How many landlocked countries are there?

There are 44 fully landlocked sovereign countries, meaning they have no coastline on an ocean or open sea. This count excludes partially recognised states and is the figure most commonly cited by the United Nations.

What does doubly landlocked mean?

A doubly landlocked country is surrounded entirely by other landlocked countries, so you must cross at least two borders to reach the coast. Only two exist: Liechtenstein in Europe and Uzbekistan in Central Asia.

Is the Caspian Sea coast counted as sea access?

No. The Caspian is an enclosed inland body of water with no natural outlet to the ocean, so countries bordering only the Caspian, such as Kazakhstan, are still considered landlocked under the usual definition.

Which continent has the most landlocked countries?

Africa has the most, with 16 landlocked countries, followed by Europe and Asia. South America has two, Bolivia and Paraguay, while North America and Oceania have none among sovereign states.

Why does landlocked status matter?

Landlocked countries depend on neighbours and transit agreements for sea trade, which raises shipping costs and can constrain economic growth. The United Nations runs a specific programme for landlocked developing countries to address these challenges.

What is the Landlocked Countries Reference?

Searchable reference of the world's 44 landlocked countries, with the continent, bordering countries, and whether each is doubly landlocked, so you can see which nations have no direct access to the open sea. It runs free in your browser on Gera Tools, with nothing uploaded.

Landlocked Countries Reference

Name: Landlocked Countries Reference
Creator: Gera Tools
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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Landlocked countries have no coastline, so all their sea trade must pass through neighbouring states. This reference lists all 44 landlocked sovereign nations, the continent each belongs to, the countries that border it, and which two are doubly landlocked.

How it works

A country is landlocked when none of its territory touches an ocean or open sea. The reference records, for each:

Continent — to group the nations geographically.
Borders — the neighbouring countries it relies on for transit to the coast.
Doubly landlocked — flagged when every neighbour is itself landlocked, so the nearest coast is at least two borders away.

The two doubly landlocked countries are Liechtenstein (surrounded by Austria and Switzerland) and Uzbekistan (surrounded by five landlocked states: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan — all landlocked).

Distribution by continent

Continent	Number of landlocked countries
Africa	16
Asia	12
Europe	14
South America	2 (Bolivia, Paraguay)
North America	0
Oceania	0

Africa has the highest count at 16, reflecting the many borders drawn during colonial partition without regard to natural trade routes. Europe’s 14 include several small nations such as Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Andorra, San Marino, and Vatican City.

Why landlocked status matters

A landlocked country cannot ship goods directly by sea. Every container of exports must cross at least one neighbour’s territory under a transit agreement, paying transit fees, clearing an additional customs border, and accepting the political risk that a neighbour could close its ports or roads. Studies by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) consistently find that landlocked developing countries face higher trade costs than comparable coastal economies.

The UN Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS) runs dedicated programmes addressing transit infrastructure and trade facilitation specifically for landlocked developing nations.

The Caspian exception

Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan all border the Caspian Sea, but the Caspian has no natural outlet to the ocean. Legally and geographically, it is an enclosed inland body of water. Under the standard definition used by the UN, these countries remain landlocked despite having Caspian coastlines — they cannot directly access the open sea without crossing another country’s territory.

Searching the reference

Type a country name to see its neighbours and whether it is doubly landlocked. Filter by continent to compare the landlocked nations of Central Asia, East Africa, or Central Europe side by side.