• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / World / What Very Big Country Has a Very Small Coast?

What Very Big Country Has a Very Small Coast?

June 8, 2020 by Karen Hill

Zaire is a huge country, the eleventh largest on earth. So it’s no surprise that Zaire has one of the longest land borders of any nation, a total of 6,149 miles. That’s not much smaller than the total land border of the United States, 7,453 miles.

But it is a surprise that this large nation has one of the shortest coastlines of any nation that isn’t landlocked. On a map, it might appear that Zaire is indeed landlocked, with no outlet on the ocean.

But Zaire has a narrow strip of land on the north bank of the Congo River that reaches to the Atlantic Ocean. The total length of this Atlantic Ocean coastline is just 23 miles!

Aside from small island nations and the tiny nation of Monaco in Europe, the only non-landlocked nation on earth with a shorter coastline than Zaire is Jordan, which has a 16-mile coastline on the Gulf of Aqaba.

Related Facts

  • Why Is The Pirate Coast In The Persian Gulf Now Known As The Trucial Coast?
  • Why do hurricanes hit the East Coast but not the West Coast of the United States?
  • How long did it take to get a letter from coast to coast by Pony Express in the American Old West?
  • Why Is The Ivory Coast The Richest Country in West Africa?
  • How Did the Country Called Cote d'Ivoire or the Ivory Coast Get Its Name and What Does It Mean?
  • What Is the Richest Country In the World and Which Country Has the Highest Gross National Product?

Filed Under: World

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « Why Is Rwanda Called The Land of a Thousand Hills?
Next Post: Are Deserts in Namibia The Most Barren on Earth? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2021 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy