Landlocked country one, making them the biggest contiguous group in the world. Also, the Central Asian and Caucasian clusters can be considered contiguous, joined by the landlocked Caspian Sea. Mongolia is almost part of this cluster too, being separated from Kazakhstan by only , across Russian or Chinese territory. There are the following "single" landlocked countries (each of them borders no other landlocked country): If the Caucasian countries and Kazakhstan are counted as part of Europe, then Europe has the most landlocked countries, at 20. If these transcontinental countries are included in Asia, then Africa has the most, at 16. Depending on
Landlocked country and creation of an independent, landlocked Austria, Liechtenstein became the sole doubly landlocked country until 1938. In the Nazi Anschluss that year, Austria was absorbed into the Third Reich, 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 doubly landlocked. Uzbekistan, which had been part of the Russian Empire and then the Soviet Union, gained its independence with the dissolution of the U.S.S.R. in 1991 and became the second doubly landlocked country. However, Uzbekistan's doubly landlocked status depends on the Caspian Sea's status dispute: