Globalization

Ranked: The World’s Most and Least Powerful Passports in 2023

Published

4 months ago

February 13, 2023

Avery Koop

most and least powerful passports

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Ranked: The World’s Most and Least Powerful Passports

Depending on your passport, travel can be as simple as just booking flights, finding a hotel, and, then simply going.

But for many across the world, it’s not that easy—a number of passport holders need to obtain a travel/tourist visa prior to arrival. These visas typically require approval from the destination country’s government that can take weeks or months.

Japanese passport holders, for example, are able to visit 193 countries without pre-approval (nearly every country on Earth). Afghans, on the other hand, can only visit 27 countries with the same level of ease.

This ranking uses data from Henley & Partners, which determines the number of countries to which a passport holder has visa-free access.

The World’s Passports

First let’s look at every country’s position in the ranking in the table below:

Rank	Passport	Number of Countries Allowing Visa-Free Access
#1	🇯🇵 Japan	193
#1	🇸🇬 Singapore	193
#3	🇰🇷 South Korea	192
#4	🇩🇪 Germany	191
#4	🇪🇸 Spain	191
#6	🇫🇮 Finland	190
#6	🇮🇹 Italy	190
#6	🇱🇺 Luxembourg	190
#9	🇦🇹 Austria	189
#9	🇩🇰 Denmark	189
#9	🇳🇱 Netherlands	189
#9	🇸🇪 Sweden	189
#13	🇫🇷 France	188
#13	🇮🇪 Ireland	188
#13	🇵🇹 Portugal	188
#13	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	188
#17	🇧🇪 Belgium	187
#17	🇨🇿 Czechia	187
#17	🇳🇿 New Zealand	187
#17	🇳🇴 Norway	187
#17	🇨🇭 Switzerland	187
#17	🇺🇸 United States	187
#23	🇦🇺 Australia	186
#23	🇨🇦 Canada	186
#23	🇬🇷 Greece	186
#23	🇲🇹 Malta	186
#27	🇭🇺 Hungary	185
#27	🇵🇱 Poland	185
#29	🇱🇹 Lithuania	184
#29	🇸🇰 Slovakia	184
#31	🇱🇻 Latvia	183
#31	🇸🇮 Slovenia	183
#33	🇪🇪 Estonia	182
#34	🇮🇸 Iceland	181
#35	🇲🇾 Malaysia	180
#36	🇱🇮 Liechtenstein	179
#37	🇨🇾 Cyprus	178
#37	🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates	178
#39	🇷🇴 Romania	176
#40	🇧🇬 Bulgaria	175
#40	🇨🇱 Chile	175
#40	🇭🇷 Croatia	175
#40	🇲🇨 Monaco	175
#44	🇭🇰 Hong Kong (SAR China)	172
#45	🇦🇷 Argentina	171
#46	🇧🇷 Brazil	170
#46	🇸🇲 San Marino	170
#48	🇦🇩 Andorra	169
#49	🇧🇳 Brunei	167
#50	🇧🇧 Barbados	162
#51	🇮🇱 Israel	160
#51	🇲🇽 Mexico	160
#53	🇰🇳 St. Kitts and Nevis	156
#54	🇧🇸 Bahamas	155
#55	🇻🇦 Vatican City	154
#56	🇸🇨 Seychelles	153
#56	🇺🇾 Uruguay	153
#58	🇻🇨 St. Vincent and the Grenadines	151
#59	🇦🇬 Antigua and Barbuda	150
#59	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	150
#59	🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago	150
#62	🇲🇺 Mauritius	146
#63	🇱🇨 St. Lucia	146
#63	🇹🇼 Taiwan	146
#65	🇬🇩 Grenada	145
#66	🇩🇲 Dominica	144
#66	🇲🇴 Macao (SAR China)	144
#66	🇺🇦 Ukraine	144
#69	🇵🇦 Panama	143
#70	🇵🇾 Paraguay	141
#71	🇷🇸 Serbia	137
#72	🇵🇪 Peru	136
#73	🇨🇴 Colombia	133
#73	🇬🇹 Guatemala	133
#73	🇭🇳 Honduras	133
#76	🇸🇻 El Salvador	132
#77	🇼🇸 Samoa	131
#77	🇸🇧 Solomon Islands	131
#79	🇹🇴 Tonga	129
#80	🇻🇪 Venezuela	128
#81	🇳🇮 Nicaragua	127
#81	🇹🇻 Tuvalu	127
