From Newsgroup: rec.games.trivia

What countries have 3 or more sea coasts?

The coasts all have to be on a single contiguous territory of that
country. Exclaves and islands do not add to the total, but rather each
has their own coast count. Any continuous coastline, uninterrupted by territory of another country, counts as one, even if the name of the
body of water changes from one part to another. Coastlines on lakes and
rivers do not count. (For the purposes of this question, the Caspian
Sea, Dead Sea, Sea of Galilee and any other inland body of water, even
if they have the word "Sea" in their name, are considered lakes.)

Example: the USA has only two coasts: East Coast and West Coast. The
South Coast is continuous with the East Coast, so it doesn't add to the
total, even though one is on the Atlantic Ocean and the other is on the
Gulf of Mexico. Alaska has its own count (1) and each of the Hawaiian
Islands have their own count (also 1).

Lots of countries have 2 coasts, but I can only find a handful that have
3. How many can you find?
--
Dan Tilque
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From Newsgroup: rec.games.trivia

On 9/17/2025 2:20 AM, Dan Tilque wrote:

What countries have 3 or more sea coasts?

The coasts all have to be on a single contiguous territory of that
country. Exclaves and islands do not add to the total, but rather each
has their own coast count. Any continuous coastline, uninterrupted by territory of another country, counts as one, even if the name of the
body of water changes from one part to another. Coastlines on lakes and rivers do not count. (For the purposes of this question, the Caspian
Sea, Dead Sea, Sea of Galilee and any other inland body of water, even
if they have the word "Sea" in their name, are considered lakes.)

Example: the USA has only two coasts: East Coast and West Coast. The
South Coast is continuous with the East Coast, so it doesn't add to the total, even though one is on the Atlantic Ocean and the other is on the
Gulf of Mexico. Alaska has its own count (1) and each of the Hawaiian Islands have their own count (also 1).

Lots of countries have 2 coasts, but I can only find a handful that have
3. How many can you find?

So far I've found two:

Morocco: The Atlantic-Mediterranean coast is interrupted by two Spanish exclaves on the Mediterranean side, Ceuta and Melilla, which would give Morocco three sea coasts by the above criteria.

Saudi Arabia: The Red Sea coast is uninterrupted, but the Persian Gulf
coast is interrupted by Qatar, making two coasts on the Persian Gulf for
a total of three.

--
Joshua Kreitzer
gromit82@hotmail.com
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From Newsgroup: rec.games.trivia

Dan Tilque (dtilque@frontier.com) writes:

Lots of countries have 2 coasts, but I can only find a handful that have
3. How many can you find?

Russia, Spain, France, Morrocco and possibly also Saudi-Arabia are the ones
I can think of.

Of these, Russia is the one to only one to really have three coasts: Artic/Pacific Ocean, Black Sea, Gulf of Finland.

Spain, France and Morrocco all have three pieces of coast lines
thanks the small interruptions of Gilbraltar (Spain), Monaco (France)
and Ceuta and Melilla (Morrocco).

When it comes to Saudi-Arabia, I don't recall the exact circumstances
of the border of Qatar. What I do recall that this was up for
discussion when Mark Brader posted his first Rare Entries Quiz many
years ago. I seem to recall we found maps that showed Qatar having a
border with only Saudi Arabia (which gives them three pieces of coast
lines), only with USA and having a border with both.

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From Newsgroup: rec.games.trivia

Erland Sommarskog (esquel@sommarskog.se) writes:

Dan Tilque (dtilque@frontier.com) writes:

Lots of countries have 2 coasts, but I can only find a handful that have
3. How many can you find?

Russia, Spain, France, Morrocco and possibly also Saudi-Arabia are the
ones I can think of.

After checking the map, I believe that I found one more. Remains to
see if Dan as spotted it. And is prepared to accept it. This is a
greyish area.
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From Newsgroup: rec.games.trivia

On 9/19/25 06:31, Erland Sommarskog wrote:

Erland Sommarskog (esquel@sommarskog.se) writes:

Dan Tilque (dtilque@frontier.com) writes:

Lots of countries have 2 coasts, but I can only find a handful that have >>> 3. How many can you find?

Russia, Spain, France, Morrocco and possibly also Saudi-Arabia are the
ones I can think of.

After checking the map, I believe that I found one more. Remains to
see if Dan as spotted it. And is prepared to accept it. This is a
greyish area.

Well, what is it?

The list you first gave was all good, although not complete. None of the
ones I know of are a greyish area, so it may be one I don't know of.
--
Dan Tilque
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From Newsgroup: rec.games.trivia

On 9/19/2025 11:00 AM, Dan Tilque wrote:

On 9/19/25 06:31, Erland Sommarskog wrote:

Erland Sommarskog (esquel@sommarskog.se) writes:

Dan Tilque (dtilque@frontier.com) writes:

Lots of countries have 2 coasts, but I can only find a handful that
have
3. How many can you find?

Russia, Spain, France, Morrocco and possibly also Saudi-Arabia are the
ones I can think of.

After checking the map, I believe that I found one more. Remains to
see if Dan as spotted it. And is prepared to accept it. This is a
greyish area.

Well, what is it?

The list you first gave was all good, although not complete. None of the ones I know of are a greyish area, so it may be one I don't know of.

Malaysia also has three coasts, on the island of Borneo where its South
China Sea coastline is interrupted by the two parts of Brunei.

--
Joshua Kreitzer
gromit82@hotmail.com

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From Newsgroup: rec.games.trivia

Dan Tilque (dtilque@frontier.com) writes:

The list you first gave was all good, although not complete. None of the ones I know of are a greyish area, so it may be one I don't know of.

I felt stupid last night. When you said that the US did not qualify,
I though "but what about Point Roberts", but then I realised that it
not qualify. What I failed to do was to take the hint. Of course, Canada qualifies.

The country I have in mind is Poland. The borders against Germany and
Russia both runs through lagoons, and Poland has territory on both
sides on the lagoons. The western lagoon forms the estuary of the Oder
river, which could disqualify Poland. But according to Wikipedia, the
water is brackish.

I should add that I made my original entry from memory only without
checking any sources.

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From Newsgroup: rec.games.trivia

On 9/20/25 12:01, Erland Sommarskog wrote:

The country I have in mind is Poland. The borders against Germany and
Russia both runs through lagoons, and Poland has territory on both
sides on the lagoons. The western lagoon forms the estuary of the Oder
river, which could disqualify Poland. But according to Wikipedia, the
water is brackish.

I looked at those borders using GoogleMaps, and can't see how they would
add even one coast to Poland. Perhaps I'm missing something.

As far as greyish areas, I've since discovered one. It depends on whose
claim to a significant amount of the land of a certain country you
accept. Going by international recognition, there's only two. But going
by de facto situation on the ground, there's three.
--
Dan Tilque
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From Newsgroup: rec.games.trivia

On 9/20/2025 4:37 PM, Dan Tilque wrote:

On 9/20/25 12:01, Erland Sommarskog wrote:

The country I have in mind is Poland. The borders against Germany and
Russia both runs through lagoons, and Poland has territory on both
sides on the lagoons. The western lagoon forms the estuary of the Oder
river, which could disqualify Poland. But according to Wikipedia, the
water is brackish.

I looked at those borders using GoogleMaps, and can't see how they would
add even one coast to Poland. Perhaps I'm missing something.

The question is whether the coast of the Szczecin Lagoon counts as a
seacoast (see around 53.756722 N, 14.558637 E), and whether the coast of
the Vistula Lagoon counts (see around 54.377553 N, 19.447694 E). They
are both definitely separate from Poland's Baltic Sea coast within the
meaning of this puzzle, but the question is whether they count as
seacoasts. --
Joshua Kreitzer
gromit82@hotmail.com
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From Newsgroup: rec.games.trivia

Dan Tilque (dtilque@frontier.com) writes:

As far as greyish areas, I've since discovered one. It depends on whose claim to a significant amount of the land of a certain country you
accept. Going by international recognition, there's only two. But going
by de facto situation on the ground, there's three.

The only situation I can think of here is Russia-Ukraine, but by
international recognition, Ukraine only has one coast. It falls into
two, if you accept Crimea as Russian, but not the occupation along the
Sea of Azov.

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From Newsgroup: rec.games.trivia

Dan Tilque:

Lots of countries have 2 coasts, but I can only find a handful that have
3. How many can you find?

Morocco, Spain, France, USA. I do not say that there aren't more.
--
Mark Brader | "And I won't like [this usage] any better if you
Toronto | produce examples from Shakespeare, Milton, Johnson ... msb@vex.net | Or, indeed, myself." --Mike Lyle

My text in this article is in the public domain.
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From Newsgroup: rec.games.trivia

On 9/17/25 00:20, Dan Tilque wrote:

What countries have 3 or more sea coasts?

