Incredible map reveals the roads of the WORLD
From the Great St. Bernard Pass Italy up the north coast of scotland 500, there’s nothing better than hitting Open road for an epic journey.
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 how much land these roads take up, Adam Symington of PythonMaps has created an incredible map for visual capitalistshowing the roads of the world by continent.
Surprisingly, the map shows that over 14 percent of the roads are in the US and 1.24 percent are in the UK.
To help visualize how much land roads are covered, PythonMaps’ Adam Symington created an incredible map for Visual Capitalist showing the roads of the world by continent.
To create the map, Mr. Symington used the Global Roads Inventory Project, which includes data from governments, research institutions, NGOs and crowdsourcing initiatives.
| classify | A country | % of world roads |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | US | 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% |
| 10 | France | 2.42% |
To create the map, Mr. Symington used the Global Roads Inventory Project, which includes data from governments, research institutions, NGOs and crowdsourcing initiatives.
Roads were assigned to one of four categories and colored accordingly.
Main roads (multi-lane highways) are marked in white on the map, and secondary roads (paved roads with heavy traffic) are marked in yellow.
Meanwhile, secondary roads (paved or unpaved residential roads) and local roads are marked in red on the map.
“This classification made it possible to study the relationship between road infrastructure, development, wealth and population distribution,” Visual Capitalist explained.
Data shows that of the 13 million miles (21 million kilometers) of roads worldwide, 1.86 million miles (3 million kilometers) are in the United States.
That’s nearly double that of China (1 million miles/1.7 million kilometers) and three times that of India (600,000 miles/million kilometers), the world’s two most populous countries.
At the other end of the scale is the small Pacific island nation of Palau, which has the smallest road network, at just 11 miles (18 kilometers) long.
However, there are even smaller networks in many countries, with Norfolk Island being the smallest in the data set at 10 km. [6 miles]” added Visual Capitalist.
When broken down by road network type, China ranked first in the list of major roads, followed by the US and Mexico.
In Africa and Australia, vast stripes have no color at all due to large areas without roads, such as deserts.
“Something similar is happening in Europe, where old Cold War divisions are playing out in white, yellow and red,” Visual Capitalist added. “France, Germany, Italy and the UK glow brightly in a mixture of white and yellow, while the countries of the former Eastern Bloc boil more in red”
However, when breaking down road networks by type, China tops the list of major roads, followed by the US and Mexico.
These differences are reflected on the map: North America has a white-yellow hue due to the large number of highways, major and secondary 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 playing out in white, yellow and red,” Visual Capitalist added.
“France, Germany, Italy and the UK glow brightly in a mixture of white and yellow, while the countries of the former Eastern Bloc boil more in red.”
In Africa and Australia, vast stripes have no color at all, thanks to large areas without roads, such as deserts.
READ MORE: THE REAL London Underground Map! Incredibly geographically accurate chart showing the true location of stops – so YOUR where you thought?
There are only a few seconds between each stop, and it’s hard to imagine that LondonMetro stations can sometimes be far apart.
But transport for London (TfL) revealed a geographically accurate map of the underground network with amazing distance between many iconic platforms.
The historic Metropolitan line is home to the furthest individual stations of any, with a nearly four-mile stretch between Chesham, Chalfron and Latimer.
Chesham is also the furthest stop from central London, often taking over 70 minutes to get there from the city’s busy Waterloo station.
Although TfL 2014 the map does not show the most recent changes, including the Elizabeth Line, Battersea Power Station and Nine Elms, this is the most current geography.
Transport for London (TfL) has unveiled a geographically accurate Underground map with surprising distances between many of the iconic platforms.