#83	🇲🇰 North Macedonia	125
#84	🇲🇪 Montenegro	124
#85	🇰🇮 Kiribati	123
#86	🇲🇭 Marshall Islands	122
#87	🇲🇩 Moldova	120
#88	🇵🇼 Palau Islands	119
#89	🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina	118
#89	🇫🇲 Micronesia	118
#89	🇷🇺 Russia	118
#92	🇦🇱 Albania	115
#92	🇬🇪 Georgia	115
#94	🇹🇷 Türkiye	111
#95	🇿🇦 South Africa	106
#96	🇧🇿 Belize	102
#97	🇶🇦 Qatar	100
#98	🇰🇼 Kuwait	97
#98	🇻🇺 Vanuatu	97
#100	🇹🇱 Timor-Leste	94
#101	🇪🇨 Ecuador	92
#102	🇲🇻 Maldives	89
#102	🇳🇷 Nauru	89
#104	🇧🇭 Bahrain	87
#104	🇫🇯 Fiji	87
#104	🇬🇾 Guyana	87
#107	🇧🇼 Botswana	86
#107	🇯🇲 Jamaica	86
#109	🇴🇲 Oman	82
#109	🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea	82
#109	🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia	82
#112	🇨🇳 China	81
#113	🇧🇾 Belarus	79
#113	🇧🇴 Bolivia	79
#113	🇹🇭 Thailand	79
#116	🇳🇦 Namibia	78
#117	🇱🇸 Lesotho	77
#117	🇸🇷 Suriname	77
#119	🇰🇿 Kazakhstan	75
#120	🇸🇿 Eswatini	74
#121	🇲🇼 Malawi	73
#122	🇮🇩 Indonesia	72
#122	🇰🇪 Kenya	72
#124	🇹🇿 Tanzania	71
#124	🇹🇳 Tunisia	71
#126	🇩🇴 Dominican Republic	70
#126	🇿🇲 Zambia	70
#128	🇦🇿 Azerbaijan	69
#129	🇬🇲 The Gambia	68
#130	🇵🇭 Philippines	67
#131	🇺🇬 Uganda	66
#132	🇦🇲 Armenia	65
#132	🇨🇻 Cape Verde Islands	65
#132	🇲🇦 Morocco	65
#132	🇿🇼 Zimbabwe	65
#136	🇨🇺 Cuba	64
#136	🇬🇭 Ghana	64
#136	🇸🇱 Sierra Leone	64
#139	🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan	63
#140	🇲🇳 Mongolia	61
#140	🇲🇿 Mozambique	61
#142	🇧🇯 Benin	60
#142	🇮🇳 India	60
#142	🇷🇼 Rwanda	60
#145	🇸🇹 Sao Tome and Principe	59
#145	🇹🇯 Tajikistan	59
#145	🇺🇿 Uzbekistan	59
#148	🇲🇷 Mauritania	58
#149	🇧🇫 Burkina Faso	57
#150	🇨🇮 Cote d'Ivoire	56
#150	🇬🇦 Gabon	56
#150	🇸🇳 Senegal	56
#153	🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea	55
#153	🇬🇳 Guinea	55
#153	🇻🇳 Vietnam	55
#156	🇰🇭 Cambodia	54
#156	🇲🇬 Madagascar	54
#156	🇹🇬 Togo	54
#159	🇪🇬 Egypt	53
#159	🇯🇴 Jordan	53
#159	🇲🇱 Mali	53
#159	🇳🇪 Niger	53
#163	🇩🇿 Algeria	52
#163	🇧🇹 Bhutan	52
#163	🇨🇫 Central African Republic	52
#163	🇹🇩 Chad	52
#163	🇰🇲 Comoros	52
#163	🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau	52
#163	🇹🇲 Turkmenistan	52
#170	🇨🇲 Cameroon	51
#171	🇦🇴 Angola	50
#171	🇱🇦 Laos	50
#173	🇧🇮 Burundi	49
#173	🇨🇬 Congo (Rep.)	49
#173	🇱🇷 Liberia	49
#176	🇩🇯 Djibouti	48
#176	🇭🇹 Haiti	48
#178	🇲🇲 Myanmar	47
#179	🇪🇹 Ethiopia	46
#179	🇳🇬 Nigeria	46
#181	🇪🇷 Eritrea	44
#181	🇮🇷 Iran	44
#181	🇸🇸 South Sudan	44
#184	🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo	42
#184	🇸🇩 Sudan	42
#186	🇽🇰 Kosovo	41
#186	🇱🇧 Lebanon	41
#186	🇱🇰 Sri Lanka	41
#189	🇧🇩 Bangladesh	40
#189	🇱🇾 Libya	40
#189	🇰🇵 North Korea	40
#192	🇵🇸 Palestine	38
#193	🇳🇵 Nepal	37
#194	🇸🇴 Somalia	35
#195	🇾🇪 Yemen	34
#196	🇵🇰 Pakistan	32
#197	🇸🇾 Syria	30
#198	🇮🇶 Iraq	29
#199	Afghanistan	27

Visas are imposed by some countries to make it easier to track visitors, allowing a country to assess whether said passport-holder may be a risk for illegal immigration, crime, acts of terror, or covert surveillance.

For example, both Russia and China require American passport holders to obtain visas prior to travel, and vice versa.

The Most Powerful Passports

When it comes to the most powerful passports, most of the top 20 are issued by countries in Asia or Europe, with the exception of New Zealand and the United States.

Due to multiple ties in the rankings the U.S. technically ranks 17th, having visa-free access to 187 countries, on par with Norway, New Zealand, and Switzerland.

Ranking 66th, Ukraine’s passport has actually seen drastic improvement over the last decade, currently getting visa-free access to 144 countries. It has yet to be seen how this will change in the wake of the Russia/Ukraine conflict.

The Least Powerful Passports

Many of least powerful passports come out of war-torn and politically unstable nations. As visas for travel are typically required to counter illicit activity, these nations are often flagged whether justly or not.

One immediate standout among the least powerful passports is North Korea. The insular nation has visa-free access to 40 countries, ranking it above eight other passports on the list.

Most North Koreans who travel abroad do so only in extremely special circumstances for work, study, or athletic competitions. Leisure travel out of North Korea does not happen, but technically, North Koreans can visit countries like Haiti, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Palestine, and Kyrgyzstan, among others without a visa.

The Biggest Gainers & Losers Over Time

From a big picture standpoint, the world’s travelers have seen their access improve significantly over the last 10 years. If you’re a citizen of the UAE, for example, your prospects for visa-free travel have improved by 100+ countries over the last decade.

most and least powerful passports

Here’s a closer look at 15 countries with the greatest change in visa-free access:

Rank	Country	2013 Visa-Free Access	2023 Visa-Free Access	10 Year Change
#1	🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates	72	178	+106
#2	🇨🇴 Colombia	63	133	+70
#3	🇺🇦 Ukraine	77	144	+67
#4	🇲🇩 Moldova	59	120	+61
#5	🇻🇨 St. Vincent and the Grenadines	92	151	+59
#6	🇩🇲 Dominica	87	144	+57
#6	🇬🇩 Grenada	88	145	+57
#8	🇵🇪 Peru	80	136	+56
#9	🇬🇪 Georgia	60	115	+55
#10	🇱🇨 St. Lucia	94	146	+52
#11	🇼🇸 Samoa	81	131	+50
#11	🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago	100	150	+50
#13	🇹🇴 Tonga	80	129	+49
#14	🇸🇧 Solomon Islands	84	131	+47
#15	🇭🇷 Croatia	129	175	+46

On the other hand, other countries have fared poorly, with some actually losing access to destinations since 2013. Yemen and Syria are tied for first place, having lost visa-free access to nine countries over the last 10 years.

Here’s a look at 15 countries who experienced the biggest negative change:

Rank	Country	2013 Visa-Free Access	2023 Visa-Free Access	10 Year Change
#1	🇾🇪 Yemen	43	34	-9
#1	🇸🇾 Syria	39	30	-9
#3	🇳🇬 Nigeria	48	46	-2
#3	🇮🇶 Iraq	31	29	-2
#5	🇰🇵 North Korea	41	40	-1
#5	🇧🇩 Bangladesh	41	40	-1
#5	🇦🇫 Afghanistan	28	27	-1
#8	🇻🇪 Venezuela	128	128	0
#8	🇬🇲 The Gambia	68	68	0
#8	🇵🇰 Pakistan	32	32	0
#8	🇳🇪 Niger	53	53	0
#8	🇳🇵 Nepal	37	37	0
#8	🇲🇱 Mali	53	53	0
#14	🇹🇬 Togo	53	54	+1
#14	🇸🇱 Sierra Leone	63	64	+1

Looking at the tables above, it’s apparent that the world has generally become more open in recent years.

Overall, the power of a passport is almost directly reflective of the political state of the world. World powers and rich nations typically have free flow of travel, but those facing instability or war are often also face barriers when wanting to go abroad.

Related Topics:passport travel Passport Power International Travel Strongest Passport best passports

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Mapped: All of the World’s Roads, by Continent

What does a road map of the world look like? Here’s a deep view of roads visualized by type across countries and continents.

Creator Program

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3 weeks ago

May 18, 2023

Pallavi Rao

A map of all roads in the world, visualized by type.

Mapped: All of the World’s Roads, by Continent

Once upon a time, it was said that all roads led to Rome. Now with at least 21 million kilometers of roads spanning the globe, every continent and country has its own web of crisscrossing connections, from major highways to rural drives.

And there’s no better way to see the scale and spread of roads than by visualizing them. Adam Symington from PythonMaps used data from the Global Roads Inventory Project (GRIP) to map all the roads in the world, creating an accurate representation of humanity’s need to connect.

Creating the Global Road Map

The GRIP database pulled information from a variety of sources including governments, research institutes, NGOs, and crowd-sourcing initiatives to create a harmonized dataset of geospatial road information for a 2018 paper, “Global patterns of current and future road infrastructure.”

Researchers categorized roads into types using a UN classification system, which have been visualized in three colors on this map:

Category	Definition	Color
*Main Roads*	Highways + primary roads between and within cities and towns. Multi-lane, limited entry and exit points.	White
*Secondary Roads*	Paved, high-traffic, access between neighborhoods	Yellow
*Tertiary Roads*	Paved or unpaved residential access within neighborhoods, or rural points of interest.	Red
*Local Roads*	All other smaller roads that don't fit above, and usually are not throughfare.	Red

This classification allowed for examining relationships between road infrastructure, development, wealth, and population distribution.

Which Country has the Largest Road Map?

With nearly 3 million kilometers of motorways, the U.S. has the largest road network in the world, nearly double that of China (1.7 million km) and three times that of India (1 million km).

Rank (#)	Country	All Roads (km)	% of World's Roads
1	U.S.	3,097,278	14.34%
2	China	1,709,997	7.92%
3	India	1,052,718	4.87%
4	Mexico	741,949	3.43%
5	Argentina	703,087	3.25%
6	Brazil	681,267	3.15%
7	Russia	621,813	2.88%
8	Australia	620,393	2.87%
9	Germany	563,155	2.61%
10	France	523,566	2.42%
11	Japan	452,440	2.09%
12	Turkey	448,249	2.08%
13	Indonesia	429,970	1.99%
14	Colombia	387,471	1.79%
15	South Africa	331,909	1.54%
16	Kazakhstan	303,170	1.40%
17	Spain	273,597	1.27%
18	UK	268,709	1.24%
19	Thailand	264,639	1.23%
20	Italy	263,304	1.22%
21	Canada	243,155	1.13%
22	Ukraine	229,380	1.06%
23	Poland	224,904	1.04%
24	Turkmenistan	204,100	0.94%
25	Peru	203,726	0.94%
26	Vietnam	187,599	0.87%
27	Bangladesh	183,317	0.85%
28	Somalia	163,093	0.76%
29	Dem. Rep. Congo	162,174	0.75%
30	Iran	145,177	0.67%
31	Iraq	140,365	0.65%
32	Angola	135,627	0.63%
33	Sweden	121,673	0.56%
34	South Korea	119,456	0.55%
35	Venezuela	118,378	0.55%
36	Libya	117,504	0.54%
37	Bolivia	108,594	0.50%
38	Pakistan	106,183	0.49%
39	Sudan	101,345	0.47%
40	Guinea	101,324	0.47%
41	New Zealand	100,404	0.46%
42	Philippines	96,466	0.45%
43	Sri Lanka	96,023	0.44%
44	Kenya	94,339	0.44%
45	Chile	93,030	0.43%
46	Nigeria	92,469	0.43%
47	Austria	90,284	0.42%
48	Finland	89,386	0.41%
49	Czech Republic	89,266	0.41%
50	Saudi Arabia	86,188	0.40%
51	Greece	86,128	0.40%
52	Afghanistan	83,186	0.39%
53	Belarus	80,824	0.37%
54	Ecuador	80,290	0.37%
55	Myanmar	79,401	0.37%
56	Ethiopia	79,306	0.37%
57	Netherlands	77,793	0.36%
58	Senegal	74,928	0.35%
59	Taiwan	72,870	0.34%
60	Cameroon	71,882	0.33%
61	Madagascar	71,341	0.33%
62	Zimbabwe	70,503	0.33%
63	Uruguay	69,587	0.32%
64	Norway	66,204	0.31%
65	Portugal	65,181	0.30%
66	Belgium	65,098	0.30%
67	Uzbekistan	64,445	0.30%
68	Romania	63,333	0.29%
69	Botswana	63,130	0.29%
70	Mali	59,142	0.27%
71	Mozambique	58,693	0.27%
72	Cuba	56,883	0.26%
73	Hungary	56,209	0.26%
74	Algeria	55,662	0.26%
75	Cambodia	54,500	0.25%
76	Egypt	52,580	0.24%
77	Chad	52,257	0.24%
78	Denmark	50,256	0.23%
79	Mauritania	50,056	0.23%
80	Mongolia	49,873	0.23%
81	Switzerland	46,046	0.21%
82	Ivory Coast	45,807	0.21%
83	Niger	44,638	0.21%
84	Bulgaria	44,225	0.20%
85	Paraguay	43,298	0.20%
86	Yemen	42,476	0.20%
87	Tanzania	42,000	0.19%
88	North Korea	41,932	0.19%
89	Zambia	40,581	0.19%
90	Guatemala	40,413	0.19%
91	Namibia	40,131	0.19%
92	Ireland	39,620	0.18%
93	Morocco	39,479	0.18%
94	Papua New Guinea	37,960	0.18%
95	Malaysia	37,237	0.17%
96	Nepal	36,791	0.17%
97	Croatia	34,870	0.16%
98	Syria	34,433	0.16%
99	Sierra Leone	33,559	0.16%
100	Slovakia	33,136	0.15%
101	Albania	33,022	0.15%