The coasts all have to be on a single contiguous territory of that
country. Exclaves and islands do not add to the total, but rather each
has their own coast count. Any continuous coastline, uninterrupted by territory of another country, counts as one, even if the name of the
body of water changes from one part to another. Coastlines on lakes and rivers do not count. (For the purposes of this question, the Caspian
Sea, Dead Sea, Sea of Galilee and any other inland body of water, even
if they have the word "Sea" in their name, are considered lakes.)

Example: the USA has only two coasts: East Coast and West Coast. The
South Coast is continuous with the East Coast, so it doesn't add to the total, even though one is on the Atlantic Ocean and the other is on the
Gulf of Mexico. Alaska has its own count (1) and each of the Hawaiian Islands have their own count (also 1).

Lots of countries have 2 coasts, but I can only find a handful that have
3. How many can you find?

Answers:

Canada (Atlantic/Arctic, Pacific, Boundary Bay)
France (Atlantic/Channel, Med E of Monaco, Med W of Monaco)
Malaysia (Sarawak, interrupted by the two parts of Brunei)
Morocco (E of Melilla, Melilla to Ceuta, W of Ceuta)
Russia (Pacific/Arctic, Black Sea, Gulf of Finland)
Saudi Arabia (Red Sea, Persian Gulf N of Qatar, Persian Gulf S of Qatar)
Spain (Atlantic, Med, between Gibraltar and Portugal)

The grey area one is Cyprus. The entire island except for two British
bases is claimed by, and internationally recognized to belong to,
Cyprus. That makes for a two island clountry. But Turkey is occupying a
good part of the island, including an enclave on the northwest coast of
the island. The combination of that enclave plus one of the British
bases makes Cyprus a de facto three coast country.

As far as Poland, I inderstand about those coastal lagoons, but to me
they just don't look like part of the sea coast.

Scoring:

Erland 5 plus 1 later
Mark 3 (although he should lose a point for giving USA as an answer
when I gave that as an example of a two-coast country.)
Joshua 2 plus 1 later


BTW, I also compiled a list of the two-coast countries using the same criteria:

Colombia
Costa Rica
Cyprus
Egypt
Germany
Guatemala
Honduras
Indonesia (Timor)
Israel
Mexico
Nicaragua
North Korea
Panama
Senegal
Thailand
UAE
USA
--
Dan Tilque
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From Newsgroup: rec.games.trivia

Dan Tilque:

Canada (Atlantic/Arctic, Pacific, Boundary Bay)

Arrgh. I forgot Boundary Bay.

Mark 3 (although he should lose a point for giving USA as an answer
when I gave that as an example of a two-coast country.)

Dan, you forgot Boundary Bay. So East, West, Point Roberts.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | "Death has a tendency to encourage
msb@vex.net | a depressing view of war." --Donald Rumsfeld

My text in this article is in the public domain.
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From Newsgroup: rec.games.trivia

On 9/22/25 08:43, Mark Brader wrote:

Dan Tilque:

Canada (Atlantic/Arctic, Pacific, Boundary Bay)

Arrgh. I forgot Boundary Bay.

Mark 3 (although he should lose a point for giving USA as an answer
when I gave that as an example of a two-coast country.)

Dan, you forgot Boundary Bay. So East, West, Point Roberts.

Nope. Point Roberts is not connected to the rest of the US. That makes
it an exclave, so it has its own coast count (1).
--
Dan Tilque
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From Newsgroup: rec.games.trivia

Dan Tilque (dtilque@frontier.com) writes:

As far as Poland, I inderstand about those coastal lagoons, but to me
they just don't look like part of the sea coast.

I think I first discarded Poland, because the one in the west does
not like like a sea. I have passed over the Swino strait going to
and through the ferry in Swinoujscie a few times, and I don't have
recollection of the passage being wider than your typical river.
But, Wikipedia says the water is brackish.

When it comes to the Vistual lagoon is more clear-cut. I have not
been in that area, but I have been to Klaipedia in Lithunia and
travelled across the water to the Courunian spit. And that lagoon
is definitely the sea. The ferry is about 1 km across.

BTW, I also compiled a list of the two-coast countries using the same criteria:

There are probably more that can be added to that list, but it follows
from the discussion above that Lithuania and Kaliningrad are two-coast countries.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.games.trivia

Erland Sommarskog (esquel@sommarskog.se) writes:

There are probably more that can be added to that list, but it follows
from the discussion above that Lithuania and Kaliningrad are two-coast countries.

Sorry, brain lapse. Kaliningrad has two coasts with the rules set up,
but not Lithuania, since the Couronian spit goes as an exclave.

