<P> A landlocked state or landlocked country is a sovereign state entirely enclosed by land, or whose only coastlines lie on closed seas . There are currently 49 such countries, including five partially recognised states . Only two, Bolivia and Paraguay in South America, lie outside Afro - Eurasia (the Old World). </P> <P> As a rule, being landlocked creates political and economic handicaps that access to the high seas avoids . For this reason, states large and small across history have striven to gain access to open waters, even at great expense in wealth, bloodshed, and political capital . </P>

Name one south american country that does not have an outlet to an ocean