Prior to the break-up of the Soviet Union, which was the world's largest landlocked country in terms of area?
"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"
"Kazakhstan Kazakhstan (, ; ), officially the Republic of Kazakhstan (; ), is the world's largest landlocked country, and the ninth largest in the world, with an area of . It is a transcontinental country largely located in Asia; the most western parts are located in Europe. Kazakhstan is the dominant nation of Central Asia economically, generating 60% of the region's GDP, primarily through its oil/gas industry. It also has vast mineral resources. Kazakhstan is officially a democratic, secular, unitary, constitutional republic with a diverse cultural heritage. Kazakhstan shares borders with Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, and also adjoins"
"Mongolia Mongolia (; ""Monggol Ulus"" in Mongolian; in Mongolian Cyrillic) is a landlocked country in East Asia. Its area is roughly equivalent with the historical territory of Outer Mongolia, and that term is sometimes used to refer to the current state. It is sandwiched between China to the south and Russia to the north. Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, although only separates them. At , Mongolia is the 18th-largest and the most sparsely populated unitary sovereign state in the world, with a population of around 3 million people. It is also the world's second-largest landlocked country behind"
"in 1988. Despite these measures, decades of environmental degradation caused by severe air and water pollution and land abuse were unlikely to be remedied soon or easily. Solving these critical problems will require not only a major redirection of capital and labor but also a fundamental change in the entire Soviet approach to industrial and agricultural production and resource exploitation and consumption. Size: Approximately 22,402,200 square kilometers (land area 22,272,000 square kilometers); slightly less than 2.5 times size of United States. Location: Occupied eastern portion of European continent and northern portion of Asian continent. Most of country north of 50°"
"Landlocked country A landlocked state or landlocked country is a sovereign state entirely enclosed by land, or whose only coastlines lie on closed seas. There are currently 50 such countries, including five partially recognised states. Only two, Bolivia and Paraguay in South America, lie outside Afro-Eurasia (the Old World). As a rule, being landlocked creates political and economic handicaps that access to the high seas avoids. For this reason, states large and small across history have striven to gain access to open waters, even at great expense in wealth, bloodshed, and political capital. The economic disadvantages of being landlocked can"
"added two ""de facto"" states with no or limited international recognition: A country is ""doubly landlocked"" or ""double-landlocked"" when it is surrounded entirely by one or more landlocked countries (requiring the crossing of at least two national borders to reach a coastline). There are two such countries: There were no doubly landlocked countries from the unification of Germany in 1871 until the end of World War I. Liechtenstein bordered the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which had an Adriatic coastline, and Uzbekistan was then part of the Russian Empire, which had both ocean and sea access. With the dissolution of Austria-Hungary in 1918"
"had spanned eleven time zones and incorporated a wide range of environments and landforms. From northwest to southeast, the Soviet Union shared land borders with Norway, Finland, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It shared its maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk and the US state of Alaska across the Bering Strait. With an area of , the Soviet Union was the largest country in the world by area, covering more than one-eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area, and the third most populous, with over 288 million people as of"
"Geography of the Soviet Union The geography of the Soviet Union includes the geographic features of the countries of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The Soviet Union was the largest country in the world, covering approximately one but of the earth's land surface. It was two and a half times the size of the United States, and only slightly smaller in land area than the entire continent of North America. It covered most of the northern half of Asia and a large part of Eastern Europe, extending even into the Middle East. About one quarter of its territory"
"Heritage list: the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yassaui, Petroglyphs within the Archaeological Landscape of Tamgaly, and the Korgalzhyn and Nauryzumsky reserves. Kazakhstan's membership of international organisations includes: Kazakhstan Kazakhstan (, ; ), officially the Republic of Kazakhstan (; ), is the world's largest landlocked country, and the ninth largest in the world, with an area of . It is a transcontinental country largely located in Asia; the most western parts are located in Europe. Kazakhstan is the dominant nation of Central Asia economically, generating 60% of the region's GDP, primarily through its oil/gas industry. It also has vast mineral resources."
