Which African country is the most populous landlocked country?

Ethiopia is the most populous landlocked country in Africa—and in the world.

Located in the Horn of Africa, Ethiopia has no coastline and is bordered by Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, South Sudan and Sudan. Its population has grown dramatically, from about 38.1 million in 1983 to roughly 135 million in 2025 by widely used international estimates. That makes it far more populous than other large landlocked African countries such as Uganda, Mali and Burkina Faso.

Ethiopia’s landlocked status is relatively recent in historical terms. It once had access to the Red Sea through territory that became Eritrea, but that coastline was lost when Eritrea became independent on 24 May 1993. Population comparisons can vary by source and year, yet Ethiopia remains the clear canonical answer because the gap is substantial rather than marginal.