10 Landlocked Countries With Navies

While landlocked countries are obviously unable to develop a sea-going blue-water navy, they may still deploy armed forces on major lakes or rivers. There are a number of reasons a landlocked country may choose to maintain a navy. If a river or lake forms a national border, countries may feel the need to protect and patrol that border with a military force. In some regions, roads may be unreliable or circuitous, and a river or lake may be the easiest way to move military forces around the country. Sometimes, possession of a body of water may actually be contested – for example, countries around the landlocked Caspian Sea have different views of how ownership should be divided.

1. Azerbaijan

Ship of Azerbaijanian Navy  link

Although Azerbaijan borders the Caspian Sea, the Caspian does not connect to the ocean by natural waterway – by some definitions, this makes the country landlocked. The Azerbaijani Navy operates on the Caspian Sea. The navy has about 5,000 personnel in sixteen units including the Caspian Flotilla and a Border Coast Guard. [link]

2. Bolivia

Bolivia's navy officers attend a parade during Sea Day celebrations in La Paz March 23, 2009  link

The Bolivian Naval Force has several thousand personnel. When the force was established, Bolivia had access to the Pacific Ocean, but it lost control of its coastal territory in the War of the Pacific. Now, the Bolivian Navy patrols Lake Titicaca and Bolivia's larger rivers. It also had a naval unit permanently deployed in the Argentine city of Rosario. To some Bolivians, the Navy serves as a symbol that the country has not given up on regaining its lost access to the sea. [link]

3. Central African Republic

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Central African Republic has small naval force. It is called the Second Battalion of the Ground Forces and it patrols the Ubangi river. The staff of the sixth region in Bouali (mainly made up of members of the former president’s lifeguard) was transferred to the city of Mongoumba, located on the river. This city had previously been plundered by forces from MLC, that had crossed the border. The riverine patrol force has approximately a hundred personnel and operates seven patrol boats. [link]

4. Kazakhstan

Patrol Ship of Kazakhstan Navy  link

Although Kazakhstan borders the Caspian Sea, the Caspian does not connect to the ocean by natural waterway – by some definitions, this makes the country landlocked. On 7 May 2003, Kazakhstan’s Naval Forces were established by presidential decree. They operate on the Caspian Sea, based at Aktau. The Kazakh Naval Force has a strength of 3,000 personnel and is equipped with 14 inshore patrol craft. In 2011, a naval aviation base was opened in Aktau. [link]

5. Laos

River patrol boats in Laos  link

The Lao People's Navy operates vessels on the Mekong River, a major feature of the country's geography. It is believed to operate two or three dozen small patrol boats. Because the Mekong makes up a considerable portion of the Lao border, the Navy is significantly involved in border control work. [link]

6. Paraguay

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Although Paraguay is a landlocked country, it has a strong naval tradition by virtue of the fact that it has access to the Atlantic Ocean through the Paraguay–Paraná rivers. The Paraguayan Navy has twelve bases. The main base is the Puerto Saxony in Asuncion. Naval personnel including Marine Corps aviation personnel, and the naval guard equal about 1,950. The Marine Corps have 800 marines, of which 400 are assigned to one commando unit with the rest being organized into a single battalion consisting of three companies. [link]

7. Rwanda

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Rwanda has a small Navy patrols in Lake Kivu, between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It was involved in the Second Congo War, which began in August 1998 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly called Zaire), and officially ended in July 2003 when the Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo took power.

8. Serbia

Serbian Navy Ship  link

Following the recent split with Montenegro, Serbia became a landlocked country. Montenegro, whose territory sits by the Adriatic sea, has inherited nearly all naval components of the former union. Serbia however was not left without any naval property at all. It inherited a flotilla of river patrol and assault vessels which operate on the Danube River. Currently the River Flotilla of the Serbian Armed Forces functions as a real seafaring navy would, with all the ranks and positions of a much larger and complex navy. [link]

9. Turkmenistan

Kalkan-class patrol vessels  link

Turkmenistan operates a small navy on the Caspian Sea. Turkmen naval forces are currently directed by the Border Guard Service and consist of around 700 servicemen and sixteen patrol boats. The International Institute for Strategic Studies reported in 2007 that Turkmenistan intended to form a navy and had a minor base at Turkmenbashy with 1 USCG Point class cutter and 5 Kalkan-class patrol vessels. [link]

10. Uganda

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The Uganda People's Defence Force Marine Wing operates on Lake Victoria. Marine Wing has 400 personnel, and eight riverine patrol craft, all of less than 100 tonnes. Its main mission is to patrol Lake Victoria and the Nile River. [link]

Other landlocked countries may operate water-based military forces without actually establishing an independent navy – instead, responsibility may be given to a branch of a different service, often the army.