User:Binnenstaat
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.