[2020-12-24]哪个国家的地理最劣势？

Pablo Djankowicz Ruizinowitz Innate and long-held interest in geography
South Sudan
* It’s land-locked, with a mortal, despised enemy to the north (Sudan) and impoverished nations all around it. Being landlocked means no easy means to access the oceans, as these are hundreds of miles away.
* Worse yet, unlike Uzbekistan, it suffers from an equatorial tropical climate, and most of its lands are marshes or swamplands. As a result an incredible panoply of deadly tropical diseases, most mosquito-borne or fly-borne, bedevil its scattered, barely literate population, among the most impoverished on Earth.
Belgium
* Like Poland, Belgium is a land smack-dab in the middle of historically more powerful neighbors—to the north, south, east and west—so has had a long and bloody history of continual conquests.

【回答】对地理有着天生的兴趣
是南苏丹
*它是一个内陆国家，北方是不共戴天的敌人(苏丹)，周围都是贫穷的国家。由于地处内陆，要进入海洋绝非易事，因为海洋距离我们有数百英里之遥。
*更糟糕的是，与乌兹别克斯坦不同，它的气候为赤道热带气候，大部分土地为沼泽或湿地。其结果是，致命的热带疾病，大多数是通过蚊子或苍蝇传播的，结果就是让人难以置信地泛滥成灾，折磨着地球上最贫困、分散、几乎没有文化的人口。
比利时
*和波兰一样，比利时是一块位于历史上强大邻国(东、南、西、北)中间的土地，因此有一段漫长而血腥的不断征服的历史。

* The Netherlands, France, Spain, Austria, England and Germany have occupied it, or the area now called Belgium, at various points over the past 1,000 years.
* It suffered tremendously during WWI, though it wanted to remain neutral. It was the only neutral nation to have been invaded during that epic global war.
* As someone pointed out, Belgium’s geography has made for great trade capabilities. But the Netherlands also has great trade capabilities due to its similar geography, but it was never invaded as much. That’s because it’s a bit off to the side, which meant it wasn’t as easy a target. This allowed it to become independent, powerful and rich, leading to the Dutch golden age of the 1600s. The area that is now Belgium was an easy target and highly coveted, so it got a lot of invasions, especially after 1500.

*在过去一千年里，荷兰、法国、西班牙、奥地利、英国和德国在不同的时间都曾占领过它，或者现在被称为比利时的地区。
*它在一战中遭受了巨大的损失，尽管它想保持中立。它是在那场史诗般的全球战争中唯一受到侵略的中立国。
*正如有人指出的那样，比利时的地理条件造就了强大的贸易能力。由于地理位置相似，荷兰也拥有强大的贸易能力，但它从未被这么多次的入侵。这是因为它有点偏向一边，这意味着它不容易成为目标。这使得它变得独立、强大和富有，并带来了17世纪荷兰的黄金时代。现在的比利时是一个很容易被攻击的目标，人们对它垂涎三尺，所以它遭到了多次入侵，特别是在1500年后。

Kiribati
* Like the Maldives, this land will soon go under the waves due to global warming within 200 years. Its highest point is pretty high, at 265 meters, but that’s just one island.
* It consists of 32 very flat atolls and that one island with the high peak. So all its population will eventually have to move to that one high island.
* Unlike the Maldives, however, Kiribati is really out in the middle of nowhere, very far removed from large landmasses. As a result not much in the way of trade happens in its vicinity. With the Maldives, busy shipping lanes traverse its island territory.

基里巴斯共和国
*像马尔代夫一样，由于全球变暖，这片土地将在200年内被海水淹没。它的最高点相当高，有265米，但那只是一个岛屿。
*它由32个非常平坦的环礁和一个高峰的岛屿组成。所以它所有的人口最终将不得不迁移到那座高岛上。
*基里巴斯与马尔代夫不同，基里巴斯真的是在一个偏僻的地方，离大片陆地很远。因此，在它的邻近地区没有多少贸易往来。在马尔代夫，繁忙的航线穿过其岛屿领土。

Davide Mirabella lives in Switzerland
It seems that no one here has mentioned the tiny country of Armenia yet. It is a country of a mere 30′000 sq km, which is sligthly smaller than the state of Maryland (according to the CIA World Factbook). It has a population of approx. 3 million.
The country has had a tragic and troublesome history and earlier Armenian states have been much larger. It is geographically in a very disadvantageous position for many reasons:
* it is landlocked
* the borders with Turkey and Azerbaijian are closed, there is no trade going on between Armenia and these two states and no people can cross the border. This is tricky from an economical position because Turkey is a large economy that up until recently has seen considerable economic growth. Azerbaijian is an important exporter of oil and gas who cut supplies of these commodities after the war over Nagorno-Karabakh in the early 1990s (which is the piece of land where the arrow’s pointed at).

