From the Great St Bernard Pass in Italy to the North Coast 500 in Scotland, there’s nothing like hitting the road for an epic road trip.
But have you ever wondered how many roads there are on our entire planet?
At least 13 million miles (21 million kilometers) of roads cover the globe, ranging from major highways to rural roads.
To help visualize just how much land these roads cover, Adam Symington of PythonMaps created an amazing map for visual capitalistshowing the roads of the world, by continent.
Surprisingly, the map reveals that over 14% of the roads are in the United States, while 1.24% are in Britain.
To help visualize how much overland roads are covered, Adam Symington of PythonMaps has created an amazing map for Visual Capitalist, showing the world’s roads, by continent
To create the map, Symington used the Global Roads Inventory Project, which includes data from governments, research institutes, NGOs and crowdsourcing initiatives.
| Rank | Country | % of the world’s roads |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | WE | 14.34% |
| 2 | China | 7.92% |
| 3 | India | 4.87% |
| 4 | Mexico | 3.43% |
| 5 | Argentina | 3.25% |
| 6 | Brazil | 3.15% |
| 7 | Russia | 2.88% |
| 8 | Australia | 2.87% |
| 9 | Germany | 2.61% |
| ten | France | 2.42% |
To create the map, Symington used the Global Roads Inventory Project, which includes data from governments, research institutes, NGOs and crowdsourcing initiatives.
Roads have been categorized into one of four categories and color coded accordingly.
Major roads (multi-lane highways) are white on the map, while minor roads (paved roads with heavy traffic) are yellow.
Meanwhile, tertiary roads (paved or unpaved residential roads) and local roads are marked red on the map.
“This classification made it possible to examine the relationships between road infrastructure, development, wealth and population distribution,” explained Visual Capitalist.
The data reveals that, of the 13 million miles (21 million kilometers) of roads in the world, 1.86 million miles (3 million kilometers) are in the United States.
That’s almost double that of China (one million miles/1.7 million kilometres) and three times that of India (600,000 miles/one million kilometres) – the two most populous countries in the world. world.
At the other end of the scale, the small Pacific island country of Palau has the smallest road network, measuring just 11 miles (18 kilometers) long.
“However, many countries have even smaller networks, with Norfolk Island being the smallest in the data set at 10km. [6 miles]’, added Visual Capitalist.
When breaking down road networks by type, China topped the list for major roads, followed by the United States and Mexico.
In Africa and Australia, large areas have no color thanks to large areas without roads, such as deserts
“Something similar is happening in Europe, where old Cold War divisions are played out in white, yellow and red,” Visual Capitalist added. “France, Germany, Italy and the UK shine in a mix of white and yellow, while the former Eastern bloc countries simmer more in red”
However, when breaking down road networks by type, China topped the list for major roads, followed by the United States and Mexico.
These differences are reflected on the map, with North America having a white-yellow hue thanks to its large number of highways, major and minor roads.
Mexico, on the other hand, is predominantly red, as most of its roads are tertiary or local roads.
“Something similar is happening in Europe, where old Cold War divisions are played out in white, yellow and red,” Visual Capitalist added.
“France, Germany, Italy and the UK shine in a mix of white and yellow, while the former Eastern Bloc countries simmer more in red.”
In Africa and Australia, large areas have no color thanks to vast areas without roads, such as deserts.
READ MORE: The REAL London Underground Map! An incredible geographically accurate map shows the true location of stops – is YOURS where you thought it was?
With just a few seconds between each stop, it’s hard to imagine that London Underground stations can sometimes be miles apart.
But Transport for London (TfL) has revealed a geographically accurate map of the underground network with a surprising distance between many iconic platforms.
The historic Metropolitan line is home to the furthest stations of all, with a stretch of almost four miles between Chesham and Chalfront and Latimer.
Chesham is also the furthest stop from central London, often taking over 70 minutes to get there from bustling Waterloo station.
Although TfL 2014 the map does not show the most recent changes, including the Elizabeth Line, Battersea Power Station and Nine Elms, it is the most up-to-date outline of its geography.
Transport for London (TfL) has revealed a geographically accurate map of the Underground, with a surprising distance between many iconic platforms
