List of countries that border only one other country

This is the list of countries that border only one other country, with only land borders being counted. Some of these countries have several neighbours "across the sea". As an example Denmark "borders" Sweden and Norway by sea, and Canada has sea boundaries with Denmark (between Baffin Island and Greenland) and France (between the island of Newfoundland and the territory of St. Pierre and Miquelon). Other countries, such as Sri Lanka, border only one other country by sea.

Territory leased or ceded by one country to another for perpetual use, but not in sovereignty, such as Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, or memorials, such as the American Cemetery in France, do not constitute true territorial borders, because the land occupied remains a formal part of the host country.

Countries bordering only one other country

Country	Neighbour	Border length (km)	Notes
Bahrain	Saudi Arabia		[upper-alpha 1]
Brunei	Malaysia	381	[upper-alpha 2]
Canada	United States	8,893	[upper-alpha 3]
Cyprus	Akrotiri and Dhekelia (UK)		[upper-alpha 4]
Denmark	Germany	68	[upper-alpha 5]
Dominican Republic	Haiti	360	[upper-alpha 6]
The Gambia	Senegal	740	[upper-alpha 7]
Haiti	Dominican Republic	360	[upper-alpha 8]
Ireland	United Kingdom	360	[upper-alpha 9]
Lesotho	South Africa	909	[upper-alpha 10]
Monaco	France	4.4
Papua New Guinea	Indonesia	820	[upper-alpha 11]
Portugal	Spain	1,214
Qatar	Saudi Arabia	60	[upper-alpha 12]
San Marino	Italy	39	[upper-alpha 13]
South Korea	North Korea	238	[upper-alpha 14]
Timor-Leste	Indonesia	228	[upper-alpha 15]
United Kingdom	Ireland	360	[upper-alpha 16]
Vatican City	Italy	3.2	[upper-alpha 17]

Causeways, bridges, and tunnels

Borders relevant to this list may arguably include short theoretical borders in the middle of man-made constructions. Also, artificial islands or causeways could be disputed.

•  Denmark: in addition to its border with Germany, technically also has an extremely short border with Sweden across the Øresund Bridge.
•  Singapore: although an island nation with no natural land borders, is connected to Malaysia by the Johor Causeway and the Malaysia-Singapore Second Link.
•  United Kingdom: in addition to its border with Ireland, has a border with France in the Channel Tunnel.

Dependent territories

In some cases, a dependent territory of one nation borders another nation.

•  Greenland: a constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark, has a border dispute with Canada around the area of Hans Island. Canada recognises the international border as crossing through the middle of the Island.
•  Akrotiri and Dhekelia: British sovereign base areas, border the Republic of Cyprus. Dhekelia also borders the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, but the latter is recognised only by Turkey.
•  Gibraltar: a British overseas territory, occupies a small peninsula and has a 1.2 km land border with Spain.
•  Hong Kong: comprising a continental portion and more than 200 islands in the South China Sea, was formerly ceded and leased by Qing China to the United Kingdom. It was returned to the People's Republic of China in 1997, but has since then operated with its own judicial system under the policy of "One Country, Two Systems". The land border and coastline, although no longer one between two states, are still controlled as though Hong Kong were an international exclave.
•  Macau: comprises a peninsula and two islands in the South China Sea, 60 km west of Hong Kong, and like Hong Kong was formerly administered by a colonial power (in this case, Portugal) but returned to the People's Republic of China in 1999. It too has its own judicial system and retains border and coastal controls similar to those of an exclave.
• /: The island of Saint Martin is split between two island territories: the northern half, Saint-Martin, is a French overseas collectivity; the southern half, Sint Maarten, is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Historical

There were many countries that historically had only one neighbour. Some no longer exist while others now have either no land borders or borders with more than one nation due to border changes.

• Korea bordered only China for several hundred years before 1860, after which a second international border with Russia appeared (approx. 17 km long), according to the Convention of Peking.
• Ciskei, one of the South African "independent" homelands, reincorporated on April 27, 1994.
• Venda, one of the South African "independent" homelands, was a true enclave bordering only South Africa and separated narrowly from Zimbabwe by the Madimbo corridor to the north; reincorporated on April 27, 1994.
• Dominion of Newfoundland, with Canada, until March 31, 1949 when it became the Canadian province of Newfoundland (now named Newfoundland and Labrador).
• The Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England bordered each other until 1707 when Scotland and England were united by the Acts of Union, see Anglo-Scottish border.
• Japan bordered Russia on the island of Sakhalin from 1905 until 1910, when a second border with Manchuria (China) and the Russian Far East appeared upon Japan's annexation of Korea. Both Sakhalin and Korea were relinquished in 1945. (See Karafuto Prefecture and Empire of Japan).
• Weihaiwei, 1898–1930, British colony on a leased territory from Manchu Ch'ing Empire. Transferred to the Republic of China in 1930.
• The Colony of Tasmania bordered only by the Colony of Victoria (on Boundary Islet), until the creation of the commonwealth of Australia.

See also

• Enclave and exclave
• Island country
• Land borders
• Landlocked country
• List of countries and territories by land and maritime borders
• List of enclaves and exclaves
• List of island countries
• List of divided islands
• List of political and geographic borders

Notes

References