【回答】住在瑞士
这里似乎还没有人提到亚美尼亚这个小国。这是一个只有3万平方公里的国家，略小于马里兰州(根据CIA的世界概况)。大约有三百万人口。
这个国家有一段悲惨和麻烦的历史，早期的亚美尼亚国家比现在大得多。它在地理上处于非常不利的位置，原因有很多：
*它是内陆国家
与土耳其和阿塞拜疆的边界被关闭了，亚美尼亚同这两个国家之间不进行贸易，任何人都不能越过边界。从经济角度来看，这是很棘手的问题，因为土耳其是一个直到最近才看到可观经济增长的大型经济体。阿塞拜疆是一个重要的石油和天然气出口国，在20世纪90年代初的纳戈尔诺-卡拉巴赫战争后，阿塞拜疆切断了这些商品的供应。

* Any land-based traffic has to go through either Iran or Georgia. The road to Iran is long and winding and roads aren’t in a good condition. The situation is similar in the case of Georgia - roads into the country lead over mountainous terrain and bumpy roads.
* Armenia gets lots of its oil and gas through Georgia, which levies some kind of a “transfer tax” on these products, which leads to higher prices for Armenian consumers.
* Russia is probably Armenia’s most important economic partner; however, due to the hostilities between Georgia and Russia, the border between the two remains closed. I am also pretty sure that there’s not traffic between Georgian and Russian ports, so any trade between the two countries has to make a considerable detour

*任何陆基交通必须经过伊朗或格鲁吉亚。通往伊朗的道路又长又曲折，路况也不是很好。格鲁吉亚的情况与此类似，通往该国的道路要经过山区和崎岖不平的道路。
*亚美尼亚的大量石油和天然气是通过格鲁吉亚进口的，格鲁吉亚对这些产品征收某种“转让税”，这导致亚美尼亚消费者支付更高的价格。
*俄罗斯可能是亚美尼亚最重要的经济伙伴；然而，由于格鲁吉亚和俄罗斯之间的敌对行动，两国之间的边界仍然关闭。我也非常肯定，格鲁吉亚和俄罗斯港口之间没有交通往来，所以两国之间的任何贸易都要绕道而行

* For centuries, Armenia has been situated in the spheres of influence of various great powers - Russia, the Ottoman Empire or Persians. This lead to the effect that Armenia was often in difficult situations, having been a staging ground for various battle between these powers for a long time.
* For centuries there has been a large Armenian population in what is today Eastern Turkey (or as the Armenians like to call it: Western Armenia). After World War 1 hundres of thousands of Armenians had to flee the territory of what then became Turkey, which was a great burden for the Armenian state because it was fighting a war against Azerbaijian at the time. It was also poor and agrarian at that time and hardly in a position to take care of such a large amount of refugees.
* The country’s landscape is mostly mountainous and often dry. Only little portions of the land can be used for agrarian purposes, which leads to the effect that it has to import large amounts of foodstuff from its neighbours, through long-winding trade routes. It also increases dependencies of Armenia on its neighbours.

*几个世纪以来，亚美尼亚一直处于俄罗斯、奥斯曼帝国或波斯人等大国的势力范围内。这导致亚美尼亚经常处于困难的局势中，长期以来一直是这些大国之间各种战斗的集结地。
*几个世纪以来，有大量亚美尼亚人居住在今天的土耳其东部(或亚美尼亚人喜欢称其为西亚美尼亚)。第一次世界大战之后，成千上万的亚美尼亚人不得不逃离当时成为土耳其的领土，这对亚美尼亚国来说是一个巨大的负担，因为它当时正在同阿塞拜疆打仗。当时它还很贫穷，以农业为主，几乎没有能力照顾这么多难民。
*这个国家的地形主要是山区，经常很干燥。只有一小部分土地可以用于农业目的，这导致其结果是，它必须通过漫长曲折的贸易路线从邻国进口大量粮食。这也增加了亚美尼亚对邻国的依赖。

Angina Berryz
Japan is certainly one of those countries most affected by natural disasters and has worst geographical disadvantage. Some of the most expensive natural disasters have occurred in Japan, costing more than $181 billion for reforms and rebuilding, in the years 1995 and 2011.
Japan has suffered through many years of nature’s wrath upon them which has significantly affected the country’s growth, economy, development and also the social life of its citizens. The various types of natural disasters that strike Japan from time-to-time, include Tsunamis, floods, typhoons, earthquakes and the most horrid of them all, volcanic eruptions.

