# Countries that are totally landlocked by ONE other country **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 9, 2008, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-that-are-totally-landlocked-by-one-other-country/467199 "2008-10-09T17:56:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-that-are-totally-landlocked-by-one-other-country/467199/21 "2008-10-10T00:24:54Z")
Thanks guys, you’re awesome! I’m looking at all of the links you gave me. ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-that-are-totally-landlocked-by-one-other-country/467199/22 "2008-10-10T02:51:46Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Don’t know when you went to school, but Swaziland has had borders with both South Africa and Mozambique since at least 1914. > [Map: Africa, Imperial Boundaries, 1914](http://www.fsmitha.com/h2/map02af.htm) > > As far as I know, it has had the same boundaries since its formation in the late 19th century. well two of us with the same memory just may be a bad map or encyclopedia, I definitely remember the map that way though. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-that-are-totally-landlocked-by-one-other-country/467199/23 "2008-10-10T03:07:16Z")
> [@](#): > > In addition to the Vatican City and San Marino, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta is a small country landlocked in Italy (its “territory” is a building in Rome). The United States doesn’t recognize the SMOM as a sovereign country but a number of other countries do. Aren’t they in fact entirely contained within the Vatican? That would make the SMOM doubly locked. ---
**Author:** ![J\_Cubed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@J\_Cubed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J_Cubed)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-that-are-totally-landlocked-by-one-other-country/467199/24 "2008-10-10T03:42:38Z")
I always felt bad for Portugal; they have to talk to Spain if they want to drive anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-that-are-totally-landlocked-by-one-other-country/467199/25 "2008-10-10T04:59:03Z")
> [@ratatoskK](#): > > Oops, I take it back, Tuva has borders with Russia and China. In addition to the fact it’s part of Russia, it borders Mongolia, not China. (I’ll admit I thought it was an island nation in the South Pacific. But then all I know about Tuva is the throat singing, anyway.) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-that-are-totally-landlocked-by-one-other-country/467199/26 "2008-10-10T08:07:24Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > In addition to the Vatican City and San Marino, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta is a small country landlocked in Italy (its “territory” is a building in Rome). The United States doesn’t recognize the SMOM as a sovereign country but a number of other countries do. We have pictures of the Delegation of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in Prague, but we’d thought it was [the country](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/country_profiles/1045691.stm). In any case, hey, wouldn’t the Order of Malta have at least two buildings? One in Rome and one in Prague 🙂 (The linked webpage has a kind’a cute timeline: it starts from when the islands became a colony; I’m reasonably sure things had happened there before - those medieval buildings weren’t built by the Brits) (Yes, I know it isn’t exactly true that a country’s embassy is territory of that country and there’s a thread about it. But heck, in this case it would multiply the territory of the place). ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-that-are-totally-landlocked-by-one-other-country/467199/27 "2008-10-10T09:22:40Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Aren’t they in fact entirely contained within the Vatican? That would make the SMOM doubly locked. No, the ‘territories’ of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta are not within the Vatican. The [Palazzo Malta](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palazzo_Malta) is on the [Via dei Condotti](http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Via+dei+Condotti&sll=41.907196,12.481842&sspn=0.003713,0.006866&ie=UTF8&ll=41.905455,12.479053&spn=0.003713,0.006866&z=17), while the [Villa Malta](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa_Malta) is on the Aventine. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-that-are-totally-landlocked-by-one-other-country/467199/28 "2008-10-10T09:48:40Z")