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From Newsgroup: rec.games.trivia

Mark Brader:

...Point Roberts.

Dan Tilque:

Nope. Point Roberts is not connected to the rest of the US.
That makes it an exclave...

It's a matter of opinion, I guess.
--
Mark Brader "'A matter of opinion'[?] I have to say you are
Toronto right. There['s] your opinion, which is wrong, msb@vex.net and mine, which is right." -- Gene Ward Smith

My text in this article is in the public domain.
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From Newsgroup: rec.games.trivia

On 9/24/25 21:24, Mark Brader wrote:

Mark Brader:

...Point Roberts.

Dan Tilque:

Nope. Point Roberts is not connected to the rest of the US.
That makes it an exclave...

It's a matter of opinion, I guess.

Technically, it's a pene-exclave, since you can get there from the US
mainland via boat without going through some other country's territorial waters. But for the purposes of this question, it may as well be a true exclave. It's coast is not continous with that of the mainland.
--
Dan Tilque
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From Newsgroup: rec.games.trivia

Dan Tilque (dtilque@frontier.com) writes:

Technically, it's a pene-exclave, since you can get there from the US mainland via boat without going through some other country's territorial waters. But for the purposes of this question, it may as well be a true exclave. It's coast is not continous with that of the mainland.

Yeah, the entire question is up to the rules you set up. Saying that
France has three coasts because of the short interruption of Monaco
is stretching things a bit.

Other definitions could be that the coasts must be on different waters
or in different directions.

Russia will always qualify, but you could also argue that Spain and
Canada do, since Gibraltar and Point Roberts sit on boundaries between
two different bodies of water. And if you remove the disqualification of contiguous borders more countries would qualify, for instance the US.

When it comes to Point Roberts, it was clearly ruled out by the defintion
that Dan set up, since used US as an example with only two coasts. There
is no reason to assume that he would not know about Point Roberts given
where he lives.
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From Newsgroup: rec.games.trivia

Mark Brader:

...Point Roberts.

Dan Tilque:

Nope. Point Roberts is not connected to the rest of the US.
That makes it an exclave...

Mark Brader:

It's a matter of opinion, I guess.

Dan Tilque:

Technically, it's a pene-exclave...

According to whose "techincal" terminology?

But for the purposes of this question, it may as well be a true
exclave. It's coast is not continous with that of the mainland.

Meaning what, compared to the Mediterranean coasts of France,
Spain, and Morocco?
--
Mark Brader | "Weight... wait... what?"
Toronto | "Last night I had a dream that I weighed less
msb@vex.net | than a thousandth of a gram. I was like, 0mg."

My text in this article is in the public domain.
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From Newsgroup: rec.games.trivia

Erland Sommarskog:

When it comes to Point Roberts, it was clearly ruled out by the defintion that Dan set up, since used US as an example with only two coasts.

I say the example was not part of the definition, and could be wrong.
Compare: "A prime number is a natural number with no factors other
than itself and 1, such as 3, 5, 7, and 9."
--
Mark Brader "Truly, you have a dizzying intellect."
Toronto "Wait till I get going!"
msb@vex.net -- "The Princess Bride"

My text in this article is in the public domain.
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From Newsgroup: rec.games.trivia

On 9/25/25 22:44, Mark Brader wrote:

Dan Tilque:

Technically, it's a pene-exclave...

According to whose "techincal" terminology?

That's what Wikipedia calls it. Who am I to argue with the Great Fount
of All Knowledge?

But for the purposes of this question, it may as well be a true
exclave. It's coast is not continous with that of the mainland.

Meaning what, compared to the Mediterranean coasts of France,
Spain, and Morocco?

I'm not sure exactly what you're asking here. Those coasts aren't
continuous either.

It occured to me that I was going for a topological version of a coast.
Well, there's probably no topological treatment of coastlines in the literature, but it's much the way topology treats other things. In this
case, ignore the name of the adjacent body or bodies of water and just consider the coastline itself.
--
Dan Tilque
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From Newsgroup: rec.games.trivia

Mark Brader (msb@vex.net) writes:

When it comes to Point Roberts, it was clearly ruled out by the defintion
that Dan set up, since used US as an example with only two coasts.

I say the example was not part of the definition, and could be wrong. Compare: "A prime number is a natural number with no factors other
than itself and 1, such as 3, 5, 7, and 9."

However, this is not a matter of mathematics, but simply a matter of
"What does Dan have in mind?"
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