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Are there any closer than Namibia/Zimbabwe (which are separated by "less than 200 metres of riverbed", belonging to Botswana, according to Wikipedia)?

I'm interested specifically in the case where the countries don't share a land border, but are separated by a short overland distance.

Flimzy
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Max
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    Can you clarify your question? I am not sure that qualifies as not sharing a border. They share a border. It's simply a river. Somewhere in the river there's the "imaginary" lines that separates both countrys. – nsn Mar 31 '14 at 13:28
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    @nsn: no, that riverbed is in Botswana. – Max Mar 31 '14 at 13:28
  • Are you counting maritime borders? Eg if there's a 50m gap in the ocean between two countries, is that 50m, or do you count the fact that they probably each own half the distance. – Mark Mayo Mar 31 '14 at 13:59
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    What do you consider a "short" overland distance? Both the Netherlands/France and Croatia/Italy are separated by a country less then 50 km at some point. –  Mar 31 '14 at 15:03
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    What do you mean by "overland"? the riverbed between Namibia and Zimbabwe is not an overland area. – Vince Mar 31 '14 at 15:08
  • @Vince: I mean not in the ocean. – Max Mar 31 '14 at 17:23
  • @andra: I'm asking for the closest. Since I gave an example of less than 200 m, any closer would have to be less than that. – Max Mar 31 '14 at 21:24
  • @andra, Actually, Netherlands and France share a land border in Saint Martin/Sint Maarten island. – mouviciel Apr 01 '14 at 07:19
  • I would think it clearly covers any two countries separated by some area which is not either country, be it another country or international space between them, or something else I can't think of... – hippietrail Apr 01 '14 at 08:43
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    @hippietrail: true, but there are very few (if any) non-ocean "international spaces" that border a country. – Max Apr 01 '14 at 08:46
  • @Max: I didn't feel confident that I knew everything about that. Since there are very few that would probably make a good factoid question since it couldn't be too broad! – hippietrail Apr 01 '14 at 09:11
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    @mouviciel technically both the Netherlands and St Maarten are separate countries, both part of the kingdom of the Netherlands. –  Apr 01 '14 at 09:48
  • Do embassies count? – Jiří Baum Nov 22 '23 at 03:37
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    @JiříBaum: "Contrary to popular belief, diplomatic missions sometimes do not enjoy full extraterritorial status and are generally not sovereign territory of the represented state. ... Rather, the premises of an embassy remain under the jurisdiction of the host state while being afforded special privileges" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplomatic_mission#Extraterritoriality – Max Nov 24 '23 at 10:57

8 Answers8

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Tajikistan and Pakistan are 16 km from each other, separated by the Wakhan Corridor which belongs to Afghanistan.

mouviciel
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Since nobody has found a shorter distance, it seems that Namibia and Zimbabwe are the closest pair

  • around 200 meters of Botswana territory lies between Namibia and Zimbabwe
Mark Johnson
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Max
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Bangladesh and Nepal come within about 25 km of each other, with India in between.

Egypt and Saudi Arabia come within about 30 km overland through Israel and Jordan (closer straight-line distance over water).

Mongolia and Kazakhstan are separated by about 35 km of rather mountainous terrain.

Germany and Italy are separated by about 45 km through Austria.

Greg Hewgill
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I'm trying to find countries with a tight corridor to sea, so that the countries on both sides are close to each other. Bosnia's corridor is only a few km, but both sides of it are Croatia, so that doesn't count.

Israel's Red Sea corridor is about 10km wide I think, with neighbouring Egypt and Jordan being that close to each other. This is probably the closest of the ones I've looked at.

I think Iraq's connection to the Gulf (bringing Iran and Kuwait close to each other) is slightly larger, but all these "measurements" were made by on zooming on Google Maps and squinting.

Slovenia's corridor between Italy and Croatia is similar.

Armenia and Iran get within a few km of each other, with Turkey in between, here. But that is spoiled by the fact that they share an actual border on the other side of Azerbaijan's exclave to the right.

I want to finish this by mentioning Baarle-Nassau-Hertog, which doesn't qualify (it's all either Netherlands or Belgium) but it's fun.

There are also six Dutch exclaves located within the largest Belgian exclave, one within the second-largest, and an eighth within Zondereigen.

RemcoGerlich
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The easternmost tip of Sughd Province, Tajikistan, east of the town of Isfara, has a panhandle squeezed between Uzbekistan to the north and Kyrgyzstan to the south. Using the Maps Labs Distance Measurement Tool on Google Maps, its skinniest part is only around 2.2 km wide.

The national borders in the whole Fergana Valley region are generally just ridiculous thanks to Stalin, but this was the thinnest three-country sandwich I could find.

...and I just realized I missed the qualification "that do not share a border", since Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan do. Oh well, it's still an interesting oddity of geography.

lambshaanxy
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    Heh, I've been to that province (to Khujand/Khojand). Thinking though, this answer should probably be a comment, given that it doesn't address all the qualifications specified by the question :/ – Mark Mayo Apr 02 '14 at 01:39
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    What are you two smoking? It's an answer, just an incorrect one ;) – lambshaanxy Apr 02 '14 at 10:49
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How about Laos and Myanmar, which are separated by the Mekong River?

phil freedenberg
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    How wide is it and which country lies between them (that is what the question is about and don't share a common border) – Mark Johnson Jun 30 '21 at 18:34
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  1. Sealand to UK: 13 kilometers

  2. Spain to Morocco: 14.3 kilometers

  3. Saudi Arabia to Bahrain: 27 kilometers

  4. Bahrain to Qatar: 101 Kilometers

69420 yes-i like geography
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  • Sealand's claim to be a separate country is rather shaky. – WGroleau Dec 26 '22 at 06:42
  • Can you provide a link to the Sealand you claim to be a country in Europe? – Willeke Dec 26 '22 at 07:33
  • @Willeke https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Sealand – Sneftel Dec 26 '22 at 07:33
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    This answer doesn't fulfill the criteria of the question: where the countries don't share a land border, but are separated by a short overland distance**. Spain and Morocco share a common border in 2 places (Ceuta and Melilla). Saudi Arabia/Bahrain/Qatar have a common sea border, but are not seperated by a overland distance. – Mark Johnson Dec 26 '22 at 07:34
  • That very weak, I do not think it is a country, Saeland claim also does not meet the overland distance requirement, with only water between it and the UK, it being in UK waters. – Willeke Dec 26 '22 at 08:54
  • Wrong answers do not need to be flagged, downvotes is the way to indicate you think it is a wrong answer. – Willeke Dec 26 '22 at 08:55
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The U.S and Russia are 2.5 miles away from each other at it's closest point.

user120682
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