Two countries tie for the most neighbours: fourteen each
No nation touches more neighbours than Russia and China — and remarkably, they're tied, with fourteen land borders apiece.
Most countries have a handful of neighbours. Russia and China each border fourteen — more than any other nation, and exactly tied with one another.
Russia’s neighbours run from Norway and the Baltic states through Ukraine and the Caucasus to Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China and North Korea. China’s fourteen wrap around the heart of Asia: from North Korea and Russia across Mongolia and Central Asia to Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan and on to Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam.
The two share several of the same neighbours — including each other — yet their full lists differ. It’s a direct consequence of sheer size: the world’s largest country and its most populous one inevitably brush up against the most others.
Russia even borders some countries twice over, since its Kaliningrad exclave abuts Poland and Lithuania far from the main territory.
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