【回答】
日本无疑是受自然灾害影响最严重的国家之一，地理位置最不利。1995年和2011年，日本发生了一些非常严重的自然灾害，用于改革和重建的费用超过1810亿美元。
日本遭受了多年的自然之怒，严重影响了国家的增长、经济、发展以及公民的社会生活。日本不时遭受各种各样的自然灾害，包括海啸、洪水、台风、地震，还有最可怕的火山爆发。

Hadi Bharara Free Thinker
1. Israel
A Jewish country in between the Muslim Middle East with neighbors that want to destroy you at all costs.
It is only a miracle (and with the backing of US) that Israel have survived that long. Bordering with Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan; Israel is a country with one of the worst geographical location.
2. Uzbekistan
Mostly, landlocked countries are considered geographically disadvantaged. But this central Asian country is “Double Landlocked”.
It means it is a landlocked country whose neighbours are all also landlocked. In order to reach open sea, it has to cross at least two international borders (Afghanistan and Pakistan in this case).
3. Afghanistan
Also a landlocked and mostly barren country, Afghanistan is the point where East Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and Middle East meet. The disadvantage of this advantageous geographical location is that, you are continuously under attack all the time.
Due to its geography, Afghanistan has remained a war ground for many centuries.

【回答】自由思想家
1. 以色列
一个犹太国家，夹在中东穆斯林国家之间，邻国不惜一切代价想要摧毁你。
在美国的支持下，以色列能够存活这么久，这是一个奇迹。与埃及、叙利亚、黎巴嫩、巴勒斯坦和约旦接壤；以色列是地理位置最差的国家之一。
2. 乌兹别克斯坦
大多数情况下，内陆国家常被认为在地理上处于不利地位。但这个中亚国家是“双重内陆国家”。
这意味着它是一个内陆国家，其邻国也都是内陆国家。为了到达公海，它必须跨域至少两个国际边界(在这种情况下是阿富汗和巴基斯坦)。
3.阿富汗
阿富汗也是一个内陆和贫瘠的国家，是东亚、南亚、中亚和中东的交汇点。这个有利地理位置的缺点是，你会一直受到攻击。由于地理原因，阿富汗几个世纪以来一直是战场。

4. Lesotho
Out of all other landlocked disadvantaged countries, this African country has a special disadvantage as it is surrounded from all four sides by South Africa.
Yes. It is completely on South African mercy. If they decided to block its way to sea or blocked the supply of goods in or out of the country, they would have no other way..
5. Maldives

4. 莱索托
在所有其他处于不利地位的内陆国家中，这个非洲国家有一个特别的不利条件，因为它四面被南非包围。
是的。它完全依靠南非的仁慈。如果他们决定封锁通往海上的道路，或封锁国内或国外的货物供应，他们就别无他法。
5. 马尔代夫

Not only being landlocked is disadvantageous. Sometimes, being in the sea can be dangerous too. The country of the Maldives composed of hundreds of islands which lie to the South West of Indian shores in Indian Ocean.
It is the lowest country in the world with average height of 1.5 meter above sea level. The UN environmental panel has warned that, if the rise in water level continued at current rates, the Maldives will be uninhabited by 2100.

