There are currently 44 [1] states that do not border the oceans . Most of these states are in Africa (16) and in Europe (14). In Asia, 12 countries have no access to the sea, in South America - 2. In North America there are no such states, and the continent of Australia is entirely occupied by a single country .
Two landlocked states, namely Uzbekistan and Liechtenstein , border exclusively with countries that also do not have access to the oceans [2] . Liechtenstein became such a state in 1918 after the collapse of Austria-Hungary , which had access to the sea. During the Anschluss period of Austria by Germany (1938-1945), Liechtenstein again lost this status, since the Third Reich also had access to the sea. After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, Uzbekistan became the second such state.
Three small states are completely surrounded by the territory of one other state ( enclaves ): San Marino and the Vatican border only with Italy , Lesotho - only with South Africa . Seven states are completely surrounded by the territory of two states: Andorra , Bhutan , Liechtenstein , Moldova , Mongolia , Nepal and Esvatini , as well as partially recognized South Ossetia and unrecognized Transnistria . Most of the states surrounded by two other states are also small in size and population, but among them there are large ones (for example, Mongolia ).
Ethiopia , with 93.8 million inhabitants, is the largest in terms of population among countries that do not have access to the oceans. Also, more than 30 million people live in Uganda (34.8 million), Uzbekistan (33.0 million) and Nepal (30.4 million).
The largest in area of countries not bordering the oceans is Kazakhstan ( 2 724 900 km² ); more than a million square kilometers, Mongolia ( 1,566,500 km² ), Chad ( 1,284,000 km² ), Niger ( 1,266,000 km² ), Mali ( 1,240,000 km² ), Ethiopia ( 1,104,300 km² ) and Bolivia ( 1 098 581 km² ) [3] .
Most (9 out of 15) states that formed after the collapse of the USSR have no borders with the World Ocean. At the same time, the territory of the states of Armenia , Azerbaijan , Turkmenistan , Uzbekistan , Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan is fully included in the basins of closed reservoirs and regions. There are no other similar states in the world. At the same time, countries with access to the Caspian Sea (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan) can access by water the Black, Baltic and White Seas through the Unified Deep Sea Transport System of Russia (EGTS) on the basis of international treaties. Currently, the tonnage of vessels passing through the Unified Shipping System amounts to 10 thousand tons, which allows these states to use not only river-sea vessels, but also full-fledged sea vessels.
Part of the recognized and observer status with the UN, the Order of Malta , located mainly like the Vatican within Rome, in 1998 for 99 years rented Fort Sant'Angelo in Malta .
Content
Problems of countries without access to the open sea
Adam Smith in his work “The Wealth of Nations” noted that access to the sea and, accordingly, to trade routes is important for the indicators of the country's economic activity. Over time, the development of land transport and communications has reduced the advantages of coastal countries compared to landlocked countries. However, maritime transport continues to play a central role in world trade, and therefore the lack of access to the sea creates certain problems. In particular, neighboring countries may have economic or military reasons to block access to the sea or transit through their territory.
The right of States to access the high seas
Under international law ( 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea , Part X), inland countries have the right to access the sea. This right is realized by concluding special agreements between the landlocked countries concerned and the transit states.
Inland countries may have ships flying their flag based in foreign ports (for example, Czech sea vessels use the port of Szczecin on the basis of an agreement with Poland ) [4] .
On the high seas, inland countries enjoy all rights on an equal footing: in particular, they have the right to carry out shipping , fishing , flying aircraft, lay submarine cables and pipelines.
In August 2003, the Almaty Declaration and the Almaty Program of Action on ensuring States' access to maritime transport were adopted in Almaty . It is noted that the Almaty Program of Action is practically the only program that is a “road map” in the interests of meeting the special needs of landlocked developing countries. It contains specific measures and recommendations regarding transit transport policies and the development of transport infrastructure [5] .
List of States without access to the ocean and seas [6]
Asia
- Azerbaijan [7]
- Armenia
- Afghanistan
- Butane
- Kazakhstan [7]
- Kyrgyzstan
- Laos
- Mongolia
- Nepal
- Tajikistan
- Turkmenistan [7]
- Uzbekistan
- Nagorno-Karabakh Republic - unrecognized state
- South Ossetia is a partially recognized state
Africa
- Botswana
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
- Lesotho
- Malawi
- Mali
- Niger
- Rwanda
- Uganda
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Esvatini
- Ethiopia [8]
- South Sudan [1]
Europe
- Austria
- Andorra
- Belarus
- Vatican
- Hungary
- Liechtenstein
- Luxembourg
- Moldova
- San marino
- North Macedonia
- Serbia
- Slovakia
- Czech
- Switzerland
- Kosovo is a partially recognized state
- Lugansk People's Republic - an unrecognized state
- Transnistria is an unrecognized state
South America
- Bolivia [9]
- Paraguay
Facts
- Bolivia, despite the loss of access to the sea , has its own naval forces and celebrates a national holiday - Day of the Sea [10] [11] .
- In Moldova , 485 sea vessels are registered , which brings the state an income of about 10 million lei per year [12] .
- Central Asia is the only region in the world consisting exclusively of states without access to the oceans.
- Since 1991, the number of internationally recognized landlocked states has increased from 30 to 44.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 after the declaration of independence of South Sudan from the Republic of Sudan on July 9, 2011
- ↑ CIA The World Factbook // CIA, section “Land boundaries”: “Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan, are doubly landlocked”
- ↑ Amanda Briney. The World's Largest Landlocked Countries. List of the Ten Largest Landlocked Countries in the World // About.com , May 02, 2011
- ↑ International Law: A Textbook. Ch. 12. The rights of states without a sea coast. / Ans. ed. Yu. M. Kolosov , V.I. Kuznetsov . - M.: International Relations , 1994. - 608 p. - ISBN 5-7133-0479-5
- ↑ Daniyar Mukhtarov. Almaty hosts meeting of representatives of landlocked countries (Russian) on trend.az website, July 14, 2014
- ↑ List of countries with coastline // CIA. See Landlocked
- ↑ 1 2 3 has access to the Caspian Sea - a body of water that does not have a natural exit to the world ocean
- ↑ after the declaration of independence of Eritrea in 1993
- ↑ after the capture of the port of Antofagasta by Chile in 1879
- ↑ Bolivia, Chile, sea: a story of a conflict
- ↑ Sailors without the sea
- ↑ 485 vessels registered in Moldova: this brings to the budget about 10 million lei per year
Links
- Landlocked countries: opportunities, challenges, recommendations // United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, 2002. (Original: TRADE / 2002/23 Landlocked Countries: Opportunities, Challenges, Recommendations)