IMHO to consider the order of Malta a “country” is kind of silly as they are not a country in any real sense of the word. They may be “recognized” (whatever that means) but they are not a country. There are other organizations, like the UN, Nato, etc., which may be able to issue pasports, etc, but are also not countries in the common sense of the word. And if you want to go to the extreme of acalling anything a country then the UN in NYC or NATO in Brussels or the Red Cross in Switzerland are also landlocked countries. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-that-are-totally-landlocked-by-one-other-country/467199/29 "2008-10-10T11:48:48Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > (I’ll admit I thought it was an island nation in the South Pacific. But then all I know about Tuva is the throat singing, anyway.) You’re thinking of [Tuvalu](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuvalu). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-that-are-totally-landlocked-by-one-other-country/467199/30 "2008-10-10T23:48:22Z")
> [@](#): > > IMHO to consider the order of Malta a “country” is kind of silly as they are not a country in any real sense of the word. They may be “recognized” (whatever that means) but they are not a country. There are other organizations, like the UN, Nato, etc., which may be able to issue pasports, etc, but are also not countries in the common sense of the word. And if you want to go to the extreme of acalling anything a country then the UN in NYC or NATO in Brussels or the Red Cross in Switzerland are also landlocked countries. As I wrote, over a hundred countries recognize the SMOM a country. No offense, but you’re going to have to offer something more than your opinion on the subject to outweigh that. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-that-are-totally-landlocked-by-one-other-country/467199/31 "2008-10-11T08:16:08Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > As I wrote, over a hundred countries recognize the SMOM a country. No offense, but you’re going to have to offer something more than your opinion on the subject to outweigh that. How about some common sense. Even the Order themselves do not call themselves a “country”. > [@](#): > > [Sovereign Military Order of Malta - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_Military_Order_of_Malta) > > With its unique history and unusual present circumstances the exact status of the Order has been the subject of debate: it claims to be a traditional example of a sovereign entity other than a state. Its two headquarters in Rome, namely the Palazzo Malta in Via dei Condotti 68 (where the Grand Master resides and Government Bodies meet), and the Villa Malta on the Aventine (which hosts the Grand Priory of Rome, the Embassy of the Order to Holy See and the Embassy of the Order to Italy), are granted extraterritoriality. > > However, unlike the Holy See, which is sovereign over the Vatican City, SMOM has had no sovereign territory (other than a few properties in Italy with extraterritoriality only) since the loss of the island of Malta in 1798. The United Nations does not classify it as a “non-member state” but as one of the “entities and intergovernmental organizations having received a standing invitation to participate as observers”. > … > Wilhelm Wengler, a German Professor of International law, addresses this point in his book “Völkerrecht”, and rejects the notion that recognition of the Order by some states can make it a subject of international law. Conversely, Professor Rebecca Wallace, writing more recently in her book “International Law”, explains that a sovereign entity does not have to be a country, and that SMOM is an example of this. This position appears to be supported by the number of nations extending diplomatic relations to the Order, which more than doubled from 49 to 100 in the 20 year period to 2008.[5] The Holy See in 1953 proclaimed “in the Lord’s name” that the Order of Malta was only a “functional sovereignty” - due to the fact that it did not have all that pertained to true sovereignty, such as territory. In other words, more like the Red Cross and other NGOs. So, it is a “sovereign entity other than a state”. I find it comical that they exchange ambassadors with the Vatican. All they have is a building and they exchange “ambassadors”? Let’s get real. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-that-are-totally-landlocked-by-one-other-country/467199/32 "2008-10-11T13:14:10Z")
I think the case of Kaliningrad is highly interesting - although it’s not land-locked, it is a tiny bit of Russia broken off and between two other countries. Just an FYI. > **[Kaliningrad](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaliningrad)** > > Kaliningrad (/kəˈlɪnɪnɡræd/ kə-LIN-in-grad; Russian: Калининград, .mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}IPA: \[kəlʲɪnʲɪnˈɡrat\]), until 1946 known as Königsberg (German pronunciation: \[ˈkøːnɪçsbɛʁk\]; Russian: Кёнигсберг, tr. Kyonigsberg, IPA: \[ˈkʲɵnʲɪɡzbɛrk\]; Polish: Królewiec; Lithuanian: Karaliaučius), is the largest city and administr... ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-that-are-totally-landlocked-by-one-other-country/467199/33 "2008-10-11T13:19:57Z")
