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Closest Non-Bordering Countries

Name the 10 pairs of countries that are closest together but do not border!
A big thanks to Jerry928 for working out the data!!!
Quiz by scambigol
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First submittedSeptember 8, 2014
Last updatedApril 19, 2016
Times taken1,736
Rating4.78
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Km
Miles
Countries
Notes
0.4
0.2
Namibia
Zimbabwe
Across land
0.5
0.3
Malaysia
Singapore
Across water
1
1
India
Sri Lanka
Across water; borders on land according to Wikipedia
1.1
0.7
Bahrain
Qatar
Across water
4
2
Russia
USA
Across water
4
2
Denmark
Sweden
Across water
4
3
China
Taiwan
Across water
6
4
Australia
Papua New Guinea
Across water
6
4
Grenada
St Vincent and the Grenadines
Across water
6
4
Indonesia
Singapore
Across water
Eutychus
+2
level 79
Sep 8, 2014
What about between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia (looks to be about 5 miles) and Bahrain and Qatar (looks like less than 2 miles from one of Bahrain's islands to Qatar).
scambigol
+1
level 70
Sep 9, 2014
I've added Bahrain-Qatar, thanks to spotting that. Bahrain-Saudi Arabia is currently under investigation (a chat with a Bahrain government official!)
Jerry928
+1
level 72
Apr 19, 2016
Here is Middle Island which has Saudi customs on one side and Bahraini customs on the other - but try as I might, I just cannot find whether either country owns it, or if the border runs down its middle! Does anyone out there know?
OfTheMountain
+1
level 51
Sep 9, 2014
Could North and South Korea technically not border because of the DMZ? Its a question not a statement
scambigol
+1
level 70
Sep 9, 2014
I guess not... I guess you can assume that all land belongs to some country (maybe excluding Antarctica)
AKE88
+1
level 29
Sep 9, 2014
France and UK? Morocco and Spain?
scambigol
+2
level 70
Sep 9, 2014
France and UK aren't close enough; Morocco and Spain actually border in Africa (Ceuta etc)
scambigol
+1
level 70
Apr 19, 2016
I'll have to ask Jerry as he did me the favour of working out the data - this is also why India-Sri Lanka is present: I do consider a border between them in most (but not all) of my quizzes but he doesn't - thanks for your observations!
Jerry928
+1
level 72
Apr 19, 2016
The quiz asks for the closest possible distance between countries, so any countries sharing a land border will be zero distance apart, and disqualified from the quiz, even if they have offshore islands separated by water.
scambigol
+1
level 70
Apr 19, 2016
thanks for your suggestions and thanks a lot to jerry for working out the updated list!
Roger77024
+1
level 60
Sep 15, 2014
How about United States & United Kingdom via their respective Virgin Islands?
Jerry928
+1
level 72
Apr 19, 2016
UK territories do not form a part of the UK, even though they are under its jurisdiction (which is why Anguilla - Sint Maarten above has also been omitted).
jcassarino
+1
level 58
Mar 4, 2015
What about Egypt to Saudi Arabia?
ketchupkawawa
+1
level 46
Jan 19, 2017
Just a bit too far—about 7 km. Same goes for Egypt and Jordan.
cosmokim
+1
level 58
May 25, 2015
What about Panama and Colombia?
shuriken15
+1
level 30
Jun 16, 2015
They do border each other, it's weird that they separate continents I know, but they have a land border.
Asbjorn
+1
level 64
Dec 12, 2015
What about Oman and Iran?
ketchupkawawa
+1
level 46
Jan 19, 2017
That's 50 km
Jerry928
+1
level 72
Apr 19, 2016
And here is the closest non-bordering country pair in the world! The leaf-shaped island in the middle distance is Namibia, all of the green river-bank in the foreground is Zimbabwe, and between them, the strip of dry land with a road running across it, is Botswana (just) keeping them apart.
GrandMo
+1
level 69
Jul 31, 2017
I'm going to be extra nit-picky here though: this should really still be classified as a "water border." Namibia owns no territory on the south side of the Chobe River, thus you must cross water in order to get from Namibia to Zimbabwe at this shortest distance.
Plus if you look at the way the borders are drawn on Google Maps (admittedly not perfect), the narrowest they ever are is over water. I know that's not your criteria, but just added reference.
GrandMo
+1
level 69
Jul 31, 2017
I would venture that the closest non-bordering countries that are joined only by land borders would probably be Monaco and Italy at just over 8km
thisisnotanaccount1234567
+1
level 37
Dec 19, 2017
The only reason I got that was because I was on google earth and I saw Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia and I wanted to see if they made a four corners.
benzeller
+1
level 58
May 31, 2016
Canada and Denmark (Greenland)?
ketchupkawawa
+1
level 46
Jan 19, 2017
Overseas territories don't count
thisisnotanaccount1234567
+1
level 37
Dec 19, 2017
also that is 14 miles
ketchupkawawa
+1
level 46
Jan 19, 2017
Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands are about 3.7 km apart (Aiaisina Island and Kukuvulu Island)
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