List of countries that border only one other country
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of countries that have a land border with only one other country. The list does not include de facto independent disputed areas or unrecognised countries.
Nations that share a land border with only one other country often have concerns about domination by the other state if it is larger. Today concerns are often about economic domination such as between Canada and the United States or between Denmark and Germany. Because much trade goes over land these countries are often heavily reliant on their single neighbour.
With transport by sea being cheaper than transport by land, some of these countries may be said to have several neighbours "by sea". As an example Denmark "borders" Sweden and Norway by sea.
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[edit] Landlocked and completely surrounded (enclaves)
- Lesotho - by South Africa, 909 km (565 mi)
- San Marino - by Italy, 39 km (24 mi)
- Vatican City - by Italy, 3.2 km (2 mi)
[edit] Peninsulas
- Qatar - with Saudi Arabia, 60 km (37 mi)
- South Korea - with North Korea, 238 km (148 mi) (across the Demilitarized Zone, see below)
- Denmark - with Germany, 68 km (42 mi) (connected to Sweden via bridge, see list below)
[edit] Partly surrounded, with sea access
- The Gambia - by Senegal, 740 km (460 mi)
- Monaco - by France, 4.4 km (2.7 mi)
- Portugal - with Spain, 1,214 km (754 mi)
[edit] Sharing a long border
- Canada - with the United States, 8,893 km (5,530 mi)
[edit] Sharing an island
- See also List of divided islands
- Brunei borders only Malaysia, 381 km (237 mi), on the island of Borneo
- Cuba shares a border with the US military base at Guantanamo Bay. The base is however a Cuban territory leased to the US and the US agrees with Cuba that the land occupied by the base is actually part of Cuba. The United States claims that this area is held in a "perpetual lease", which Cuba calls a "void treaty".
- Dominican Republic and Haiti border only each other, 360 km (220 mi), on the island of Hispaniola
- East Timor borders only Indonesia, 228 km (142 mi), on the island of Timor
- The Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom (specifically, Northern Ireland) border only each other, 360 km (220 mi), on the island of Ireland (the island of Great Britain is connected to France via the Channel Tunnel, see list below)
- Papua New Guinea borders only Indonesia, 820 km (510 mi), on the island of New Guinea
[edit] Buffer zones
- South Korea shares a border with North Korea at the Demarcation Line, but they are separated by a 4-km wide Demilitarized Zone.
[edit] Other borders
[edit] Causeways, bridges, and tunnels
Borders relevant to this list may arguably include short theoretical borders in the middle of man-made constructions. A bridge or an artificial island does not constitute a land border, however.
- Denmark, in addition to its border with Germany, technically also has an extremely short border with Sweden across the Oresund Bridge
- Singapore, although an island nation with no natural land borders, is connected to Malaysia by the Malaysia-Singapore Second Link and the Johor Causeway
- Bahrain, likewise an island nation, is connected to Saudi Arabia by the King Fahd Causeway, and the Qatar–Bahrain Friendship Bridge connecting it to Qatar is planned but as yet incomplete
- The United Kingdom, in addition to its border with the Republic of Ireland, has a border with France in the Channel Tunnel
[edit] Dependent territories
In some cases, a dependent territory of one nation borders another nation.
- Akrotiri and Dhekelia, a British sovereign base area, borders the Republic of Cyprus. Dhekelia borders also the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, but the latter is recognised only by Turkey.
- Åland Islands, a Finnish autonomous region, borders Sweden on the skerry of Märket.
- Gibraltar, a British territory, occupies a small peninsula and has a short land border with Spain.
- Hong Kong, comprising a continental portion and more than 200 islands in the South China Sea, was formerly ceded and leased from Qing China by the United Kingdom. It was handed over to the People's Republic of China, but since operates with its own judicial system. The land border and coastline, although now not one between two States, are controlled as though Hong Kong were an international exclave.
- Macau, comprises a peninsula and two islands in the South China Sea, 60km west of Hong Kong, and like Hong Kong was formerly administered by a colonial power (in this case Portugal) but was handed over to the People's Republic of China. It too has its own judicial system and retains border and coastal controls similar to those of an exclave.
- The island of Saint Martin is split between two island territories: the northern half, Saint-Martin, is part of the French département of Guadeloupe; the southern half, Sint Maarten, is part of the Netherlands Antilles.
[edit] Historical
There are many countries that 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 map changes.
- Korea bordered only China for several hundred years before 1860, after which a second international border with Russia appeared, according to the Convention of Peking
- Ciskei, one of the South African "independent" homelands, reincorporated on April 27, 1994
- Dominion of Newfoundland, with Canada, until March 31, 1949 when it became the Canadian province of Newfoundland (now named Newfoundland and Labrador)
- Scotland and England bordered only each other between 1535 (when Wales was formally annexed to England) and 1707 when Scotland and England were united by the Acts of Union].