"one of the republics. With an area of , the Soviet Union was the world's largest country, a status that is retained by the Russian Federation. Covering a sixth of Earth's land surface, its size was comparable to that of North America. The European portion accounted for a quarter of the country's area, and was the cultural and economic center. The eastern part in Asia extended to the Pacific Ocean to the east and Afghanistan to the south, and, except some areas in Central Asia, was much less populous. It spanned over east to west across 11 time zones, and"
"the status of the three transcontinental countries, Asia has between 9 and 15, while South America has only 2. North America and Australia are the only continents with no landlocked countries (not including Antarctica, which has no countries). Landlocked country A landlocked state or landlocked country is a sovereign state entirely enclosed by land, or whose only coastlines lie on closed seas. There are currently 50 such countries, including five partially recognised states. Only two, Bolivia and Paraguay in South America, lie outside Afro-Eurasia (the Old World). As a rule, being landlocked creates political and economic handicaps that access to"
"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:"
"generated 60% of the GDP of Central Asia, primarily through its oil industry. The government moved the capital in 1997, from Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city, where it had been established under the Soviet Union, to Astana. As it extends across both sides of the Ural River, considered the dividing line with the European continent, Kazakhstan is one of only two landlocked countries in the world that has territory in two continents (the other is Azerbaijan). With an area of equivalent in size to Western EuropeKazakhstan is the ninth-largest country and largest landlocked country in the world. While it was part"
"traveler Мөнхбаярт Батсайхан (Munkhbayart Batsaikhan), to compete with their birds. The Ice Festival and the Thousand Camel Festival are amongst many other traditional Mongolian festivals. Mongolia Mongolia (; ""Monggol Ulus"" in Mongolian; in Mongolian Cyrillic) is a landlocked country in East Asia. Its area is roughly equivalent with the historical territory of Outer Mongolia, and that term is sometimes used to refer to the current state. It is sandwiched between China to the south and Russia to the north. Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, although only separates them. At , Mongolia is the 18th-largest and the most"
"was in Europe, and the rest in Asia. The territory of the USSR was dominated by the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic—having the same borders as contemporary Russia—which covered roughly three quarters of the surface area of the union. The USSR had a geographic centre further north than any other independent country except Canada, Iceland, Finland, and the countries of Scandinavia, as about three quarters of the country was above the 50th parallel north. The country's 22,402,200 square kilometers included one-sixth of the Earth's land surface. Its western portion, more than half of all Europe, made up just 25 percent"
"Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, , , , ), officially also the Republic of Uzbekistan () (), is a landlocked country—the only doubly landlocked one (i.e. surrounded solely by other landlocked countries)—in Central Asia and one of only two anywhere in the world. The sovereign state is a secular, unitary constitutional republic, comprising 12 provinces, one autonomous republic, and a capital city. Uzbekistan is bordered by five landlocked countries: Kazakhstan to the north; Kyrgyzstan to the northeast; Tajikistan to the southeast; Afghanistan to the south; and Turkmenistan to the southwest. What is now Uzbekistan was in ancient times part of the Iranian-speaking"
"over north to south. It had five climate zones: tundra, taiga, steppes, desert and mountains. The Soviet Union had the world's longest border, like Russia, measuring over , or circumferences of Earth. Two-thirds of it was a coastline. Across the Bering Strait was the United States. The Soviet Union bordered Afghanistan, China, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Hungary, Iran, Mongolia, North Korea, Norway, Poland, Romania, and Turkey from 1945 to 1991. The Soviet Union's highest mountain was Communism Peak (now Ismoil Somoni Peak) in Tajikistan, at . The Soviet Union also included most of the world's largest lakes; the Caspian Sea (shared with"
