Europe has 16 landlocked countries, second only to Africa's 16 among the continents (Asia has 12). They cluster in the centre of the continent — the Alpine states, the old Habsburg lands and the Carpathian basin — with a couple of outliers in the east and the Caucasus.
The 16, by region
- Alpine and Central Europe: Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Luxembourg.
- Micro-states: Andorra (in the Pyrenees), San Marino and Vatican City (both inside Italy).
- The Balkans: Serbia, Kosovo, North Macedonia.
- Eastern Europe: Belarus, Moldova.
- The Caucasus, if counted as Europe: Armenia.
Liechtenstein: double-landlocked
Liechtenstein is one of only two double-landlocked countries in the world — states where every neighbour is also landlocked, so you must cross at least two borders to reach the sea. It sits between Switzerland and Austria, both landlocked. The only other example anywhere is Uzbekistan in Central Asia.
The near-misses
Several European countries have only a sliver of coast. Bosnia and Herzegovina has about 20 km of Adriatic shore at Neum and a single small port. Slovenia has roughly 47 km. Monaco has just over 4 km. Montenegro and Albania are properly coastal but small. And a few countries border only an inland sea: the states around the Caspian — which is technically the world's largest lake — have no access to the open ocean from it.
How they trade
Landlocked Europe is far less disadvantaged than landlocked Africa, because the continent has dense rail and motorway networks, the Rhine–Main–Danube canal linking the North Sea to the Black Sea, and the EU single market removing border friction. Switzerland and Austria are among the richest countries on Earth despite having no port. The Rhine ports of Basel give Switzerland effective sea access via the Netherlands.
Africa has the same number of landlocked countries but a very different experience of it. See the companion guide.
Landlocked countries in Africa →