102	South Sudan	32,277	0.15%
103	Burkina Faso	31,046	0.14%
104	Laos	28,924	0.13%
105	El Salvador	28,506	0.13%
106	Ghana	28,024	0.13%
107	Kyrgyzstan	27,850	0.13%
108	Latvia	26,808	0.12%
109	Rwanda	26,714	0.12%
110	Lithuania	26,144	0.12%
111	Nicaragua	25,373	0.12%
112	Central African Republic	25,249	0.12%
113	Israel	24,801	0.11%
114	Congo	24,616	0.11%
115	Liberia	24,507	0.11%
116	Oman	23,546	0.11%
117	Jamaica	23,193	0.11%
118	Serbia	21,858	0.10%
119	Benin	21,289	0.10%
120	Tunisia	20,765	0.10%
121	Uganda	19,523	0.09%
122	Mauritius	19,434	0.09%
123	Jordan	19,284	0.09%
124	U.A.E	19,198	0.09%
125	Costa Rica	18,924	0.09%
126	Estonia	18,551	0.09%
127	Haiti	18,169	0.08%
128	Burundi	17,450	0.08%
129	Tajikistan	16,086	0.07%
130	East Timor	16,048	0.07%
131	Iceland	15,374	0.07%
132	Azerbaijan	15,361	0.07%
133	Honduras	15,200	0.07%
134	Guinea-Bissau	13,636	0.06%
135	Malawi	13,238	0.06%
136	Puerto Rico	12,934	0.06%
137	Palestine	12,817	0.06%
138	Slovenia	12,474	0.06%
139	Gabon	12,286	0.06%
140	Cyprus	11,721	0.05%
141	Lebanon	11,399	0.05%
142	Dominican Republic	10,890	0.05%
143	Panama	10,417	0.05%
144	Armenia	9,888	0.05%
145	Belize	9,817	0.05%
146	Qatar	9,047	0.04%
147	Moldova	8,860	0.04%
148	Georgia	8,043	0.04%
149	Bosnia	7,769	0.04%
150	Togo	7,423	0.03%
151	Eritrea	7,101	0.03%
152	Western Sahara	6,794	0.03%
153	Djibouti	6,786	0.03%
154	Gambia	5,112	0.02%
155	Luxembourg	5,106	0.02%
156	Guyana	4,323	0.02%
157	Guadeloupe	4,303	0.02%
158	Northern Macedonia	4,150	0.02%
159	Singapore	3,547	0.02%
160	French Guiana	3,316	0.02%
161	Lesotho	3,157	0.01%
162	Martinique	2,857	0.01%
163	Montenegro	2,810	0.01%
164	Eswatini	2,664	0.01%
165	Equatorial Guinea	2,609	0.01%
166	Netherlands Antilles	2,549	0.01%
167	Cabo Verde	2,392	0.01%
168	Bhutan	2,376	0.01%
169	New Caledonia	2,213	0.01%
170	Suriname	1,921	0.01%
171	Barbados	1,806	0.01%
172	Kuwait	1,651	0.01%
173	Malta	1,637	0.01%
174	U.S. Virgin Islands	1,429	0.01%
175	Solomon Islands	1,309	0.01%
176	The Bahamas	1,285	0.01%
177	Fiji	1,134	0.01%
178	Antigua and Barbuda	1,125	0.01%
179	Kosovo	1,111	0.01%
180	Aruba	890	0.00%
181	Dominica	862	0.00%
182	Faroe Islands	826	0.00%
183	St. Lucia	793	0.00%
184	Cayman Islands	746	0.00%
185	Brunei	660	0.00%
186	Trinidad and Tobago	636	0.00%
187	Isle of Man	610	0.00%
188	Sao Tome and Principe	538	0.00%
189	Grenada	516	0.00%
190	Bahrain	502	0.00%
191	Falkland Island	485	0.00%
192	Reunion	465	0.00%
193	St. Kitts and Nevis	446	0.00%
194	Vanuatu	445	0.00%
195	St. Vincent & the Grenadines	389	0.00%
196	Comoros	384	0.00%
197	Samoa	342	0.00%
198	British Virgin Islands	297	0.00%
199	Anguila	209	0.00%
200	Guam	201	0.00%
201	French Polynesia	175	0.00%
202	Northern Mariana Islands	145	0.00%
203	Tonga	135	0.00%
204	Montserrat	125	0.00%
205	San Marino	118	0.00%
206	Mayotte	109	0.00%
207	Niue	91	0.00%
208	Turks & Caicos Island	75	0.00%
209	Seychelles	70	0.00%
210	Saint Helena	57	0.00%
211	Cook Islands	47	0.00%
212	Monaco	42	0.00%
213	Andorra	36	0.00%
214	Gibraltar	29	0.00%
215	Wallis & Futura Islands	25	0.00%
216	Liechtenstein	24	0.00%
217	Palau	18	0.00%
218	American Samoa	17	0.00%
219	French Southern & Antarctic Lands	15	0.00%
220	Bermuda	14	0.00%
221	Christmas Island	12	0.00%
222	Norfolk Island	10	0.00%
	Total	21,600,760	100%

The small Pacific island country of Palau has the smallest road network in the database measuring 18 kilometers. However, many overseas territories of countries have even smaller networks, with Norfolk Island being the smallest in the dataset at 10 km.

That said, when breaking the road networks down by type, the rankings change significantly.

China muscles out the U.S. with nearly double the amount of main roads (highways + primary roads). Meanwhile, Japan and Canada climb into the top 10 by largest main road networks, while India drops down to #8.

Country	Main	Secondary	Tertiary	Local
China	683,248	306,176	373,831	346,742
U.S.	366,800	898,873	42,071	1,789,534
Mexico	105,822	181,088	185,587	269,452
Japan	94,451	67,454	100,536	189,999
Canada	91,173	73,525	46,121	32,336
Brazil	86,772	223,662	283,933	86,900
France	74,956	114,433	192,191	141,986
India	69,748	413,790	526,130	43,050
Argentina	69,188	55,519	534,876	43,504
Australia	69,138	73,376	426,346	51,533
Spain	64,628	37,571	80,094	91,304
UK	63,673	30,999	48,605	125,432
Germany	63,517	97,272	100,513	301,853
Turkey	59,013	40,863	203,987	144,386
South Africa	56,262	103,332	138,895	33,420
Russia	52,920	512,386	33,742	22,765
Kazakhstan	47,393	41,074	149,963	64,740
Italy	47,098	51,038	84,147	81,021
Thailand	45,445	49,924	129,724	39,546
South Korea	33,590	24,399	20,517	40,950
Peru	31,361	47,296	115,038	10,031
Indonesia	29,346	23,324	334,164	43,136
Norway	27,175	19,057	5,377	14,595
Iran	23,722	98,687	5,953	16,815
Chile	21,078	41,353	20,274	10,325
Colombia	20,884	43,084	309,725	13,778
Sweden	20,562	25,438	45,807	29,866
Poland	20,432	29,499	67,151	107,822
Dem. Rep. Congo	20,209	29,387	109,962	2,616
Ethiopia	19,920	22,006	33,409	3,971
Venezuela	19,663	13,822	74,656	10,237
Pakistan	19,186	25,672	55,535	5,790
Belarus	17,720	29,644	30,928	2,532
Ireland	17,540	0	15,379	6,701
Romania	17,127	18,403	9,745	18,058
Philippines	17,077	15,267	42,811	21,311
Saudi Arabia	16,860	8,020	45,593	15,715
Myanmar	16,527	13,462	45,041	4,371
Ukraine	16,342	33,147	170,020	9,871
Uzbekistan	16,127	44,000	3,557	761
Portugal	15,545	9,186	18,646	21,804
Finland	14,847	16,030	33,043	25,466
Vietnam	13,800	17,635	152,901	3,263
Zimbabwe	13,482	18,803	34,883	3,335
Austria	13,413	12,878	15,470	48,523
Bangladesh	13,272	21,723	137,497	10,825
New Zealand	12,522	6,913	64,498	16,471
Iraq	12,418	53,285	71,012	3,650
Greece	11,533	12,284	34,815	27,496
Netherlands	11,466	7,425	18,460	40,442
Taiwan	11,440	8,899	39,987	12,544
Uruguay	10,314	0	59,160	113
Croatia	9,844	11,043	6,506	7,477
Mongolia	9,061	40,812	0	0
Belgium	9,048	7,281	12,661	36,108
El Salvador	8,984	8,424	11,072	26
U.A.E	8,889	3,172	2,043	5,094
Hungary	8,732	11,512	11,819	24,146
Algeria	8,675	6,407	36,187	4,393
Nicaragua	8,060	14,212	1,255	1,846
Bolivia	7,957	8,091	82,960	9,586
Czech Republic	7,877	15,232	35,640	30,517
Sri Lanka	7,704	15,715	70,536	2,068
Nigeria	7,545	8,119	68,572	8,233
Latvia	7,519	10,213	4,134	4,942
Lithuania	7,452	5,107	7,480	6,105
North Korea	7,338	7,775	20,167	6,652
Switzerland	7,278	5,303	10,821	22,644
Libya	7,277	5,615	80,985	23,627
Ivory Coast	7,030	7,531	29,015	2,231
Laos	6,882	4,089	17,749	204
Angola	6,691	10,588	114,680	3,668
Mozambique	6,686	23,425	27,266	1,316
Yemen	6,647	503	34,020	1,306
Syria	6,440	6,834	16,624	4,535
Kyrgyzstan	6,121	18,927	1,039	1,763
Malaysia	6,022	16,713	14,020	482
Egypt	5,872	5,678	35,611	5,419
Israel	5,850	5,095	12,063	1,793
Kenya	5,792	28,241	57,725	2,581
Ecuador	5,725	11,034	55,207	8,324
Papua New Guinea	5,620	7,168	25,172	0
Qatar	5,570	2,046	588	843
Serbia	5,536	5,246	3,832	7,244
Cuba	5,373	6,285	29,485	15,740
Paraguay	5,144	13,669	21,767	2,718
Albania	5,121	6,249	21,641	11
Denmark	5,053	6,113	6,556	32,534
Botswana	4,979	8,314	49,837	0
Sudan	4,859	5,142	81,954	9,390
Turkmenistan	4,731	24,952	174,410	7
Morocco	4,727	2,424	28,105	4,223
Iceland	4,666	3,291	5,934	1,483
Zambia	4,648	3,806	31,113	1,014
Somalia	4,605	32,248	125,418	822
Slovakia	4,317	3,723	10,318	14,778
Tunisia	4,232	2,606	9,679	4,248
Afghanistan	4,189	2,204	75,762	1,031
Bulgaria	4,090	4,533	24,534	11,068
Panama	3,887	3,718	2,811	1
Tanzania	3,852	4,575	31,734	1,839
Oman	3,435	2,588	15,395	2,128
Mali	3,432	3,080	48,397	4,233
Malawi	3,352	7,122	2,625	139
Bosnia	3,239	1,332	2,529	669
Jordan	3,021	2,119	7,722	6,422
Namibia	2,904	2,146	35,073	8
Azerbaijan	2,889	7,265	346	4,861
Madagascar	2,799	3,779	63,672	1,091
Niger	2,751	2,099	38,633	1,155
Guatemala	2,745	10,431	20,632	6,605
Congo	2,733	11,063	7,089	3,731
Tajikistan	2,639	13,447	0	0
Honduras	2,625	4,696	5,421	2,458
Costa Rica	2,608	11,277	361	4,678
Puerto Rico	2,543	2,539	3,415	4,437
Rwanda	2,299	4,215	19,609	591
Cambodia	2,231	11,481	38,387	2,401
Benin	2,225	5,104	13,281	679
Slovenia	2,223	2,686	3,689	3,876
Lebanon	2,164	2,368	4,097	2,770
Ghana	2,107	8,051	12,883	4,983
Senegal	2,051	5,437	64,354	3,086
Uganda	2,024	346	16,224	929
Burkina Faso	2,021	10,087	15,747	3,191
Jamaica	1,972	5,193	15,495	533
Bhutan	1,871	0	499	6
Estonia	1,859	3,065	9,745	3,882
Mauritania	1,738	2,185	45,204	929
Nepal	1,728	3,644	30,100	1,319
Burundi	1,714	7,571	8,121	44
Cameroon	1,574	3,453	64,095	2,760
Singapore	1,561	417	193	1,376
Cyprus	1,488	2,311	2,266	5,656
Kuwait	1,334	128	64	125
Northern Macedonia	1,332	1,421	991	406
South Sudan	1,266	4,974	26,030	7
Armenia	1,231	2,874	1,578	4,205
Georgia	1,192	5,412	198	1,241
Moldova	1,190	2,898	4,751	21
Luxembourg	1,186	1,916	381	1,623
East Timor	1,180	680	14,066	122
Dominican Republic	1,148	3,809	1,152	4,781
Haiti	1,089	1,347	13,913	1,820
Palestine	1,035	751	2,412	8,619
Suriname	1,030	891	0	0
Togo	855	970	2,927	2,671
Montenegro	842	519	809	640
Belize	680	5,153	3,984	0
Djibouti	675	1,673	4,438	0
Eswatini	648	1,061	955	0
Bahrain	502	0	0	0
Guinea	486	8,379	90,320	2,139
Eritrea	477	30	6,592	2
French Guiana	475	1,822	993	26
Central African Republic	459	1,861	22,924	5
Liberia	445	4,563	19,498	1
Guadeloupe	438	523	2,017	1,325
Sierra Leone	419	4,891	27,374	875
Fiji	407	727	0	0
Kosovo	366	449	296	0
New Caledonia	340	1,873	0	0
Isle of Man	336	120	21	133
Martinique	323	442	1,211	881
Netherlands Antilles	310	151	747	1,341
Chad	304	1,958	48,767	1,228
Mauritius	277	790	15,209	3,158
Lesotho	267	635	2,250	5
Faroe Islands	246	130	42	408
Barbados	244	364	361	837
Malta	228	223	173	1,013
Dominica	224	60	237	341
U.S. Virgin Islands	211	129	71	1,018
Reunion	190	146	129	0
Western Sahara	182	568	6,041	3
Gabon	181	945	11,150	10
Grenada	173	55	175	113
Cayman Islands	168	55	90	433
Antigua and Barbuda	134	53	343	595
Sao Tome and Principe	123	0	415	0
Guam	123	78	0	0
St. Lucia	115	51	394	233
Cabo Verde	99	333	1,959	1
Northern Mariana Islands	87	58	0	0
Gambia	85	1,400	3,612	15
British Virgin Islands	72	39	119	67
Guinea-Bissau	71	3,301	10,257	7
Trinidad and Tobago	65	571	0	0
St. Kitts and Nevis	54	42	97	253
French Polynesia	54	121	0	0
St. Vincent & the Grenadines	50	53	160	126
Anguila	42	11	45	111
Aruba	31	75	123	661
Andorra	29	7	0	0
Saint Helena	22	35	0	0
Montserrat	20	2	33	70
Monaco	14	6	7	15
San Marino	13	11	58	36
Christmas Island	12	0	0	0
Tonga	10	125	0	0
Liechtenstein	9	6	1	8
Gibraltar	7	8	6	8
Guyana	0	929	3,394	0
Equatorial Guinea	0	210	2,399	0
Solomon Islands	0	0	1,309	0
The Bahamas	0	1,215	70	0
Brunei	0	0	660	0
Falkland Island	0	485	0	0
Vanuatu	0	445	0	0
Comoros	0	0	384	0
Samoa	0	342	0	0
Mayotte	0	0	109	0
Niue	0	91	0	0
Turks & Caicos Island	0	9	66	0
Seychelles	0	32	38	0
Cook Islands	0	47	0	0
Wallis & Futura Islands	0	25	0	0
Palau	0	18	0	0
American Samoa	0	17	0	0
French Southern & Antarctic Lands	0	15	0	0
Bermuda	0	14	0	0
Norfolk Island	0	10	0	0

