What's missing? The countries with no airports, railways, trees and World Heritage Sites

Some countries are spoiled when it comes to attractions and infrastructure. 

The US has 13,513 airports, surely more than is strictly necessary. Greedy Italy can boast 53 World Heritage Sites, enough to keep even the most workaholic travel writer busy. Sweden has a staggering 267,570 islands, too many to visit in a lifetime.

But what of the nations without? 

No airports

Just five countries, all in Europe, don't have an airport. Why? Because they are all very small and/or very mountainous. 

1. Andorra

2. Liechtenstein

3. Monaco 

4. San Marino

5. Vatican City

No railways

Surely every country has trains. Even the Vatican has a 1.27km railway. Not so. Iceland is among the most surprising on this list, but it has plans to introduce one, called the "Lava Express", with construction to start in 2020. Oman and Qatar have big plans for rail networks too. Some countries, like Libya and Malta, once had railways, but not any more. 

1. Andorra

2. Bhutan

3. Cyprus

4. Timor-Leste

5. Guinea-Bissau

6. Iceland

7. Kuwait

8. Libya 

9. Macau

10. Malta

11. Marshall Islands

12. Mauritius

13. Micronesia

14. Niger

15. Oman

16. Papua New Guinea

17. Qatar

18. Rwanda

19. San Marino

20. Solomon Islands

21. Somalia

22. Suriname

23. Tonga

24. Trinidad and Tobago

25. Tuvalu

26. Vanuatu

27. Yemen

No booze

The sale of booze is banned in a handful of Muslim-majority countries. Others, such as Maldives, Pakistan, and UAE, restrict its sale. 

1. Afghanistan

2. Brunei

3. Kuwait

4. Libya

5. Mauritania

6. Saudi Arabia

7. Somalia

8. Sudan

9. Yemen

No World Heritage Sites

There are an incredible 1,073 World Heritage Sites, but some nations still have none. 

1. Bhutan

2. Guinea-Bissau

3. Guyana

4. Liberia

5. Sierra Leone

6. Somalia

7. South Sudan

No mountains

The highest country on Earth? That's Bhutan, where the average altitude is a lofty 3,280 metres. It's paradise for hikers. Not so the following countries, the 15 lowest on Earth. 

1. Maldives - 2m

2. Qatar - 28m

3. Netherlands - 30m

4. The Gambia - 34m

5. Denmark - 34m

6. Estonia - 61m

7. Senegal - 69m

8. Guinea-Bissau - 70m

9. Trinidad and Tobago - 83m

10. Bangladesh - 85m

11. Latvia - 87m

12. Cyprus - 91m

13. Kuwait - 108m

14. Cuba - 108m

15. Uruguay - 109m

No beaches

Canada has the most coast of all - a staggering 202,080 kilometres, according to the CIA World Factbook - though the chilly waters mean it's far from ideal for beachgoers. A far better bet would be Indonesia, with its 54,716km of seaside. That's a lot more than the following landlocked countries. 

1. Afghanistan

2. Andorra

3. Armenia

4. Austria

5. Azerbaijan

6. Belarus

7. Bhutan

8. Bolivia

9. Botswana

10. Burkina Faso

11. Burundi

12. Central African Republic

13. Chad

14. Czech Republic

15. Ethiopia

16. Hungary

17. Kazakhstan

18. Kosovo

19. Kyrgyzstan

20. Laos

21. Lesotho

22. Liechtenstein

23. Luxembourg

24. Macedonia

25. Malawi

26. Mali

27. Moldova

28. Mongolia

29. Nepal

30. Niger

31. Paraguay

32. Rwanda

33. San Marino

34. Serbia

35. Slovakia

36. South Sudan

37. Swaziland

38. Switzerland

39. Tajikistan

40. Turkmenistan

41. Uganda

42. Uzbekistan

43. Vatican City

44. Zambia

45. Zimbabwe

No borders

China's military spending was $215.7bn in 2016. Given that it shares a border with more territories than any other country, perhaps that should not come as a surprise. The most populous nation on the planet has 16 unique land neighbours, with 22,147km of land borders (also a record).They are: Afghanistan (76km), Bhutan (470km), Hong Kong (30km), India (3 borders totalling 3,380km), Kazakhstan (1,533km), North Korea (1,416km), Kyrgyzstan (858km), Laos (423km), Macau (0.34km), Mongolia (4,677km), Myanmar (2,185km), Nepal (1,236km), Pakistan (523km), Russia (2 borders totalling 3,645km), Tajikistan (414km) and Vietnam (1,281km). That's a lot of armed guards and passport control stations. The following have no land borders to speak of. 

1. Australia

2. New Zealand

3. Cuba

4. Iceland

5. Madagascar

6. Japan

7. Malta

8. Jamaica

9. Barbados

10. Bahamas

11. Seychelles

12. Saint Kitts and Nevis

13. Saint Lucia

14. Fiji

15. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

16. Antigua and Barbuda

17. Trinidad and Tobago

18. Maldives

19. Samoa

20. Tonga

21. Taiwan

22. Tuvalu

23. Cape Verde

24. Marshall Islands

25. Nauru

26. Kiribati

27. Vanuatu

28. Comoros

29. Grenada

30. Palau

31. Mauritius

32. Solomon Islands

33. Federated States of Micronesia

34. São Tomé and Príncipe

35. Dominica

36. Philippines

37. Bahrain

38. Singapore

No trees

Which countries boast the most trees? The map below shows the world according to percentage of forest area, as recorded by World Bank Open Data. Suriname tops the pile with 95 per cent coverage. But the following four nations have zero, zip, nada. 

1. San Marino

2. Qatar

3. Greenland

4. Oman

No protected areas

According to data compiled by the World Bank, 14.8 per cent of the world’s land is currently protected; that’s an improvement on 1990 when that figure was just 8.2 per cent. Despite being one of the most dangerous and politically volatile countries on the planet, it is Venezuela that leads the way when it comes to conservation, having designated 53.9 per cent of its territory as protected. Four countries have none.

1. Macao

2. Nauru

3. Sao Tome and Principe

4. San Marino

No army

Peaceful places, one and all.

1. Andorra

2. Costa Rica

3. Dominica

4. Grenada

5. Kiribati

6. Liechtenstein

7. Marshall Islands

8. Micronesia

9. Palau

10. Nauru

11. Saint Lucia

12. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

13. Samoa

14. Solomon Islands

15. Tuvalu

16. Vatican City

No rivers

Don't pack your canoe. 

1. Bahrain

2. Kiribati

3. Maldives

4. Marshall Islands

5. Monaco 

6. Nauru

7. Saudi Arabia

8. Tonga 

9. Tuvalu

No Olympic medals

There's 73 countries in all. Way too many to list here. So check out the map below. 

No rural life

The map below shows the world according to urban population as a percentage of total population. Those countries or territories in dark blue have the most urbanised populations, those in lighter colours the least. More than half of the world's population (53.5 per cent) now lives in urban areas, up from 49 per cent in 2005 and 43 per cent in 1990. And there are seven places where 100 per cent of the population lives in urban areas, as defined by national statistical offices. 

1. Hong Kong

2. Singapore

3. Bermuda

4. Macao

5. Cayman Islands

6. Sint Maarten

7. Monaco