List of countries that border only one other country

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This is a list of countries that have a land border with only one other country. Some on this list have a maritime border with additional countries. Some countries, which are not listed here, have no land border but do have a maritime border with a single other country, such as Sri Lanka.

Contents

There are generally three arrangements by which a country would have a single land border:

Territory leased or ceded by one country to another for perpetual use, but not in sovereignty, such as Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, or memorials, such as the American Cemetery in France, do not constitute true territorial borders because the land occupied remains a formal part of the host country.

This list is based on the Correlates of War Direct Contiguity data set, with maritime causeways and bridges not being counted. [1]

Countries bordering only one other country

Landlocked

CountryNeighbourBorder lengthNotes
kmmi
Flag of Lesotho.svg  Lesotho Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 909565Lesotho is an enclave which is entirely surrounded by South Africa.
Flag of San Marino.svg  San Marino Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 3924San Marino is an enclave entirely surrounded by Italy.
Flag of the Vatican City (2023-present).svg  Vatican City 3.22.0The Vatican City is an enclave entirely surrounded by Rome, Italy.

With coast

CountryNeighbourBorder lengthNotes
kmmi
Flag of Brunei.svg  Brunei Flag of Malaysia.svg  Malaysia 381237Borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak on the island of Borneo.
Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg  Dominican Republic Flag of Haiti.svg  Haiti 360220On the island of Hispaniola
Flag of The Gambia.svg  The Gambia Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal 740460The Republic of the Gambia is bordered to the north, south and east by Senegal.
Flag of Haiti.svg  Haiti Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg  Dominican Republic 360220On the island of Hispaniola
Flag of Ireland.svg  Republic of Ireland Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 360220The Republic of Ireland borders the United Kingdom's Northern Ireland region on the island of Ireland.
Flag of Monaco.svg  Monaco Flag of France.svg  France 4.42.7
Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg  Papua New Guinea Flag of Indonesia.svg  Indonesia 820510On the island of New Guinea
Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 1,214754
Flag of Qatar.svg  Qatar Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia 6037The planned Qatar–Bahrain Causeway would connect Qatar to Bahrain.
Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea Flag of North Korea.svg  North Korea 238148On the Korean Peninsula, at the Demarcation Line. The two countries are separated by a 4 km wide Demilitarized Zone. Both Koreas claim the Korean Peninsula.
Flag of East Timor.svg  Timor-Leste Flag of Indonesia.svg  Indonesia 228142On the island of Timor.
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Flag of Ireland.svg  Republic of Ireland 360220On the island of Ireland. The British Overseas Territories of Gibraltar and Akrotiri and Dhekelia border Spain and Cyprus respectively, but these territories are not part of the United Kingdom proper (see #Dependent territories section).

Causeways, bridges, and tunnels

Passport Island, the site of the land border between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, is seen at the far left. Each nation has a border checkpoint on the island on opposite sides of the border. Manama bahrain.jpg
Passport Island, the site of the land border between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, is seen at the far left. Each nation has a border checkpoint on the island on opposite sides of the border.

Often called fixed crossings or fixed links, transportation corridors constructed to cross bodies of water without any intermittent connections such as ferries or ships may be between different states. These may be considered artificial "persistent" borderpoints for land vehicles or pedestrians, but are not typically considered land borders given their need for continuous operation and maintenance, as well as their ease of volume control or closure by either state. Two countries are islands and have no land borders, but maintain fixed borderpoints with other nations.

CountryLand neighbourBorderpoint neighbourNotes
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Flag of Ireland.svg  Republic of Ireland Flag of France.svg  France In addition to its border with Ireland, has a fixed link with France in the Channel Tunnel.
Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark Flag of Germany.svg  Germany Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden In addition to its border with Germany, has a fixed link with Sweden across the Øresund Bridge.
Flag of Bahrain.svg  Bahrain None, Since Bahrain is an island.Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia Although an island nation with no natural land borders, Bahrain maintains persistent connection to Saudi Arabia by the King Fahd Causeway at Passport Island.
Flag of Singapore.svg  Singapore None, Since Singapore is cut off by a strait. (Specifically, the Strait of Johor.)Flag of Malaysia.svg  Malaysia Although an island nation with no natural land borders, Singapore maintains persistent connections to Malaysia by the Johor Causeway and the Malaysia–Singapore Second Link.
Flag of Liechtenstein.svg  Liechtenstein Flag of Austria.svg  Austria Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland In addition to its land border with Austria, Liechtenstein has five bridges crossing the river Rhine to Switzerland.

Dependent territories

In some cases, a dependent territory of one nation borders another nation.

TerritorySovereigntyNeighbourBorder lengthNotes
km
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Akrotiri and Dhekelia Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Flag of Cyprus.svg  Cyprus 108British sovereign base areas, border the Republic of Cyprus. Dhekelia also borders the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, but the latter is recognised only by Turkey.
Flag of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands.svg  French Southern and Antarctic Lands Flag of France.svg  France Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Adélie Land, France's (largely unrecognised) claim in Antarctica borders only the Australian Antarctic Territory. (It also touches other claims at the South Pole.)
Flag of Gibraltar.svg  Gibraltar Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 1.2A British overseas territory, occupies a small peninsula and has a 1.2 km (0.75 mi) land border with Spain. Spain claims some of Gibraltar as its own territory.
Flag of Greenland.svg  Greenland Flag of Denmark (state).svg  Kingdom of Denmark Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 1,280 mA constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenland had a border dispute with Canada regarding uninhabited Hans Island. The island is located in the centre of the Kennedy Channel of Nares Strait (between Canada's Ellesmere Island and northern Greenland), which constitutes the agreed maritime border. On June 11, 2022, both countries signed an agreement to split the island, which will come into effect as soon as the parliaments of Canada, Denmark, Greenland, and Nunavut ratify it. [2]
Flag of New Zealand.svg  Ross Dependency Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia New Zealand's (largely unrecognised) territorial claim in Antarctica borders only the Australian Antarctic Territory and the unclaimed Marie Byrd Land. (It also touches other claims at the South Pole.)
Flag of France.svg  Saint Martin Flag of France.svg  France Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Kingdom of the Netherlands 16The island is split between two island territories: the northern half, Saint-Martin, is a French overseas collectivity; the southern half, Sint Maarten, is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Flag of Sint Maarten.svg  Sint Maarten Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Kingdom of the Netherlands Flag of France.svg  France

Historical

Many countries historically had only one neighbour. Some no longer exist while others now have either no land borders or borders with more than one nation due to border changes.

See also

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References

  1. "Direct Contiguity Data, 1816-2016. Version 3.2". Correlates of War Project. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  2. Austen, Ian (2022-06-14). "Canada and Denmark End Their Arctic Whisky War" . The New York Times . Retrieved 2022-09-13.