Landlocked describes any territory, body of water, or population that is entirely enclosed by land, with no direct access to the ocean. The term most commonly refers to countries whose borders are surrounded entirely by other nations, with no coastline of their own. There are currently 44 landlocked countries in the world, spread across every continent except North America and Australia.
Landlocked Countries
A landlocked country is simply a nation with no sea coast. Every direction you travel from its borders, you hit another country before reaching the ocean. Under international law, specifically the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a landlocked state is formally defined as one that has no sea coast. These countries must negotiate with their neighbors for access to ports, shipping routes, and maritime trade.
The 44 landlocked countries range from tiny European nations like Luxembourg and Liechtenstein to massive states like Mongolia and Kazakhstan. Africa has the most landlocked countries of any continent, with 16. Europe has 14, Asia has 12, and South America has 2 (Bolivia and Paraguay).
Two countries hold the unusual distinction of being “doubly landlocked,” meaning they are surrounded entirely by other landlocked countries. To reach the ocean from either Liechtenstein (in central Europe) or Uzbekistan (in Central Asia), you must cross through at least two other countries.
Why Being Landlocked Matters Economically
Lacking ocean access creates real economic disadvantages. Shipping goods by sea is far cheaper than overland transport, so landlocked countries pay more to import and export products. They also depend on the political stability and infrastructure of their neighbors to move goods to and from ports. A border dispute or a poorly maintained highway in a neighboring country can choke off trade.
The United Nations recognizes 32 Landlocked Developing Countries, or LLDCs, that face particular economic challenges tied to their geography. These include nations like Ethiopia, Nepal, Bolivia, Mongolia, and Afghanistan. Nearly half of the countries on this list are also classified as Least Developed Countries, the UN’s designation for the world’s poorest nations. The overlap is not a coincidence: geographic isolation from maritime trade routes contributes to slower economic growth, higher transport costs, and reduced access to global markets.
Health Consequences of Inland Geography
Living far from the coast can affect public health in ways people rarely consider. One well-documented example is iodine deficiency. Coastal populations naturally consume more iodine through seafood and even through trace amounts in the air and water near the ocean. Inland populations lack this passive exposure.
A large cross-sectional study in China found that hypothyroidism (an underactive thyroid, often linked to low iodine) was significantly more common among inland residents at 17.5% compared to just 7.2% among coastal populations. Inland areas compensated by using iodized salt at very high rates, with over 95% of households using it, compared to roughly 62 to 64% in coastal areas. Despite that effort, the gap in thyroid problems persisted. Landlocked countries face similar challenges and often rely on salt iodization programs to prevent deficiency-related disorders.
Landlocked in Biology
The term “landlocked” also applies in biology, where it describes fish or other aquatic species that become permanently trapped in freshwater lakes or rivers, cut off from the ocean. This happens when natural or human-made barriers block their migration routes.
Several forces create these barriers. After ice ages, rising land masses (a process called postglacial rebound) can lift waterways above sea level, trapping fish populations behind newly formed ridges. Dams, changes in land use, and shifting sea levels all play a role too. During glacial periods of the Pleistocene, sea levels dropped 135 to 150 meters below where they sit today, reshaping coastlines and isolating waterways that had once connected to the ocean.
Atlantic salmon are the most familiar example. Landlocked salmon populations have evolved measurable differences from their ocean-migrating relatives. They show changes in immune function, body shape, and the ability to regulate salt in their bodies. Migratory salmon undergo a transformation called smolting that prepares their bodies for saltwater, but landlocked salmon have actually lost some of the nerve connections in the brain that drive this process. Genomic studies have identified 28 distinct regions of the salmon genome where landlocked and migratory populations have diverged, affecting traits related to growth, fat metabolism, and disease resistance. These changes illustrate how quickly isolation from the sea can reshape a species.
Landlocked Water Bodies
Lakes and basins that have no outlet to the ocean are also called landlocked. The technical term for these is “endorheic basins,” and they behave very differently from lakes that drain into rivers flowing to the sea. Because water only leaves through evaporation, minerals and salts accumulate over time. This is why many landlocked lakes, like the Great Salt Lake in Utah or the Dead Sea, are extremely salty.
Not all landlocked water bodies are simple. Researchers have documented “anchialine” systems, which are landlocked basins that have underground connections to the sea. These can be classified by their depth, salinity, water temperature, pH, and degree of hidden connection to ocean water. Some contain distinct layers where fresh water sits on top and saltwater pools below, creating unusual habitats that support species found nowhere else.
Landlocked in Real Estate
Outside geography and biology, “landlocked” has an everyday meaning in property law. A landlocked parcel is a piece of land completely surrounded by other people’s property, with no direct access to a public road. This is a common issue in rural areas where large tracts of land have been subdivided over generations. Owners of landlocked parcels typically have the legal right to an easement, a path across a neighbor’s land to reach a road, though securing one can require negotiation or a court order. If you’re buying property, a landlocked parcel is worth less and harder to develop because of these access limitations.