Longest Road In The World

 Which is the Longest road in the World? 

According to the record books, the Pan-American Highway is the longest road in the world, stretching some 30,000 kilometers (19,000 miles) from Alaska to the southern tip of Argentina. However, depending on who you ask, a few people might take issue with that assertion. To get a better perspective on the list of incredibly long roads, it’s worth considering the longest road in Italy: the SS16 Adriatica. This major arterial route, which is a national road, crosses 6 regions: the Veneto, Emilia Romagna, the Marche, Abruzzo, Molise and Puglia, from Padua to Otranto, winding along for about 1,000 kilometres. Much of the route runs between the cities on the Adriatic coast, hence the name ‘Adriatica’. So it is astonishing to think that the longest roads in the world are 5, 10, 20 or even 30 times longer than the already very long SS16. Let’s take a look at the list of the top 10 longest roads in the world. Following is the list of the longest roads in the world features routes which make their way across several countries and continents:-

The Pan-American Highway, 25,750 kilometres, Chile – Alaska

AH1, 20,500 kilometres, Japan – Turkey

Highway 1, 14,500 kilometres, Australia

The Trans-Siberian Highway, 11,000 kilometres, Russia

The Trans-Canada Highway, 8,030 kilometres, Canada

RN10, 5,700 kilometres, China

Route 20, 5,415 kilometres, US

Route 6, 5,158 kilometres, US

Interstate 90, 4,990 kilometres, US

The vision of the Pan-American Highway was first proposed in 1923 by the US. Although it was pitched as a fraternal and idealistic venture to bind distant nations, some argue that it was essentially a ploy to boost sales of US-made cars and other exports to Latin America. In 1924, US officials invited 37 delegates from Latin America to Washington DC to hear their sales pitch and, after years of wrangling, an agreement was reached. The Convention on the Pan-American Highway was signed in 1937 by Argentina, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru and the US. Progress wasn’t quick, though. In the early 1970s, President Nixon boasted that the continent-crossing mega-highway would be completed imminently, but numerous gaps and dead ends remained. In fact, even today, the Pan-American Highway isn’t fully connected and you can't drive its full length. A glaring break in the road can be found in Darién Gap, the skinny 160-kilometer-long (100-mile-long) strand of land that connects Panama to Colombia. Stretched in dense jungle and seasonal rains, no road passes through the Darién Gap at all, not even a dirt road.

There was a push to build the Pan-American Highway through the gap in the 1970s, which the US pledged to fund the majority of, but it was hotly opposed by environmentalists who argued it would spell disaster for the region's biodiversity and Indigenous communities. In addition, the region is frequented by armed militias, dangerous gangs and drug traffickers, making it an extremely dangerous place to cross. Despite this gap, the Pan-American Highway still holds the Guinness World Record for the “longest motorable road.”  The total length of the Pan-American Highway is a matter of some disagreement, with wide variations in the figures. Some claim that the Pan-American Highway is 48,000 kilometres long, while others say it is 25,000 kilometres. It is no simple matter to determine the exact length of this very long road, for two reasons: firstly, the fact that it covers two continents makes it difficult to measure every stretch of it; secondly, different stretches of road are included in the calculation each time. Some only measure the actual route of the Pan-American Highway itself, while others include the parts linking the Pan-American Highway with some of the most important cities in South America.

Generally speaking, one can say that if you measure only the actual Pan-American Highway, the total length is 25,750 kilometres; however, if all the unofficial branch routes are also included in the calculation, it comes to a total length of about 45,000 kilometres. At any rate, rather than just one road, we are really dealing with an integrated network of arterial roads which mainly run along the Pacific coast of the two American continents. The complete (although not entirely) Pan-American Highway extends from Alaska to Chile, thus crossing Canada, the United States, Mexico, the Central American states, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru and Argentina, with connections to Bolivia, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. As we suggested above, this exceptionally long road is almost but not quite complete: there remains a gap between Panama and Colombia, covered by extremely dense, wild forest that is largely still unexplored. The only practicable way to get around this obstacle is by sea, sailing between Turbo in Colombia and Puerto Obaldía in Panama. In view of its great length, the Pan-American Highway is far from uniform. It crosses through some very diverse climate zones, and the various tracts are very different in appearance. It should also be pointed out that the changes in national administrations along its route have obvious consequences for the quality of the road. 

A worthy competitor of the title is Asian Highway 1 (AH1), the longest route of the Asian Highway Network that runs for 20,557 km (12,774 miles) from the Japanese capital of Tokyo to the Turkish-Bulgarian border. The AH1 is the second longest road in the world after the Pan-American Highway. The road starts in Tokyo, Japan, and winds through South Korea, North Korea, China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey, terminating in Istanbul. So this incredibly long road crosses the whole of southern Asia, in effect connecting Japan with the European road network. However, once again, you’ll probably notice that this isn’t continuous either. Over 942 kMs (585 miles) of sea separates Japan and South Korea, plus it’s not possible for most civilians to cross the Demilitarized Zone that separates South Korea and North Korea. 

Some lists of the longest roads in the world don’t include the Asian Highway 1, which would make Australia’s Highway 1 the second longest road in the world. This 14,500 kMs-long road runs around the entire continent, thus linking all the principal cities in Australia with the exception of Canberra. Australia's Highway 1 is arguably the longest fully drivable road and longest national road, circling the outer edge of the whole island for around 14,500 kMs (9,000 miles). It holds the Guinness World Record for the "Longest continuous road". A group of guys called the "Highway 1 to Hell" team set the record for completing this route a few years ago, circumnavigating the whole of Australia in 5 days, 13 hours, and 43 minutes. It is the longest national highway in the world, the top two longest roads being multinational road systems. It is estimated that this road is used by over a million people every day. Highway 1 was created in 1955, linking up an already existing system of national and local roads.

Less famous than the Trans-Siberian Railway, the Trans-Siberian Highway stretches for 11,000 kMs and links European Russia with the far east of the country, crossing the most remote regions of Siberia. This road makes it possible to travel from Moscow to Vladivostok, following the route of the famous railway, in fact.

Now let’s look at the next longest road in the world, the Trans-Canada Highway. This is a system of highways that links the 10 provinces of Canada, running between east and west. The main route extends for a total of 8,030 kilometres; added to this are the kilometres covered by the various branches. The TCH was opened in 1962, but the entire road network was not completed until 10 years later in 1971. The layout of this road network means that it is not easy to identify the actual start of the road. However, on the Atlantic side, the city of St. John’s on the island of Newfoundland has christened the TCH stretch passing through its centre as “Mile One”, while the end of the Trans-Canada Highway is marked by a monument erected in the city of Victoria.

In other words, the answer to “What's The Longest Road In The World?” probably depends on who you ask – and how forgiving they are of gigantic gaps in supposedly continuous roads around the world map.