User:Binnenstaat

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  Binnenstaaten
  Doppelte binnenstaaten[a]

A binnenstaat is a country that does not have territory connected to an ocean or whose coastlines lie solely on endorheic basins. There are currently 44 binnenstaaten, 2 of them are doppelte binnenstaaten, and 3 de facto binnenstaaten as of 2024. Kazakhstan is the world's largest binnenstaat, while Ethiopia is the world's most populous binnenstaat.

In 1990, there were only 30 binnenstaaten in the world; however, the dissolutions of the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia; the breakup of Yugoslavia; the independence referendums of South Ossetia (partially recognized), Eritrea, Montenegro, South Sudan, and the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo (partially recognized) created 14 new binnenstaaten and five partially recognized binnenstaaten.

Generally, being a binnenstaat creates political and economic disadvantages that having access to international waters would avoid. For this reason, nations large and small throughout history have fought to gain access to open waters, even at great expense in wealth, bloodshed, and political capital.

The economic disadvantages of being a binnenstaat can be alleviated or aggravated depending on the degree of development, surrounding trade routes and freedom of trade, language barriers, and other considerations. Some binnenstaaten in Europe are affluent, such as Andorra, Austria, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, San Marino, Switzerland, and Vatican City, all of which, excluding Luxembourg (a founding member of NATO), frequently employ neutrality in global political issues.

However, 32 out of the 44 binnenstaaten, including those in Africa, Asia, and South America, have been classified as Developing Binnenstaaten (DBSs) by the United Nations. Nine of the twelve countries with the lowest Human Development Indices (HDI) are binnenstaaten.

Significance[edit]

Bolivia's loss of its coastline in the War of the Pacific (1879–1884) remains a major political issue

Historically, being a binnenstaat has been disadvantageous to a country's development. It cuts a nation off from important sea resources such as fishing, and impedes or prevents direct access to maritime trade, a crucial component of economic and social advancement. As such, coastal regions, or inland regions that have access to the World Ocean, tended to be wealthier and more heavily populated than inland regions that have no access to the World Ocean. Paul Collier in his book The Bottom Billion argues that being a binnenstaat in a poor geographical neighbourhood is one of four major development "traps" by which a country can be held back. He found that when a neighbouring country experiences better growth, it tends to spill over into favorable development for the country itself. For binnenstaaten, the effect is powerful, as they are limited in their trading activity with the rest of the world. He states, "If you are coastal, you serve the world; if you are a binnenstaat, you serve your neighbors." Others have argued that being a binnenstaat has an advantage as it creates a "natural tariff barrier" that protects the country from cheap imports. In some instances, this has led to more robust local food systems.

Developing binnenstaaten have significantly higher costs of international cargo transportation compared to coastal developing countries (in Asia the ratio is 3:1).

Historically, traveling between a binnenstaat and a country that did not border said country required the traveler to pass border controls twice or more. In recent times the advent of air travel has largely negated this impediment.

Actions to avoid being binnenstaaten[edit]

Countries have acted to overcome being binnenstaaten by acquiring land that reaches the sea:

Trade agreements[edit]

Countries can make agreements on getting free transport of goods through neighbouring countries:

  • The Treaty of Versailles required Germany to offer Czechoslovakia a lease for 99 years of parts of the ports in Hamburg and Stettin, allowing Czechoslovakia sea trade via the Elbe and Oder rivers. Stettin was annexed by Poland after World War II, but Hamburg continued the contract so that part of the port (now called Moldauhafen) until 2028 could be used for sea trade by a successor of Czechoslovakia, the Czech Republic.
  • The Danube is an international waterway, and thus binnenstaaten Austria, Hungary, Moldova, Serbia, and Slovakia have secure access to the Black Sea (the same access is given to inland parts of Germany and Croatia, though Germany and Croatia are not binnenstaaten). However, oceangoing ships cannot use the Danube, so cargo must be transloaded anyway, and many overseas imports into Austria and Hungary use land transport from Atlantic and Mediterranean ports. A similar situation exists for the Rhine river where Switzerland has boat access, but not oceangoing ships. Luxembourg has such through the Moselle, but Liechtenstein has no boat access, even though it is located along the Rhine, as the Rhine is not navigable that far upstream.
  • The Mekong is an international waterway so that binnenstaat Laos has access to the South China Sea (since Laos became independent from French Indochina). However, it is not navigable above the Khone Phapheng Falls.
  • Free ports allow transshipment to short-distance ships or river vessels.
  • The TIR Convention allows sealed road transport without customs checks and charges, mostly in Europe.

Political repercussions[edit]

Losing access to the sea is generally a great loss to a nation, politically, militarily, and economically. The following are examples of countries becoming binnenstaaten.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea now gives a binnenstaat a right of access to and from the sea without taxation of traffic through transit states. The United Nations has a programme of action to assist developing binnenstaaten, and the current responsible Undersecretary-General is Anwarul Karim Chowdhury.

