Europe has 15-17 landlocked countries (depending on recognition), including major nations like Austria, Switzerland, Czechia, Hungary, Belarus, and Serbia, plus microstates such as Andorra, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, San Marino, and Vatican City, all without direct sea access, with Liechtenstein being uniquely doubly landlocked (surrounded by other landlocked countries).
Some landlocked countries 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.
When Napoleon established the Confederation of the Rhine in 1806, he promised the 16 states that joined, thereby leaving the Holy Roman Empire, national sovereignty. Liechtenstein thus became an independent sovereign state – a sovereignty it proudly maintains to this day.
There are 48 countries in the world that are considered landlocked. Only two of these countries lie outside of the continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Located in Europe, Germany is not a landlocked country, despite errant claims that it is.
France is not landlocked because it has access to the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean. A sea is also landlocked if does not have access to an ocean. This is also called an endorheic basin. As an example, the Caspian Sea is landlocked.
Kazakhstan is the world's ninth-largest country by land area and the largest landlocked country.
The three major European countries often cited for influence, economy, or size are Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, sometimes forming the "Big Three" or "Big Four" with Italy, especially within the European Union, while Russia is the largest by area and military power. If focusing strictly on largest European land area, the top three are Russia, Ukraine, and France, with Germany and Spain also significant.
Luxembourg is the wealthiest country in the European Union, per capita, and its citizens enjoy a high standard of living. It is a major center for large private banking, and its finance sector is the biggest contributor to its economy.
Not only is Russia a “continent,” but it isalso a landlocked and icelocked continent, with few exits to the high seas. Russia's landlocked character explains her periodic isolation from the rest of the world.
The 10 PM rule in Germany refers to Nachtruhe, a legally enforced quiet time (usually 10 PM to 6 or 7 AM) where loud activities like music, vacuuming, or DIY are prohibited to ensure neighbors' rest, complementing midday quiet hours (Mittagsruhe) and strict quiet on Sundays, rooted in German law and culture valuing peace in dense housing.
Discrimination on the basis of race or ethnicity is forbidden. In connection with its 2000 ratification of the 1965 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, Liechtenstein tightened provisions in its legal code related to racial discrimination.
For some of the world's countries, the answer is very, very small, even teeny tiny. Vatican City holds the title as the world's smallest country, with an area of just 0.17 square mile (0.44 square km). As a point of comparison, the largest country in the world, Russia, is almost 39 million times bigger.
A further 22 countries have since joined the EU, including a historic expansion in 2004 marking the re-unification of Europe after decades of division. As of 1st of February 2020 the United Kingdom is no longer part of the European Union.
The country's low tax rate, loose incorporation and corporate governance rules, and traditions of strict bank secrecy have contributed significantly to the ability of financial intermediaries in Liechtenstein to attract funds from outside the country's borders.
Did you know ? San Marino was founded more than 17 centuries ago, making it the oldest republic in the world. In addition, it is also the smallest European state. 301 : San Marino was founded by Dalmatian Masons who fled from the Roman Empire in an attempt to evade religious persecution by Emperor Diocletian.
San Marino currently ranks 66 on the Corporate Tax Haven Index, which ranks the world's biggest enablers of global corporate tax abuse.
Russia's old names evolved from "Rus" (the medieval East Slavic state, Kievan Rus), becoming "Russia" (Rossiya) through Byzantine Greek influence, officially declared as the Tsardom of Russia (or Muscovy) by Ivan the Terrible, and then the Russian Empire under Peter the Great before the Soviet era.
Russia is the largest country in the world by far, with a total area of just over 17 million square kilometers. After Antarctica, the next three countries are Canada, the U.S., and China; all between 9.5 and 10 million square kilometers.
🌍 Only about 25% of its land lies in Europe, but this small portion holds nearly 75% of Russia's population, including major cities like Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
Bulgaria - the poorest country in the European Union - has become the 21st member of the eurozone - leapfrogging more obvious and prosperous candidates like Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary.
In a non-European Union context, the term E3 is commonly used to describe the three largest western European economies: France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
The Most and Least Happy Countries in Europe 2025
Below, we show the happiness scores of European countries from the World Happiness Report 2025. Finland continues its reign as the happiest country in the world for its eighth consecutive year.
Europe is 32% larger than Australia.
Don't blink as we blitz through Europe's tiniest countries: Vatican City, the planet's smallest country, boasts the its biggest church.