不只是内陆地区不利。有时候，在海里也会很危险。马尔代夫这个国家由数百个岛屿组成，位于印度洋的印度海岸的西南方向。
它是世界上最低的国家，平均海拔1.5米。联合国环境小组警告称，如果水位继续以目前的速度上升，到2100年马尔代夫将无人居住。

Anonymous
Nepal
You might think, what does this beautiful Himalayan country have wrong with it?
Nepal is landlocked by India to the south and China to the north. Aka Nepal is surrounded by the world’s two largest nations, both nuclear armed rivals with tense relations.
Nepal relies on India for its maritime access as it provides the shortest route. It needs India to supply almost all of its fuel, like oil and coal. Nepal is being held hostage by India, like in the 2015 blockade. India was believed to have encouraged the blockade by an Indian ethnic minority in Nepal because of the change to the Nepalese constitution it did not like.[1]
However, China has all the money in the region. It is the largest investor in Nepal, in its infrastructure and industries. [2] India and China have butt heads over influence in Kathmandu
Nepal has to balance between Asia’s largest powers for its economic and political wellbeing. This has meant that development in Nepal has been very slow and the country is one of the poorest in the region.

【回答】
尼泊尔
你可能会想，这个美丽的喜马拉雅国家有什么问题吗?
尼泊尔南部与印度接壤，北部与中国接壤。尼泊尔被世界上最大的两个国家包围，这两个国家都拥有核武器，关系紧张。
尼泊尔依赖印度的海上通道，因为印度提供了最短的路线。它需要印度提供几乎所有的燃料，比如石油和煤炭。尼泊尔被印度挟持，就像2015年的封锁一样。据信，印度鼓励在尼泊尔的印度少数民族实行封锁，因为它不喜欢尼泊尔修改宪法。
然而，中国在该地区拥有全部资金。在尼泊尔的基础设施和工业方面，中国是其最大的投资者。印度和中国在加德满都的影响力问题上针锋相对。
为了自身的经济和政治福祉，尼泊尔必须在亚洲大国之间寻求平衡。这意味着尼泊尔的发展非常缓慢，这个国家是该地区最贫穷的国家之一。

Shelby Cockhill
Haiti:
Though this country is not land locked like many of the others mentioned it does still face a great number of geological disadvantages which has made development in the region difficult.
* The country is prone to Earthquakes. It sits on two fault lines. Earthquakes have been a semi-regular occurrence in the country for centuries. However the most recent and devastating quake occurred in 2010. The 7.0 magnitude quake killed between 46,000 and 316,000 people. Laurent Lamothe, a Haitian government official was quoted as saying that the earthquake “literally set us back 50 years”.
* The tropical island is also regularly battered by Hurricanes. During the hurricane season of 2008, Haiti was hit by four major storms which combined killed more than 800 people and destroyed nearly three-quarters of its agricultural land.

【回答】
海地：
尽管这个国家不像许多提到的其他国家那样是内陆国家，但它仍然面临着许多地理劣势，这使得该地区的发展非常困难。
*这个国家很容易发生地震。它位于两条断层线上。几个世纪以来，地震在这个国家一直是一种半规律的现象。然而，最近一次毁灭性的地震发生在2010年。这场7.0级地震造成4.6万人到31.6万人死亡。媒体援引海地政府官员劳伦特 · 拉莫特的话称，这次地震“简直让我们倒退了50年”。
*这个热带岛屿也经常受到飓风的袭击。在2008年的飓风季节，海地遭受了四场大风暴的袭击，造成800多人死亡，摧毁了近四分之三的农田。

* The region is also prone to flooding and the country has experienced major flooding leading to loss of life and infrastructure damage in 2016, 2009, 2007, 2006, 2003 and 2002
All of these natural disasters have led to poor infrastructure, poverty, famine and disease among the people. Cholera outbreaks after these disasters are common. Malaria, Typhoid, Zika as well as a number of other diseases are all a major cause for concern in the country.
The World Risk Index Calculates a countries risk for it’s citizens being seriously effected by natural disasters. Haiti comes in at 151 out of 173 with an 11.68% chance of it’s citizens being effected.

*该地区也容易发生洪水，海底在2016年、2009年、2007年、2006年、2003年和2002年都经历过严重洪灾，导致人员伤亡和基础设施被破坏。
所有这些自然灾害都导致了基础设施落后、贫困、饥荒和疾病。在这些灾难之后爆发霍乱是很常见的。疟疾、伤寒、寨卡病毒以及其他一些疾病都是该国令人担忧的主要原因。
世界风险指数计算了国家的公民受到自然灾害严重影响的风险。海地在173个国家中排名151，其公民受到影响的几率为11.68%。

Sayak Biswas Indian and Proud
By and large, Indonesia
Indonesia is not some solid chunk of land like USA, Canada, India, China or Australia. It is an archipelago, the largest of it’s kind, and even now we aren’t exactly sure of exactly how many islands are in this map. For connecting the regions, good waterways are a necessity.
Now when you have a country which is separated by water within itself, each region will be having it’s own distinct cultural identity. Diversity in Indonesia in terms of language especially, therefore is very high, in fact far higher than even India (touted as most diverse nation by many).
The national language is Bahasa Indonesia, which is a standardized version of Malay, and has a significantly influenced by several languages, most notably Chinese, Sanskrit, Tamil, Arabic, Dutch and English. While local languages are promoted at local level, Bahasa Indonesia is the official language of state, media and government.