"none (landlocked) Elevation extremes: <br>""lowest point:"" Hoh Nuur 518 m <br>""highest point:"" Khüiten Peak 4,374 m Natural resources: oil, coal, copper, molybdenum, tungsten, phosphates, tin, nickel, zinc, fluorspar, gold, silver, iron Land use: <br>""arable land:"" 9.10% <br>""permanent crops:"" 0% <br>""other:"" 99.61% (2011) Irrigated land: 843 km² (2011) Total renewable water resources: 34.8 km (2011) Geography of Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in Central Asia and East Asia, located between China and Russia. The terrain is one of mountains and rolling plateaus, with a high degree of relief. The total land area of Mongolia is 1,564,116 square kilometres. Overall, the"
"northwest, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan to the southwest, Tajikistan to the southeast, and Kyrgyzstan to the northeast, Uzbekistan is one of the largest Central Asian states and the only Central Asian state to border all the other four. Uzbekistan also shares a short border (less than ) with Afghanistan to the south. Uzbekistan is a dry, landlocked country. It is one of two doubly landlocked countries in the world (that is, a country completely surrounded by landlocked countries), the other being Liechtenstein. In addition, due to its location within a series of endorheic basins, none of its rivers lead to the"
"oceanic systems of Arctic, Atlantic, and Pacific. Land Use: 11 percent of land arable; 16 percent meadows and pasture; 41 percent forest and woodland; and 32 percent other, including tundra. Natural Resources: Oil, natural gas, coal, iron ore, timber, gold, manganese, lead, zinc, nickel, mercury, potash, phosphates, and most strategic minerals. Above section:. Geography of the Soviet Union The geography of the Soviet Union includes the geographic features of the countries of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The Soviet Union was the largest country in the world, covering approximately one but of the earth's land surface. It was"
"Mongolia. The toll finally reached at least 52 people and 200,000 livestock by the end of June. Most of the victims were herders who froze to death along with their livestock. It was the worst cold snap since the founding of the modern state in 1922. Snowstorms in December 2009 – February 2010 also killed 8,000,000 livestock and 60 people. Area: <br>""total:"" 1,564,116 km <br>""land:"" 1,553,556 km <br>""water:"" 10,560 km² Area – comparative: slightly smaller than Quebec, slightly larger than Alaska Land boundaries: <br>""total:"" 8,220 km <br>""border countries:"" China 4,677 km, Russia 3,543 km Coastline: 0 km (landlocked) Maritime claims:"
"Geography of Hungary With a land area of 93,030 square km, Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It measures about 250 km from north to south and 524 km from east to west. It has 2,106 km of boundaries, shared with Austria to the west, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia to the south and southwest, Romania to the southeast, Ukraine to the northeast, and Slovakia to the north. Hungary's modern borders were first established after World War I when, by the terms of the Treaty of Trianon in 1920, it lost more than 71% of what had formerly been"
"Chess Champion in 2004. Other popular sports in Uzbekistan include basketball, judo, team handball, baseball, taekwondo, and futsal. General information Media Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, , , , ), officially also the Republic of Uzbekistan () (), is a landlocked country—the only doubly landlocked one (i.e. surrounded solely by other landlocked countries)—in Central Asia and one of only two anywhere in the world. The sovereign state is a secular, unitary constitutional republic, comprising 12 provinces, one autonomous republic, and a capital city. Uzbekistan is bordered by five landlocked countries: Kazakhstan to the north; Kyrgyzstan to the northeast; Tajikistan to the southeast;"
"it remains to this day. This name and Russia were specified as the official state names on 21 April 1992, an amendment to the then existing Constitution of 1978 and were retained as such in the subsequent 1993 Constitution of Russia. At a total of about 17,125,200 km (6,612,100 sq mi), the Russian SFSR was the largest of its fifteen republics, with its southerly neighbor, the Kazakh SSR, being second. The international borders of the RSFSR touched Poland on the west; Norway and Finland of Scandinavia on the northwest; and to its southeast in eastern Asia were the Democratic People's"
"7 May 2003 in spite of being the largest landlocked country on earth. They operate on the Caspian Sea, based at Aktau. The Kazakh Naval Force has a strength of 3,000 personnel and is equipped with fourteen inshore patrol craft. The naval aviation base in Aktau was opened eight years later, in 2011. The 612th Airbase in Aktau will provide the home for two Su-27 fighter jets, seven Su-27 pilots and twelve helicopter gunship pilots, according to a report in Interfax-Kazakhstan (not online, via BBC Monitoring). The report doesn't specify the model or number of helicopters, but it is presumed"
