Landlocked country - Video Learning - WizScience.com

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• published: 04 Sep 2015
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A "landlocked state" or "country" is a sovereign state entirely enclosed by land, or whose only coastlines lie on closed seas. There are currently 48 such countries, including four partially recognised states. Only two, Bolivia and Paraguay in South America, lie outside Afro-Eurasia . As a rule, being landlocked creates political and economic handicaps that access to the high seas averts. As such, polities large and small across history have striven to gain access to open waters, even at great expense in wealth, bloodshed, and political capital. Depending on degree of development, language barriers, and other considerations, being landlocked may or may not pose economic disadvantages. Some historically landlocked countries are quite affluent, such as Switzerland, Luxembourg, and Liechtenstein, which frequently employ neutrality to their political advantage. The majority, however, are classified as Landlocked Developing Countries . Nine of the twelve countries with the lowest Human Development Indices are landlocked. Historically, being landlocked has been disadvantageous to a country's development. It cuts a nation off from such important sea resources as fishing, and impedes or prevents direct access to seaborne trade, a crucial component of economic and social advance. As such, coastal regions tended to be wealthier and more heavily populated than inland ones. Paul Collier in his book "The Bottom Billion" argues that being landlocked in a poor geographic neighborhood is one of four major development "traps" by which a country can be held back. In general, he found that when a neighboring country experiences better growth, it tends to spill over into favorable development for the country itself. For landlocked countries, the effect is particularly strong, as they are limited in their trading activity with the rest of the world. He states, "If you are coastal, you serve the world; if you are landlocked, you serve your neighbors." Others have argued that being landlocked may actually be a blessing as it creates a "natural tariff barrier" which protects the country from cheap imports. In some instances this has led to more robust local food systems. Wiz Science™ is "the" learning channel for children and all ages. SUBSCRIBE TODAY Disclaimer: This video is for your information only. The author or publisher does not guarantee the accuracy of the content presented in this video. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Background Music: "The Place Inside" by Silent Partner (royalty-free) from YouTube Audio Library. This video uses material/images from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landlocked+country, which is released under Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ . This video is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ . To reuse/adapt the content in your own work, you must comply with the license terms.