【回答】骄傲的印度人
总的来说，是印度尼西亚。
印尼不像美国、加拿大、印度、中国或澳大利亚那样是一块坚实的陆地。它是一个群岛国家，是同类群岛中最大的一个，即使到现在我们也不能确切地确定它在地图上到底有多少个岛屿。为了连接这些地区，良好的水路是必要的。
现在，当一个国家内部被水隔开时，每个地区都有自己独特的文化认同。因此，印尼在语言方面的多样性非常高，事实上甚至比印度(被许多人吹捧为最多样化的国家)还要高。
国语是印尼语，是马来语的标准化版本，受到几种语言的显著影响，主要是汉语、梵语、泰米尔语、阿拉伯语、荷兰语和英语。虽然当地语言在地方层面得到推广，但印尼语是国家、媒体和政府的官方语言。

This diversity is also on basis of religion. Westernmost regions of Indonesia are devout followers of Islam, such that Aceh province is having Sharia as the only law. As we move easternmost point, it is Protestant Christianity which has the highest influence. Bali is the only Hindu-majority region among the provinces.
The most populous part of the country is Java, an island which by size would be 13th largest in world. Java also holds the capital of Jakarta, which again is the largest city of the country, and several other places like Yogyakarta, Bandung, etc.
Java is also a seismically active zone, with Yogyakarta sitting at foot of Mount Merapi[1] , an active stratovolcano which last erupted a year ago. Go figure!!!!

这种多样性也是基于宗教。印度尼西亚最西部的地区都是伊斯兰教的虔诚信徒，以至于亚齐省就只有伊斯兰教法。当我们移向最东端时，新教的影响最大。巴厘岛是各省中唯一一个以印度教为主的地区。
这个国家人口最稠密的地区是爪哇岛，这个岛屿按面积计算，是世界第13大的岛屿。爪哇还包含首都雅加达，也是该国最大的城市，以及其他几个地方，如日惹、万隆等。
爪哇也是一个地震活动区，日惹坐落在默拉皮火山的山脚下，默拉皮火山是一年前最后一次喷发的活火山。想象看吧！！

Edit: Overcrowding and sinking due to rising sea levels in Jakarta is now forcing the Indonesian government to build a new capital city, probably they will make on in Borneo island
Sometimes this diversity also led to active separatist movements in the region ages ago, most notably in Aceh, South Moluccas, and some other place, all of which were taken care of by Indonesian Army.
And Indonesia being right over the equator, it has a largely-tropical climate, with some of the world’s thickest jungles, with some of the most unexplored biodiversity

雅加达由于海平面上升而过度拥挤和下沉，现在迫使印尼政府建造一个新的首都，他们可能会在婆罗洲岛建造。
有时，这种多样性也导致多年前该地区活跃的分离主义运动，最明显的是在亚齐、南摩鹿加和其他一些地方，所有这些地区都由印尼军队照顾。
印度尼西亚正好位于赤道上，它基本上属于热带气候，有一些世界上最茂密的丛林，还有一些最未被开发的生物多样性。

Protecting such jungles and their animals from poachers is another challenge.
One hell of a challenging geography, and one challenge to keep so many islands packed as one united nation. A huge credit should go to the administration at Jakarta in keeping the country as one.