Some countries have a long coastline, but much of it may not be readily usable for trade and commerce. For instance, in its early history, Russia's only ports were on the Arctic Ocean and frozen shut for much of the year. The wish to gain control of a warm-water port was a major motivator of Russian expansion towards the Baltic Sea, Black Sea, and Pacific Ocean. On the other hand, some binnenstaaten can have access to the ocean along wide navigable rivers. For instance, Paraguay (and Bolivia to a lesser extent) have access to the ocean through the Paraguay and Paraná rivers.

Several countries have coastlines on binnengewässern, such as the Caspian Sea and the Dead Sea. Since these seas are in effect lakes without access to wider seaborne trade, countries such as Kazakhstan are still considered binnenstaaten. Although the Caspian Sea is connected to the Black Sea via the man-made Volga–Don Canal, large oceangoing ships are unable to traverse it.

By degree[edit]

Binnenstaaten may be bordered by a single country having direct access to the high seas, two or more such countries, or be surrounded by other binnenstaaten, making a country a doppelte binnenstaat.

Binnenstaaten bordering a single country[edit]

Three binnenstaaten border a single country (enclaved countries):

Binnenstaaten bordering two countries[edit]

Seven binnenstaaten are surrounded by only two mutually bordering neighbours (semi-enclaved countries):

To this group could be added three binnenterritories, two of them are de facto states with no or limited international recognition:

Doppelte binnenstaaten[edit]

A country is a "doppelte binnenstaat" when it is surrounded only by binnenstaaten (i.e. requiring the crossing of at least two national borders to reach a coastline). There are two such countries:

After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Württemberg became a doppelte binnenstaat, bordering Bavaria, Baden, Switzerland, the Grand Duchy of Hesse (Wimpfen exclave), Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, and Hohenzollern-Hechingen. The latter two were themselves binnenstaaten between each other, Württemberg and Baden. In 1866 they became an exclave of Prussia, giving Württemberg a border with a coastal country but any path to a coast would still lead across at least two borders. The Free City of Frankfurt which was independent between 1815 and 1866 was a doppelte binnenstaat as it bordered the Electorate of Hesse, the Grand Duchy of Hesse, Hesse-Homburg, and Nassau. In the German Confederation there were several other binnenstaaten that only bordered binnenstaaten and binnenexclaves of coastal states: the Grand Duchy of Hesse, Hesse-Homburg, Nassau (all until 1866), Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Saxe-Hildburghausen (both until 1826), and Reuss, elder line (until 1871). All of these bordered Prussia but not the main territory with sea access.

There were no doppelte binnenstaaten from the unification of Germany in 1871 until the end of World War I. Liechtenstein bordered the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which had an Adriatic coastline, and Uzbekistan was then part of the Russian Empire, which had both ocean and sea access.

With the dissolution of Austria-Hungary in 1918 and the creation of an independent, binnenstaat Austria, Liechtenstein became the sole doppelte binnenstaat until 1938. In the Anschluss that year, Austria was absorbed into Nazi Germany, which possessed a border on the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. After World War II, Austria regained its independence and Liechtenstein once again became a doppelte binnenstaat.

Uzbekistan, which had been part of the Russian Empire and then the Soviet Union, gained its independence with the dissolution of the latter in 1991 and became the second doppelte binnenstaat.

However, Uzbekistan's status as a doppelte binnenstaat depends on the Caspian Sea's status dispute: some countries, especially Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, claim that the Caspian Sea should be considered as a real sea (mainly because this way they would have larger oil and gas fields), which would make Uzbekistan only a simple binnenstaat since its neighbours Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan have access to the Caspian Sea.

List of binnenstaaten and de facto binnenstaaten[edit]

