There are 15 countries that have a land border with only one other country. (Image: Getty)
There are 15 countries around the world that have a land border with only one other country, with six of them in Europe.
There are typically three ways in which a country would have just a single land border. It might be an island divided between two states, such as and the UK.
It might be a peninsula or a semi-enclave mainly surrounded by sea but with one land border, such as and . Lastly, landlocked countries may form an enclave surrounded by a larger country, such as San Marino and the Vatican City within .
The list has been created based on data from the , with maritime causeways and bridges not being counted.
In terms of landlocked countries with only one land border, there are only three: Lesotho, San Marino, and Vatican City. All three are enclaves – Lesotho surrounded by , and San Marino and the Vatican surrounded by Italy.
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The Vatican is an enclave entirely surrounded by Italy. (Image: Getty)
Many more countries have coastlines that also only share a land border with one other country, with 12 making the list according to the Correlates of War Direct Contiguity.
In , Brunei borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak on the island of Borneo. In , The Gambia is bordered to the north, south, and east by Senegal. In , Monaco’s one neighbour is , and Portugal just shares a land border with Spain.
One current example that could change in the future is Qatar and its border with Saudi Arabia. The proposed would connect the two countries, taking Qatar off the list.
Closer to home, the Republic of Ireland borders the UK’s Northern Ireland region on the island of Ireland. The reason and aren’t on the list is because it only considers sovereign countries, not constituent countries.
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The full list:
- Lesotho – neighbours South Africa
- San Marino – neighbours Italy
- Vatican City – neighbours Italy
- Brunei – neighbours Malaysia
- Dominican Republic – neighbours Haiti
- The Gambia – neighbours Senegal
- Haiti – neighbours the Dominican Republic
- Republic of Ireland – neighbours the UK
- Monaco – neighbours France
- Papa New Guinea – neighbours Indonesia
- Portugal – neighbours Spain
- Qatar – neighbours Saudi Arabia
- South Korea – neighbours North Korea
- Timor-Leste – neighbours Indonesia
- United Kingdom – neighbours the Republic of Ireland