保护这些丛林和动物免遭偷猎者的猎杀是另一个挑战。
一个极具挑战的是地理，另一个挑战是如何把这么多的岛屿组合成一个统一的国家。在保持国家统一方面，雅加达政府应该得到很大的赞誉。

Alicia Simon B.S. Computer Science, Xavier University of Louisiana (2023)
Seychelles
*Although small island nations like the Maldives that are threatened by climate change have already been mentioned, I thought I should shed some light upon Seychelles.
The Republic of Seychelles is an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean located 1,500 km east of mainland East Africa. Its primary island, Mahé, is a huge tourist attraction and home to Victoria, the nation’s capital.
Brief History:
The Republic of Seychelles has a rich history dating all the way back to the Age of Exploration when Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama discovered the islands. However prior to its earliest recorded discovery in 1502 by Vasco da Gama, Arab navigators during the medieval times knew of the Seychelles existence. Even documents dating back to 851 A.D. of an Arab merchant who described what he referenced as the “Tall Islands”

【回答】路易斯安那州泽维尔大学计算机科学学士(2023)
塞舌尔
*虽然已经提到了像马尔代夫这样受到气候变化威胁的小岛屿国家，但我认为应该讲一些塞舌尔的事。
塞舌尔共和国是由印度洋上115个岛屿组成的群岛，位于东非大陆以东1500公里处。它的主要岛屿马埃岛是一个巨大的旅游景点，也是国家首都维多利亚的所在地。
简史:
塞舌尔共和国有着丰富的历史，可以追溯到葡萄牙航海家瓦斯科·达·伽马发现该群岛的探险时代。然而，在1502年瓦斯科·达·伽马最早发现塞舌尔之前，中世纪的阿拉伯航海家就已经知道了塞舌尔的存在。甚至可以追溯到公元851年的一位阿拉伯商人的文件，描述了他所说的马尔代夫之外的“高岛”。

Anthony Myrlados
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan is kind of screwed geographically. Want to know why?
* Open plains and a northern latitude makes this country painfully hot in the summer and brutally cold in the winter.
* 2nd coldest capital city in the world (First is Mongolia)
* Large portions of the country are desert, plains, mountains, or marshes
* Parts of the interior are irradiated from nuclear testing in the Soviet era
* Huge land area combined with poor infrastructure makes traveling by road difficult
* The biggest city, Almaty, is stuck in a mountain basin, trapping the city’s smog. Ouch
* Southern Kazakhstan is prone to earthquakes
* The country is landlocked (Biggest landlocked country on Earth!)
* Kazakhstan is trapped between Russia and China. Scary!
* Oh, yeah, and there are also sand storms in the capital. Sometimes.
However, Kazakhstan also has many beautiful lakes and LOTS of oil fields!

【回答】
哈萨克斯坦
哈萨克斯坦在地理上有点糟糕。想知道为什么吗?
*开阔的平原和北纬使得这个国家在夏天非常炎热，在冬天非常寒冷。
*世界上第二冷的首都(第一是蒙古)
*这个国家的大部分地区是沙漠、平原、山脉或沼泽地
*部分地区受到苏联时代核试验的辐射
*巨大的土地面积加上落后的基础设施使得公路旅行很困难
*最大的城市阿拉木图被困在山盆里，城市笼罩着烟雾。唉
*哈萨克斯坦南部容易发生地震
*这个国家是内陆国家(地球上最大的内陆国家!)
*哈萨克斯坦被夹在俄罗斯和中国之间。很可怕！
*哦，是的，首都有时也有沙尘暴。
然而，哈萨克斯坦也有许多美丽的湖泊和许多油田!

Augustus Chai I live to learn
I’m from Malaysia and speaking for Southeast Asia. Hence my answer would be Laos as it is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. Historically to begin with, being landlocked has been regarded as a disadvantageous position.
A mountainous and landlocked country, Laos shares borders with Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south, Thailand to the west, and Myanmar and China to the north. The Lao economy depends heavily on investment and trade with its neighbours, Thailand, Vietnam, and, especially in the north, China. Much of Laos lacks adequate infrastructure. Laos has no railways, except a short link to connect Vientiane with Thailand over the Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge. Laos’ predominantly rural makes it even harder to grow.

【回答】我活着就是为了学习
我来自马来西亚，代表东南亚发言。所以我的答案是老挝，因为老挝是东南亚唯一的内陆国家。从历史上来看，处于内陆被认为是一种不利的位置。
老挝是一个多山的内陆国家，东部与越南接壤，南部与柬埔寨接壤，西部与泰国接壤，北部与缅甸和中国接壤。老挝经济严重依赖于与邻国泰国、越南、尤其是北方的中国的投资和贸易。老挝的大部分地区缺乏足够的基础设施。老挝没有铁路，只有一条通过泰老友谊桥连接万象和泰国的短线路。老挝以农村为主，这使它的发展更加困难。