Nine sovereign countries begin with the letter L: Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania and Luxembourg. They are spread across three continents — four in Europe, three in Africa and two in Asia — and between them they include one of the world's smallest states, one of Africa's largest, and two of the strangest landlocked countries on Earth.
This count uses the 193 UN member states plus the two permanent observers, which is the standard basis for "how many countries" questions. Nothing about the L list is disputed — there are no partially recognised states or dependent territories starting with L that would push the number higher, which makes it one of the tidier letters to answer.
The complete list at a glance
- Laos — Southeast Asia, capital Vientiane, roughly 7.6 million people
- Latvia — Northern Europe (Baltic), capital Riga, roughly 1.9 million
- Lebanon — Western Asia (Levant), capital Beirut, roughly 5.5 million
- Lesotho — Southern Africa, capital Maseru, roughly 2.3 million
- Liberia — West Africa, capital Monrovia, roughly 5.4 million
- Libya — North Africa, capital Tripoli, roughly 7 million
- Liechtenstein — Central Europe, capital Vaduz, roughly 40,000
- Lithuania — Northern Europe (Baltic), capital Vilnius, roughly 2.8 million
- Luxembourg — Western Europe, capital Luxembourg City, roughly 660,000
Population figures are rounded approximations; national statistics agencies and UN estimates differ slightly and are revised regularly.
Europe's four L countries
Latvia and Lithuania are two of the three Baltic states, sitting between the Baltic Sea and the Russian and Belarusian frontiers. Both were absorbed into the Soviet Union in 1940 and both restored their independence around 1990–91; both joined the European Union and NATO in 2004. Latvia is the flatter and more forested of the pair, with Riga — the largest city in the Baltics — commanding the mouth of the Daugava River. Lithuania is the most populous of the three Baltic states and the only one with a historic imperial past of its own: the medieval Grand Duchy of Lithuania, later joined with Poland, was for a time the largest state in Europe.
Luxembourg is a Grand Duchy — the world's only remaining one — wedged between Belgium, France and Germany. It is small in area and population but disproportionately important: a founding member of what became the European Union, host to several EU institutions including the Court of Justice, and consistently among the world's highest-ranked countries by GDP per capita, largely on the strength of banking and investment funds.
Liechtenstein is the smallest of the four, a principality of roughly 160 square kilometres in the Alps between Switzerland and Austria. Its most quoted geographical distinction is that it is one of only two doubly landlocked countries on Earth — meaning every one of its neighbours is itself landlocked, so you must cross at least two borders to reach an ocean. The other is Uzbekistan.
Africa's three L countries
Libya is by far the largest country on this list, at roughly 1.76 million square kilometres — the fourth-largest in Africa. More than nine-tenths of it is Sahara Desert, and the population is heavily concentrated in a narrow coastal strip along the Mediterranean, where Tripoli and Benghazi sit. The interior contains some of the hottest and driest inhabited places on the continent, along with the vast fossil-water aquifers that supply the Great Man-Made River project.
Liberia occupies a stretch of the West African coast and has an unusual origin: it was settled from 1822 onward by freed African-Americans and declared independence in 1847, making it Africa's oldest modern republic. Its capital, Monrovia, is named after US President James Monroe, and along with Ethiopia it is usually counted as one of the two African states that avoided sustained European colonial rule. Geographically it is hot, wet and heavily forested, holding a significant share of the remaining Upper Guinean rainforest.
Lesotho is the most geographically remarkable country on this list. It is one of only three countries in the world entirely surrounded by a single other country — enclaved within South Africa, alongside San Marino and Vatican City inside Italy. It is also the only country whose entire territory lies above roughly 1,400 metres in elevation, giving it the highest low point of any nation and the nickname "the Kingdom in the Sky." That altitude means snow in winter, and it makes Lesotho a water exporter: the Lesotho Highlands Water Project channels mountain runoff to South Africa's industrial heartland around Johannesburg.
Asia's two L countries
Laos is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. The Mekong River forms much of its western border and functions as its central artery, with the capital Vientiane sitting directly on its bank. The country is mountainous and thinly populated, with the Annamite Range along the Vietnamese border and the Bolaven Plateau in the south.
Lebanon sits on the eastern Mediterranean coast in the Levant, squeezed between Israel and Syria. Its defining feature is topographic: two parallel mountain ranges, Mount Lebanon and the Anti-Lebanon, running the length of the country with the fertile Bekaa Valley between them. The name itself is thought to derive from a Semitic root meaning "white," a reference to the snow that caps those ranges. The cedar of Lebanon, which appears at the centre of the national flag, has been a symbol of the region since antiquity.
Superlatives among the L countries
- Largest by area: Libya, roughly 1.76 million km²
- Smallest by area: Liechtenstein, roughly 160 km²
- Most populous: Laos and Libya, both in the region of 7 million
- Least populous: Liechtenstein, around 40,000
- Landlocked: Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg — four of the nine
- Highest average elevation: Lesotho, entirely above roughly 1,400 m
The landlocked share is striking. Globally only about a quarter of countries have no sea coast, but among the L countries it is very nearly half — and that group includes both a doubly landlocked state (Liechtenstein) and a fully enclaved one (Lesotho), two of the rarest categories in political geography.
How L compares with other letters of the alphabet
Nine puts L in the middle of the pack. For context, here is roughly how the alphabet distributes across country names in English:
- S is the runaway leader with more than two dozen countries, from Saint Kitts and Nevis to Switzerland — helped enormously by the "Saint" island states of the Caribbean.
- B, C, G and M are the other heavyweights, each comfortably into double figures. M alone covers Madagascar through Myanmar.
- A has around a dozen, though it front-loads some of the world's largest and most populous states.
- Q has exactly one: Qatar.
- W and X have none at all — no sovereign state's common English name begins with either letter.
One important caveat: these counts are language-dependent. They reflect the conventional English names of countries. Germany begins with D in German (Deutschland), Japan with N in Japanese (Nihon), and Greece with E in Greek (Ellada) — so an alphabetical breakdown of the world's countries looks completely different depending on which language you ask the question in. Even in English, the choice between short-form and official names shifts things: "Laos" is short for the Lao People's Democratic Republic.
Frequently asked questions
How many countries start with L?
Nine: Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania and Luxembourg.
Which L country is the smallest?
Liechtenstein, at roughly 160 square kilometres and about 40,000 people — smaller than many single cities, and one of Europe's microstates.
Which L countries are landlocked?
Four of the nine: Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg. Lesotho is additionally an enclave, entirely surrounded by South Africa, and Liechtenstein is doubly landlocked.
Are there any territories starting with L that are not countries?
Yes — but none are sovereign states, so they do not affect the count. They are dependencies or constituent parts of other countries rather than independent nations.
Which L country is the oldest republic in Africa?
Liberia, which declared independence in 1847 after being settled by freed African-Americans from 1822 onward.