In the database, 1.8 million km or more than 50% of the U.S.’s large road map is made up of smaller local roads, giving unparalleled access across almost the entire country. It also has the world’s most secondary roads, while Argentina, India, and Australia lead the rankings with the most tertiary roads.

Regional Differences Between Types of Roads

These different types of roads have a striking effect on the regional visualizations of road maps.

In North America, the U.S. and Canada have a white-yellow hue accounting for the large number of highways, primary, and secondary roads.

A map of all roads in North America, visualized by type.

In Mexico, the map takes on a distinct red tint, since tertiary and local roads account for nearly two-thirds of the country’s road network.

Something similar occurs in Europe, where old Cold War divisions play out in white, yellow, and red. France, Germany, Italy, and the U.K. glow hot in a mix of white and yellow, while former Eastern Bloc countries simmer more in red.

A map of all roads in Europe, visualized by type.

GRIP found that main roads (highways + primary) are usually found in North America, Europe, and China, while the rest of the world has a greater percentage of secondary (yellow) and tertiary and local (red) roads.

However, one interesting sidebar is that the four countries with the greatest percentage of main roads are all from the Middle East.

Rank (#)	Country	Main Roads (% of All)
1	Bahrain 🇧🇭	100%
2	Kuwait 🇰🇼	81%
3	Bhutan 🇧🇹	79%
4	Qatar 🇶🇦	62%
5	Suriname 🇸🇷	54%
6	U.A.E 🇦🇪	46%
7	Ireland 🇮🇪	44%
8	Singapore 🇸🇬	44%
9	Bosnia 🇧🇦	42%
10	Norway 🇳🇴	41%
11	China 🇨🇳	40%
12	Liechtenstein 🇱🇮	38%
13	Canada 🇨🇦	38%
14	Panama 🇵🇦	37%
15	Grenada 🇬🇩	34%

While there may be reasons for this, it’s possible it could also be a quirk in the database, depending on how data is collected or classified in the region.

What Do Road Networks Tell Us About Countries?

Analysis of the GRIP database found that “total road length in a country is strongly and positively related to its total land surface area, human population density, gross domestic product, and OECD membership.”

However, of all the correlations, population density is perhaps the most visible in snapshots of the larger world map, such as in this one of Asia.

A map of all roads in Asia, visualized by type.

The Indian subcontinent and Eastern China are the two most populous regions of the world, accounting for nearly 35% of the world’s population. The most populous regions within—especially in China—have more roads, representing growing cities and urban centers.

The opposite is visible in Africa and Australia, where large natural features like deserts prevent human settlement and roads vanish from the visualization as well.

A map of all roads in Africa, visualized by type.

Road Maps and Sustainable Development

The environmental impact of economic development is also visual on these road networks.

Road construction leads to emissions and biodiversity displacement. By matching road maps with natural environment visualizations like this forest map, we can see how much of the world’s pristine natural reserves are still untouched by humankind.

In South America for example, the Amazon rainforest accounts for a large chunk of Brazil’s lacking road coverage.

A map of all roads in South America, visualized by type.

Finally, though the GRIP research attributes population and affluence as key correlations with road development, other economic factors drive road network expansion as well.

The researchers estimate that there will be 4 million kilometers of additional roads covering the Earth by 2050, even under conservative assumptions.

In the never-ending balancing act of sustainable development and economic prosperity, development of the world’s road map will have ripple effects for years to come.