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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.

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

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This section considers only sovereign countries, not constituent countries like Wales and Scotland, which border only England.

Landlocked

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Country Neighbour Border length Notes
km mi
 Lesotho  South Africa 909 565 Lesotho is an enclave which is entirely surrounded by South Africa.
 San Marino  Italy 39 24 San Marino is an enclave entirely surrounded by Italy.
 Vatican City 3.2 2.0 The Vatican City is an enclave entirely surrounded by Rome, Italy.

With coast

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Country Neighbour Border length Notes
km mi
 Brunei  Malaysia 381 237 Borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak on the island of Borneo.
 Dominican Republic  Haiti 360 220 On the island of Hispaniola
 The Gambia  Senegal 740 460 The Republic of the Gambia is bordered to the north, south and east by Senegal.
 Haiti  Dominican Republic 360 220 On the island of Hispaniola
 Republic of Ireland  United Kingdom 360 220 The Republic of Ireland borders the United Kingdom's Northern Ireland region on the island of Ireland.
 Monaco  France 4.4 2.7
 Papua New Guinea  Indonesia 820 510 On the island of New Guinea
 Portugal  Spain 1,214 754
 Qatar  Saudi Arabia 60 37 The planned Qatar–Bahrain Causeway would connect Qatar to Bahrain.
 South Korea  North Korea 238 148 On 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.
 Timor-Leste  Indonesia 228 142 On the island of Timor.
 United Kingdom  Republic of Ireland 360 220 On 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

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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.

Country Land neighbour Borderpoint neighbour Notes
 United Kingdom  Republic of Ireland  France In addition to its border with Ireland, has a fixed link with France in the Channel Tunnel.
 Bahrain None, Since Bahrain is an island.  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.
 Singapore None, Since Singapore is cut off by a strait. (Specifically, the Strait of Johor.)  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.
 Liechtenstein  Austria   Switzerland In addition to its land border with Austria, Liechtenstein has five bridges crossing the river Rhine to Switzerland.

Dependent territories

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

Territory Sovereignty Neighbour Border length Notes
km
 Akrotiri and Dhekelia  United Kingdom  Cyprus 108 British 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.
 Gibraltar  United Kingdom  Spain 1.2 A 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.
 Ross Dependency  New Zealand  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.)

Integral parts of sovereign states

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In most cases, an integral part of a larger country shares a border with another nation.

Territory Sovereignty Neighbour Border length Notes
 Åland  Finland  Sweden 528,60 m Autonomous region of Finland. Åland had a dispute in Market Island.
 French Southern and Antarctic Lands  France  Australia 5.533.470,05 m Adélie Land, France's (largely unrecognised) claim in Antarctica borders only the Australian Antarctic Territory. (It also touches other claims at the South Pole.)
 Greenland  Kingdom of Denmark  Canada 1,280 m A 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]
 Saint Martin  France  Kingdom of the Netherlands 16 The 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.
 Sint Maarten  Kingdom of the Netherlands  France

Historical

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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

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  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.