Landlocked countries quiz

What's on this map

The 45 countries with no coastline on the open sea. Africa has the most with 16, Europe has 15, Asia 12 and South America 2. North America and Oceania have none.

Europe's landlocked countries form a band through the middle: Switzerland, Austria, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Luxembourg, Belarus and Moldova, plus Serbia, Kosovo and North Macedonia in the Balkans. Then come the microstates: Andorra, Liechtenstein, San Marino and Vatican City.

Asia's group centres on Central Asia. Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan all border the Caspian Sea, but the Caspian is a closed lake with no route to the ocean, so they count as landlocked. Add Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Armenia, Mongolia, Nepal, Bhutan and Laos.

In Africa, think of a belt across the Sahel (Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad), a central block, and a southern cluster. South America has Bolivia and Paraguay.

The ones people miss

• Uzbekistan and Liechtenstein – the only two doubly landlocked countries. Hook: every neighbour is landlocked too, so reaching the sea means crossing two borders.
• Lesotho – entirely surrounded by South Africa. Hook: a country inside another, like San Marino and Vatican City inside Italy.
• Ethiopia – lost its coast when Eritrea became independent in 1993. Hook: the most populous landlocked country.
• Azerbaijan – looks coastal on the Caspian. Hook: the Caspian is a lake, so it does not count.
• Bolivia – lost its coast to Chile in the 1880s. Hook: one of only two in South America, with Paraguay.
• Kosovo – small and easy to skip. Hook: between Serbia, Montenegro, Albania and North Macedonia.

How to learn it

• Do Find on the map one continent at a time, starting with Europe and its microstates.
• In Africa, sweep west to east across the Sahel, then work down through the centre to the south.
• Size is a good mode here: Kazakhstan far ahead, Vatican City the smallest country in the world.
• Done is a clean Name them all plus a Sudden death run through Africa's 16.