landlocked countries, alongside several partially recognized geopolitical entities. Because global commercial trade relies overwhelmingly on maritime transport—with more than eighty percent of global merchandise trade by volume carried across open sea lanes—the absence of an ocean coastline imposes severe economic, logistical, and geopolitical constraints upon landlocked nations.
The geographical distribution of landlocked states is highly uneven across global continents. Africa contains the largest concentration of landlocked nations, with sixteen countries (such as Chad, Niger, Mali, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) completely cut off from the sea. Europe follows closely with fourteen landlocked nations, including developed economies like Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg, and the Czech Republic, whose trade is facilitated by open European Union transit borders and navigable international rivers like the Danube and the Rhine. Asia contains twelve landlocked states, including five Central Asian republics. Notably, the Americas contain only two landlocked countries, both located in South America: Bolivia and Paraguay (Bolivia lost its Pacific coastline to Chile during the War of the Pacific in the late nineteenth century).
International law addresses the distinct vulnerabilities of these nations through the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS, 1982). Under Part X of UNCLOS (Articles 124 to 132), landlocked states are guaranteed the "Right of Access to and from the Sea and Freedom of Transit." Coastal transit states are legally prohibited from levying discriminatory customs tariffs or transit taxes on goods in transit, other than fees charged for specific administrative services rendered. In addition, geography distinguishes two unique "doubly landlocked" countries—Liechtenstein in Europe and Uzbekistan in Central Asia—which are surrounded entirely by countries that are themselves landlocked, requiring goods to cross at least two international sovereign borders to reach an ocean port.
High-yield conceptual summaries for competitive exams and rapid revision.
A landlocked country is a sovereign state entirely surrounded by land, possessing zero direct sovereign access to the world ocean.
There are currently 44 recognized sovereign landlocked countries in the world.
Africa contains the largest number of landlocked nations with 16, followed by Europe with 14, and Asia with 12.
South America contains only two landlocked countries: Bolivia and Paraguay; North America and Australia have zero landlocked nations.
Kazakhstan is the largest landlocked country in the world by surface area, covering approximately 2.72 million square kilometers.
Ethiopia is the most populous landlocked nation on Earth, with a population exceeding 120 million people.
Ethiopia became landlocked in 1993 following the formal independence of Eritrea along the Red Sea coast.
A 'doubly landlocked' country is a landlocked nation surrounded entirely by other landlocked nations.
There are only two doubly landlocked countries in the world: Liechtenstein in Europe and Uzbekistan in Central Asia.
Part X of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS, 1982) governs the transit rights of landlocked states.
Article 125 of UNCLOS grants landlocked states the right of access to and from the sea and freedom of transit across transit states.
UNCLOS prohibits transit nations from levying customs duties or transit taxes on goods passing between landlocked states and ports.
Bolivia lost its coastal province of Antofagasta to Chile during the War of the Pacific (1879–1884), becoming landlocked.
European landlocked states (e.g., Switzerland, Austria, Hungary) utilize international navigable rivers like the Rhine and Danube for waterborne trade.
The United Nations classifies 32 nations as Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) facing structural logistical disadvantages.
The Vienna Programme of Action (2014–2024) was adopted by the UN to address infrastructure gaps and transport bottlenecks in LLDCs.
The Caspian Sea is an endorheic inland lake, not an open ocean; thus, states bordering it (like Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan) remain technically landlocked.
Landlocked developing countries incur freight transport costs that average more than double those of comparable coastal developing economies.
India provides duty-free overland transit facilities to its landlocked neighbors Nepal and Bhutan through Indian seaports like Kolkata and Haldia.
Mongolia is a vast Asian landlocked nation situated between only two large neighbors: the Russian Federation and China.
Lesotho, San Marino, and Vatican City are completely surrounded by a single foreign nation, making them landlocked enclave states.
Swaziland (Eswatini) is a landlocked monarchy in Southern Africa bordered by Mozambique and South Africa.