Portugal to Vietnam: the shortest border chain

You can get from Portugal to Vietnam crossing only land borders — the shortest chain passes through 6 countries.

Fewest countries

1. StartPortugal
2. 1Spain
3. 2France
4. 3Germany
5. 4Poland
6. 5Russia
7. 6China
8. FinishVietnam

Shortest route by distance

Measured between country centers, the shortest chain covers about 12,249 km — and it takes a different path:

1. StartPortugal
2. 1Spain
3. 2France
4. 3Switzerland
5. 4Austria
6. 5Slovenia
7. 6Croatia
8. 7Serbia
9. 8Bulgaria
10. 9Türkiye
11. 10Iran
12. 11Pakistan
13. 12India
14. 13Myanmar
15. 14Laos
16. FinishVietnam

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.