Countries Bordering Only One Other Country 2025
Country | Additional Details↓ | Border Length | Borderpoint Neighbor | Neighbor | Sovereign Sponsor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Vatican City | The Vatican City is an enclave entirely surrounded by Rome, Italy. | 2 | Italy | ||
 | Gambia | The Republic of the Gambia is bordered to the north, south and east by Senegal. | 460 | Senegal | ||
 | Ireland | The Republic of Ireland borders the United Kingdom's Northern Ireland region on the island of Ireland. | 220 | United Kingdom | ||
 | Qatar | The planned Qatar–Bahrain Causeway would connect Qatar to Bahrain. | 37 | Saudi Arabia | ||
 | Sint Maarten | The island 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. | France | Netherlands | ||
 | Saint Martin | The island 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. | 10 | Netherlands | France | |
 | San Marino | San Marino is an enclave entirely surrounded by Italy. | 24 | Italy | ||
 | South Korea | On the Korean Peninsula, at the Demarcation Line. The two countries are separated by a 4 km wide Demilitarized Zone. Both Koreas claim the Korean Peninsula. | 148 | North Korea | ||
 | Timor-Leste | On the island of Timor. | 142 | Indonesia | ||
 | Papua New Guinea | On the island of New Guinea. | 510 | Indonesia | ||
 | United Kingdom | On the island of Ireland. The British Overseas Territories of Gibraltar and Akrotiri and Dhekelia border Spain and Cyprus respectively, but these territories are not part of the United Kingdom proper. | 220 | Ireland | ||
 | Haiti | On the island of Hispaniola. | 220 | Dominican Republic | ||
 | Dominican Republic | On the island of Hispaniola. | 220 | Haiti | ||
 | Macau | Macau comprises a peninsula and one island in the South China Sea, 60 km (37 mi) 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. | 2 | China | Macau | |
 | Lesotho | Lesotho is an enclave which is entirely surrounded by South Africa. | 565 | South Africa | ||
 | Liechtenstein | In addition to its land border with Austria, Liechtenstein has five bridges crossing the river Rhine to Switzerland. | Switzerland | Austria | ||
 | Denmark | In addition to its border with Germany, also has fixed link with Sweden across the Øresund Bridge. | Sweden | Germany | ||
 | Hong Kong | 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 British Empire. It was returned to the People's Republic of China in 1997, but has since then operated with its own political system as a special administrative region 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. | 21 | China | Hong Kong | |
 | Brunei | Borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak on the island of Borneo. | 237 | Malaysia | ||
 | Singapore | Although an island nation with no natural land borders, Singapore maintains persistent connections to Malaysia by the Johor Causeway and the Malaysia–Singapore Second Link. | Malaysia | None (Singapore is cut off by the Strait of Johor) | ||
 | Bahrain | Although an island nation with no natural land borders, Bahrain maintains persistent connection to Saudi Arabia by the King Fahd Causeway at Passport Island. | Saudi Arabia | None (Bahrain is an island) | ||
 | Greenland | A constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenland has had a border dispute with Canada regarding uninhabited Hans Island. The island is located in the centre of the Kennedy Channel of Nares Strait (between Canada's Ellesmere Island and northern Greenland), which constitutes the agreed maritime border. On June 11, 2022, both countries signed an agreement to split the island, which will come into effect as soon as the parliaments of Canada, Denmark, Greenland, and Nunavut ratify it. | 1 | Canada | Denmark | |
 | Gibraltar | A British overseas territory, occupies a small peninsula and has a 1.2 km (0.75 mi) land border with Spain. Spain claims some of Gibraltar as its own territory. | 1 | Spain | United Kingdom | |
 | Portugal | 754 | Spain | |||
 | Monaco | 3 | France |
- List includes countries that share a land border with only one other country (but may share a maritime border with multiple countries) or which have no shared land border (islands) but share a maritime border with only one other country (for example, Sri Lanka, and island country which shares a maritime border with only India.
- Areas have been rounded to the nearest mile or kilometer. For countries whose area in miles was not given by the source, km values have been manually converted to miles.
- A borderpoint neighbor is one that does not share a natural border with a given country, but is connected via a human-engineered travel corridor such as a bridge over water or underwater tunnel. For example, the Channel Tunnel (‘Chunnel’), which makes France and the United Kingdom borderpoint neighbors.
Several countries worldwide share borders with only one other nation, often leading to unique diplomatic relationships:
- Vatican City: The world’s smallest country, located within Rome, Italy, with a population of around 800.
- San Marino: Also landlocked within Italy, situated on Mount Titano in Central Italy.
- Lesotho: A sovereign nation completely surrounded by South Africa, sharing a 1,115 km long border.
- Canada: Borders only the United States, including the state of Alaska and 12 other U.S. states.
- Portugal: Shares a border exclusively with Spain, approximately 764 miles long, though the exact length is debated.
- The United Kingdom and Ireland: Ireland is the only country the UK shares a land border with, though Ireland is a sovereign nation and not a UK territory.
- Korean Peninsula: North and South Korea share a border, separated by the 148-mile-long Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).
- Qatar: Borders only Saudi Arabia, about 45 miles long. It also has maritime borders with Bahrain, Iran, and the UAE.
- Denmark: Germany is its only land neighbor, with maritime borders shared with Sweden, Norway, the UK, and Greenland.
- Dominican Republic: Located on Hispaniola in the Caribbean, it shares a land border with Haiti.
- Papua New Guinea and Indonesia: Share a 512-mile-long border.
- The Gambia: Africa’s smallest nation, surrounded by Senegal on all sides.
These countries’ unique geographic situations influence their diplomatic, economic, and cultural interactions with their sole neighboring countries.
