Canada to Argentina: the shortest border chain

You can get from Canada to Argentina crossing only land borders — the shortest chain passes through 9 countries.

Fewest countries

1. StartCanada
2. 1United States
3. 2Mexico
4. 3Guatemala
5. 4Honduras
6. 5Nicaragua
7. 6Costa Rica
8. 7Panama
9. 8Colombia
10. 9Brazil
11. FinishArgentina

Shortest route by distance

Measured between country centers, the shortest chain covers about 12,899 km — and it takes a different path:

1. StartCanada
2. 1United States
3. 2Mexico
4. 3Guatemala
5. 4Honduras
6. 5Nicaragua
7. 6Costa Rica
8. 7Panama
9. 8Colombia
10. 9Peru
11. 10Chile
12. FinishArgentina

The rules behind the route

These routes come from Bordlr's border graph: strict land borders plus three permanent fixed crossings (Øresund Bridge, King Fahd Causeway, Johor–Singapore Causeway). Ferry routes don’t count. Distances are great-circle measurements between country centers, so they rank routes fairly without pretending to be driving distances.