Country Area (km2) Population UN Region UN Subregion Neighbouring countries Count Count with ocean access
 Afghanistan 652,230 33,369,945 Asia Southern Asia China, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan,[a] Uzbekistan[d] 6 3
 Andorra 468 77,543 Europe Southern Europe France and Spain 2 2
 Armenia 29,743 3,000,756 Asia Western Asia Azerbaijan,[a] Georgia, Iran, and Turkey 4 3
 Austria 83,871 9,027,999 Europe Western Europe Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Liechtenstein, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Switzerland 8 3
 Azerbaijan[a] 86,600 10,353,296 Asia Western Asia Armenia, Georgia, Iran, Russia, and Turkey 5/6 4
 Belarus 207,600 9,255,524 Europe Eastern Europe Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine 5 5
 Bhutan 38,394 691,141 Asia Southern Asia China and India 2 2
 Bolivia 1,098,581 12,054,379 Americas South America Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Peru 5 4
 Botswana 582,000 2,384,246 Africa Southern Africa Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe 4 2
 Burkina Faso 274,222 21,935,389 Africa Western Africa Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Niger, and Togo 6 4
 Burundi 27,834 11,865,821 Africa Eastern Africa DR Congo, Rwanda, and Tanzania 3 2
 Central African Republic 622,984 5,454,533 Africa Middle Africa Cameroon, Chad, the Congo, DR Congo, South Sudan, and the Sudan 6 4
 Chad 1,284,000 17,963,211 Africa Middle Africa Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Libya, Niger, Nigeria, and the Sudan 6 4
 Czech Republic 78,867 10,516,707 Europe Eastern Europe Austria, Germany, Poland, and Slovakia 4 2
 Eswatini 17,364 1,160,164 Africa Southern Africa Mozambique and South Africa 2 2
 Ethiopia 1,104,300 113,656,596 Africa Eastern Africa Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, Somaliland[b], South Sudan, and the Sudan 6/7 5/6
 Hungary 93,028 9,689,010 Europe Eastern Europe Austria, Croatia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine 7 4
 Kazakhstan[a] 2,724,900 19,644,100 Asia Central Asia China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Turkmenistan,[a] and Uzbekistan[d] 5 2
 Kosovo[b] 10,908 1,806,279 Europe Southern Europe Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia 4 2
 Kyrgyzstan 199,951 6,071,750 Asia Central Asia China, Kazakhstan,[a] Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan[d] 4 1
 Laos 236,800 7,749,595 Asia South-eastern Asia Cambodia, China, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam 5 5
 Lesotho[c] 30,355 2,281,454 Africa Southern Africa South Africa 1 1
 Liechtenstein[d] 160 35,789 Europe Western Europe Austria and Switzerland 2 0
 Luxembourg 2,586 502,202 Europe Western Europe Belgium, France, and Germany 3 3
 Malawi 118,484 20,091,635 Africa Eastern Africa Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia 3 2
 Mali 1,240,192 21,473,764 Africa Western Africa Algeria, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal 7 5
 Moldova 33,846 3,559,500 Europe Eastern Europe Romania, Transnistria,[b] and Ukraine 2/3 2
 Mongolia 1,566,500 3,227,863 Asia Eastern Asia China and Russia 2 2
   Nepal 147,181 30,666,598 Asia Southern Asia China and India 2 2
 Niger 1,267,000 24,484,587 Africa Western Africa Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Libya, Mali, and Nigeria 7 4
 North Macedonia 25,713 1,836,713 Europe Southern Europe Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Kosovo,[b] and Serbia 4/5 3
 Paraguay 406,752 7,356,409 Americas South America Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil 3 2
 Rwanda 26,338 12,955,736 Africa Eastern Africa Burundi, DR Congo, Tanzania, and Uganda 4 2
 San Marino[c] 61 31,716 Europe Southern Europe Italy 1 1
 Serbia 88,361 6,690,887 Europe Southern Europe Albania (via Kosovo and Metohija), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Kosovo,[b] Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Romania 8 5/6
 Slovakia 49,035 5,460,185 Europe Eastern Europe Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Ukraine 5 2
 South Ossetia[b] 3,900 72,000 Asia Western Asia Georgia and Russia 2 2
 South Sudan 644,329 11,544,905 Africa Eastern Africa The Central African Republic, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, the Sudan, and Uganda 6 3
  Switzerland 41,284 8,636,896 Europe Western Europe Austria, France, Germany, Italy, and Liechtenstein 5 3
 Tajikistan 143,100 9,119,347 Asia Central Asia Afghanistan, China, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan[d] 4 1
 Transnistria[b] 4,163 505,153 Europe Eastern Europe Moldova and Ukraine 2 1
 Turkmenistan[a] 488,100 5,636,011 Asia Central Asia Afghanistan, Iran, Kazakhstan,[a] and Uzbekistan[d] 4 1
 Uganda 241,038 45,853,778 Africa Eastern Africa DR Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Tanzania 5 3
 Uzbekistan[d] 449,100 36,001,262 Asia Central Asia Afghanistan, Kazakhstan,[a] Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan[a] 5 0
 Vatican City[c] 0.49 826 Europe Southern Europe Italy 1 1
 Zambia 752,612 19,610,769 Africa Eastern Africa Angola, Botswana, DR Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe 8 5
 Zimbabwe 390,757 15,121,004 Africa Eastern Africa Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, and Zambia 4 2
Total 14,776,228 475,818,737 N/A
Percentage of the World 9.9% 5.9%
a Has a coastline on the inland saltwater Caspian Sea
b Has limited international recognition
c Binnenstaat bordering a single country
d Doppelte binnenstaat

Binnenstaaten by continent[edit]

According to the United Nations geoscheme (excluding the de facto states), Africa has the most binnenstaaten, at 16, followed by Europe (14), Asia (12), and South America (2). However, if Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and South Ossetia (partially recognized) are counted as parts of Europe, then Europe has the most binnenstaaten, at 21 (including all four de facto binnenstaaten). If these transcontinental or culturally European countries are included in Asia, then both Africa and Europe (including Kosovo and Transnistria) have the most, at 16. Depending on the status of Kazakhstan and the South Caucasian countries, Asia has between 9 and 13 (including South Ossetia). South America only has two binnenstaaten.

Australia and North America have no binnenstaaten, while Antarctica has no countries at all. Oceania (which is usually not considered a continent but a geographical region by the English-speaking countries) also has no binnenstaaten.

All binnenstaaten, except Bolivia and Paraguay, are located on the mainland of Afro-Eurasia.

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ A country is a "doppelte binnenstaat" when it is surrounded only by other binnenstaaten.
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