"Commonwealth of Independent States The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS; ), also sometimes called the Russian Commonwealth in order to distinguish it from the Commonwealth of Nations, is a regional intergovernmental organization of 10 post-Soviet republics in Eurasia formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It has an area of 20,368,759 km² (8,097,484 sq mi) and has an estimated population of 239,796,010. The CIS encourages cooperation over economical, political and military aspects and has certain powers possessing coordinating in trade, finance, lawmaking and security. It has also promoted cooperation on cross-border crime prevention. The CIS has its origins in"
"Nepal Nepal (; ), officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is located mainly in the Himalayas but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. With an estimated population of 26.4 million, it is 48th largest country by population and 93rd largest country by area. It borders China in the north and India in the south, east, and west while Bangladesh is located within only 27 km (17 mi) of its southeastern tip and Bhutan is separated from it by the Indian state of Sikkim. Nepal has a diverse geography,"
"of the Soviet Union; this, however, was where the overwhelming majority (about 72 percent) of the people lived and where most industrial and agricultural activities are concentrated. It was here, roughly between the Dnieper River and the Ural Mountains, that the Russian Empire took shape and gradually over centuries expanded to the Pacific Ocean and into Central Asia. The Soviet Union had the longest borders of any country, extending . The Soviet Union measured some 10,000 kilometers from Kaliningrad on Gdańsk Bay in the west to Ratmanova Island (Big Diomede Island) in the Bering Strait - the rough equivalent of"
"Kazakhstan and the largest landlocked country that does not border a closed sea. The country contains very little arable land, as much of its area is covered by grassy steppe, with mountains to the north and west and the Gobi Desert to the south. Ulaanbaatar, the capital and largest city, is home to about 45% of the country's population. Ulaanbaatar also shares the rank of the world's coldest capital city with Moscow, Utawa, and Astana. Approximately 30% of the population is nomadic or semi-nomadic; horse culture is still integral. The majority of its population are Buddhists. The non-religious population is"
"Nations, UNESCO, United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the Science for Peace program. Area: <br>""total:"" 447,400 km² <br>""land:"" 425,400 km² <br>""water:"" 22,000 km² Area – comparative: slightly larger than California, same size as Morocco, slightly smaller than Sweden Land boundaries: <br>""total:"" 6,221 km <br>""border countries:"" Afghanistan 137 km, Kazakhstan 2,203 km, Kyrgyzstan 1,099 km, Tajikistan 1,161 km, Turkmenistan 1,621 km Coastline: 0 km <br>""note:"" Uzbekistan includes the southern portion of the Aral Sea with a 420 km shoreline. Maritime claims: None. Uzbekistan is one of only two countries (Liechtenstein) in the world that are"
"Chad Chad (; ; ), officially the Republic of Chad ( """"; ""Republic of the Chad""), is a landlocked country in north-central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west. It is the fifth largest country in Africa and the second-largest in Central Africa in terms of area. Chad has several regions: a desert zone in the north, an arid Sahelian belt in the centre and a more fertile Sudanian Savanna zone in the south. Lake Chad,"
"Thus, it was discovered in 2006 that Liechtenstein's borders are longer than previously thought. Liechtenstein is one of only two doubly landlocked countries in the world—being a landlocked country wholly surrounded by other landlocked countries (the other is Uzbekistan). Liechtenstein is the sixth-smallest independent nation in the world by land area. The principality of Liechtenstein is divided into 11 communes called ""Gemeinden"" (singular ""Gemeinde""). The ""Gemeinden"" mostly consist of only a single town or village. Five of them (Eschen, Gamprin, Mauren, Ruggell, and Schellenberg) fall within the electoral district ""Unterland"" (the lower county), and the remainder (Balzers, Planken, Schaan, Triesen,"
"is the second-largest country in the world, after Russia. By land area alone, however, Canada ranks fourth, the difference being due to it having the world's largest proportion of fresh water lakes. Of Canada's thirteen provinces and territories, only two are landlocked (Alberta and Saskatchewan) while the other eleven all directly border one of three oceans. Canada is home to the world's northernmost settlement, Canadian Forces Station Alert, on the northern tip of Ellesmere Island – latitude 82.5°N – which lies from the North Pole. Much of the Canadian Arctic is covered by ice and permafrost. Canada has the longest"