From Great St Bernard Pass in Italy to the North Coast 500 in Scotland, there’s nothing like hitting the road for an epic ride.
But have you ever wondered how many roads there are on the entire planet?
At least 13 million miles (21 million kilometers) of roads cover the world, from major highways to country lanes.
To help visualize how much ground these roads cover, Adam Symington of PythonMaps created an amazing map for Visual Capitalist, showing the world’s roads, by continent.
Surprisingly, the map reveals that more than 14 percent of the roads are in the US, while 1.24 percent are in Great Britain.
To help visualize how much land roads cover, Adam Symington of PythonMaps created an amazing map for Visual Capitalist, showing the world’s roads, by continent.
To create the map, Mr. Symington used the Global Road Inventory Project, which includes data from governments, research institutes, NGOs and crowdsourced initiatives.
| Range | Country | % of the world’s roads |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | US | 14.34% |
| 2 | Porcelain | 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% |
| 10 | France | 2.42% |
To create the map, Mr. Symington used the Global Road Inventory Project, which includes data from governments, research institutes, NGOs and crowdsourced initiatives.
The roads were placed into one of four categories and color-coded accordingly.
Major roads (multi-lane roads) are white on the map, while secondary roads (paved and high-traffic roads) are yellow.
Meanwhile, tertiary roads (paved or unpaved residential roads) and local roads are marked in 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 worldwide, 1.86 million miles (3 million kilometers) are in the US.
This is almost twice that of China (one million miles/1.7 million kilometers) and three times that of India (600,000 miles/one million kilometers), the two most populous countries in the 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 of the countries have even smaller networks, with Norfolk Island being the smallest in the data set at 10 km. [6 miles]’, added Visual Capitalist.
Breaking down highway networks by type, China was found to top the list of major highways, followed by the US and Mexico.
In Africa and Australia, vast expanses have no color at all thanks to large areas without roads, such as deserts.
“Something similar happens in Europe, where the old divisions of the Cold War are shown in white, yellow and red,” added Visual Capitalist. “France, Germany, Italy and the UK shine brightly in a mix of white and yellow, while the former Eastern Bloc countries simmer red.”
However, when breaking down highway networks by type, China was found to top the list of major highways, 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, primary and secondary roads.
Mexico, on the other hand, is predominantly red, since most of its roads are tertiary or local roads.
“Something similar happens in Europe, where the old divisions of the Cold War are shown in white, yellow and red,” added Visual Capitalist.
“France, Germany, Italy and the UK shine brightly in a mix of white and yellow, while the former Eastern Bloc countries are tinged more red.”
In Africa and Australia, vast expanses have no color at all thanks to large areas without roads, such as deserts.
READ MORE: The REAL map of the London Underground! Incredible geographically accurate graph showing true location of stops, so YOURS is where you thought it was?
With only seconds between each stop, it’s hard to imagine that London Tube stations can sometimes be miles apart.
But Transport for London (TfL) has revealed a geographically accurate map of the tube 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, typically taking over 70 minutes to reach from the city’s busy Waterloo Station.
Although TfL’s 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 schematic of its geography.
Transport for London (TfL) has revealed a geographically accurate map of the tube, with striking distance between many iconic platforms.
I’m Gurjinder Singh, born and brought up in Punjab – the land of five rivers! Presently a resident of Franklin Park, New Jersey – United States. I am a Gold Medalist Photographer, a Bachelor of Arts in Computing and Informatics and I’m also holding Bachelors’s Degree in Computer Application which further adds to my professional skills. I am associated with Elite News as an Editor, since 2019. My responsibilities include managing content areas like planning, coordinating, reviewing, editing content, suggesting stories and generating headline ideas in alignment with targeted audience’s preferences. Please contact me for feedback/suggestions or further assistance. I’m available at: [email protected]