Which Landlocked Countries Have a Navy?
Seven landlocked countries run a navy, sixteen if you count river and lake units inside other services. Whether the Caspian is a sea decides who makes the list.
Sixteen landlocked countries keep armed boats on water
Seven landlocked countries run an actual navy: Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Laos, Paraguay and Turkmenistan. Nine more keep warships or patrol boats inside their army or border service: Burundi, the Central African Republic, Hungary, Malawi, Mali, Rwanda, Serbia, Switzerland and Uzbekistan.
Whether you say seven or sixteen depends on one question: does the force count as a navy if it belongs to another branch? And a few of the seven only count as landlocked if you decide the Caspian Sea is a lake. Here's the full list, sorted into both groups.
Landlocked countries with their own navy
| Country | Where it operates | What they run |
|---|---|---|
| Azerbaijan | Caspian Sea | An independent navy. In 2003 a US-donated cutter was delivered through Russia's Volga–Don Canal |
| Bolivia | Lake Titicaca and rivers | Founded in 1963 with four patrol boats and 1,800 personnel. It reached 5,000 personnel by 2008 |
| Ethiopia | Lake Tana | The navy ended in 1996 after Ethiopia lost its coast, and was re-established in 2019 |
| Kazakhstan | Caspian Sea | A small navy on the Caspian |
| Laos | Mekong River | Believed to be two or three dozen small patrol boats, mostly for border control |
| Paraguay | Paraguay and Paraná rivers | Around a dozen vessels and several thousand personnel |
| Turkmenistan | Caspian Sea | A small navy on the Caspian |
Landlocked countries with a navy inside another branch
| Country | Where it operates | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Burundi | Lake Tanganyika | Boats operated by the armed forces |
| Central African Republic | Ubangi River | A small force within the Ground Forces' Second Battalion |
| Hungary | Danube | A warship battalion based in Budapest's Újpest port, mostly minesweepers |
| Malawi | Lake Malawi | A small navy within the Defence Force |
| Mali | Rivers | A small riverine patrol force inside the army |
| Rwanda | Lake Kivu | Boats on the lake it shares with DR Congo |
| Serbia | Danube, Tisza and Sava | A river flotilla of minesweepers, patrol boats and landing craft |
| Switzerland | Five lakes | Patrol boats on Lakes Geneva, Maggiore, Lucerne, Lugano and Constance |
| Uzbekistan | Amu Darya | A River Force of gunboats under the Frontier Service |
Why would a landlocked country have a navy?
Mostly because water is part of the border. When a river or lake marks the line between two countries, someone has to patrol it, and boats are often the fastest way to move troops where roads are poor. Contested water adds another reason: the countries around the Caspian disagree about how to divide it.
Bolivia is the most striking case. It lost its Pacific coast in the 1879 War of the Pacific and never accepted it. To Bolivians the navy is a symbol that the country hasn't given up on getting back to the sea.
Is the Caspian Sea a sea?
This is where the lists split. The Caspian isn't connected to any ocean by a natural waterway, so most authorities treat Azerbaijan as landlocked, and some apply the same logic to Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. If you decide the Caspian is a real sea, those three drop off the landlocked list. If you decide it's a lake, they stay on it, and so do their navies.
So how many are there?
Seven if you count only dedicated navies, sixteen if you include river and lake units inside other services. A 2026 list says seven and an older article says ten, with eight more in army units. Both can be right, because they draw the line in different places.
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Keep reading
If you like counts that change with the definition, see which countries border the most others and which have the most islands.
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia's article on navies of landlocked countries, which cites national and defense sources, and cross-checked against Seasia's 2026 list, which names the same seven countries. Naval strength changes over time, so treat personnel figures as approximate.