As someone pointed out in a Wikipedia article on microstates, SMOM is the surviving example of a sovereignty that is **not** a nation or country. The Holy See would be another example, but is now also the government of Vatican City. It’s a knightly order which at one time was enfeoffed to the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, and became autocephalic when that kingdom fell. There was a point at which it was the government of Malta the nation, but it lost a war. Interestingly, it also briefly (~4 years) had a New World colony (in the aftermath of the War of the Spanish Succession, in which it was tangentially involved): St. Croix, now U.S.V.I. (And, not having previewed, I see I duplicatre some of what **sailor** had to say. But I’ll leave this for the additional info. I provided that he did not.) ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-that-are-totally-landlocked-by-one-other-country/467199/34 "2008-10-11T15:46:12Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > I think the case of Kaliningrad is highly interesting - although it’s not land-locked, it is a tiny bit of Russia broken off and between two other countries. Which makes it an [exclave](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_enclaves_and_exclaves). ---
**Author:** ![First\_Amongst\_Daves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@First\_Amongst\_Daves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/First_Amongst_Daves)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-that-are-totally-landlocked-by-one-other-country/467199/35 "2008-10-11T16:07:31Z")
Forgive my ignorance of Canadian geography but I’m figuring Quebec, if it ever seceded, would share a body of water with the US? ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Beecher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hank_beecher/32/7275_2.png) [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-that-are-totally-landlocked-by-one-other-country/467199/36 "2008-10-11T16:08:42Z")
Most American Indian Nations are landlocked. This is a case of nested citizenship though, where the citizens of the inner nation are also citizens of the surrounding country. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-that-are-totally-landlocked-by-one-other-country/467199/37 "2008-10-11T18:49:46Z")
> [@First\_Amongst\_Daves](#): > > Forgive my ignorance of Canadian geography but I’m figuring Quebec, if it ever seceded, would share a body of water with the US? Quebec has dry-land borders with the states of New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. AFAIK, Ontario has no dry-land border with the U.S., though some of the water bodies that together comprise the border are rivers that are relatively easily bridged. (Going downstream, they are Rainy River, Lake Superior, Sault Ste, Marie, Lake Huron, St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, Detroit River, Lake Erie, Niagara River, Lake Ontario, St. Lawrence River.) The Quebec-New York land border begins “before” (i.e. upstream of the point where) the line bounding Ontario and Quebec reaches the St. Lawrence River. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-that-are-totally-landlocked-by-one-other-country/467199/38 "2008-10-11T19:04:52Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > enfeoffed > [@](#): > > autocephalic I guessed the meaning of the second word , but I genuinely doubted the legitimacy of the first. Well done, Mr P! 😃 Vocabulary ++ even although it leaves me a bit discombobulated. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-that-are-totally-landlocked-by-one-other-country/467199/39 "2008-10-11T20:32:21Z")
> [@sailor](#): > > IMHO to consider the order of Malta a “country” is kind of silly as they are not a country in any real sense of the word. They may be “recognized” (whatever that means) but they are not a country. There are other organizations, like the UN, Nato, etc., which may be able to issue pasports, etc, but are also not countries in the common sense of the word. And if you want to go to the extreme of acalling anything a country then the UN in NYC or NATO in Brussels or the Red Cross in Switzerland are also landlocked countries. [The Master speaks on the definition of “country.”](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/783/how-do-i-go-about-starting-my-own-country) FYI, the person who asked that question is very, very close to me. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-that-are-totally-landlocked-by-one-other-country/467199/40 "2008-10-12T03:13:16Z")
> [@Hank\_Beecher](#): > > Most American Indian Nations are landlocked. This is a case of nested citizenship though, where the citizens of the inner nation are also citizens of the surrounding country. Similarly, the Republic of Tatarstan has declared independence from Russia, but that’s only on paper. Still, the Tatarstan government claims sovereignty over its own territory, meanwhile their citizenship is nested within that of Russia, sort of like an American Indian nation. We have our own Tatarstan over here, the Iroquois Nation has declared its sovereignty too, and issued its own passports. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-that-are-totally-landlocked-by-one-other-country/467199.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-that-are-totally-landlocked-by-one-other-country/467199.md?page=3)