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Tuesday 17 December 2013

The World's Longest Highways


Considering the ultimate in road trips? Check out some of the world's longest highways for inspiration.


Map of the route of the Pan American Highway



1 – The Pan American Highway – At 47,958 kilometers in length the Pan American Highway, which runs from Prudhoe Bay in northern Canada to Ushuaia on the southern most tip of Argentina, is the world’s longest inter connecting, international highway. The highway connects every counry on the American continent - Canada, United States, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Suriname, Guyana, Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Educdor, Peru, Chile and Argentina - with just a one hundred kilometer break located along the Darien Gap, located between the countries of Panama and Colombia, an area which links central America with South America.


 2 – Highway 1, Australia –  Is a 14,500 kilometer long ring road which circumnavigates the whole of the Australian continent, calling at all states and passing through all state capitals. The highway is the longest inter-connecting, national highway system in the world, incorporating nineteen national and state highways.


3 - The Trans Siberian Highway- Is an eleven thousand kilometer east/west highway system situated between the city of St Petersburg in north west Russia and Vladivostock on Russia’s Pacific Ocean coast. The highway system incorporates the seven Russian federal highways of the-
M10 – Between St. Petersburg and Moscow - 664 km
M5 – Between Moscow and Chelyabinsk - 1,880 km
M51 – Between Chelyabinsk and Novosibirsk - 1,528 km
M53 – Between Novosibirsk and Irkutsk - 1,860 km
M55 – Between Irkutsk and Chita - 1,113 km
M58 – AKA The Amur Highway, between Chita and Khabarovsk - 2,100 km
M60 – AKA The Ussuri Highway, between Khabarovsk and Vladivostok - 760 km


4 –The Trans-African Highway 3 (TAH 3) –  Is a 10,808 kilometer north/south highway system linking Libya’s capital city, Tripoli, on the Mediterranean coast of north Africa, with Cape Town on South Africa’s Atlantic Coast in the very south of the continent.
The route takes in the nine African nations of Libya, Chad, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Namibia and South Africa.
Not all of the route is paved.


5 –The Trans Canada Highway – This 8,030 kilometer east/west highway is situated in southern Canada located between St John’s in Newfoundland and Labrador and Victoria in British Columbia.
The highway incorporates twenty five provincial highways and travels through all ten of Canada’s provinces (but not it’s territories) as it makes it’s way between the country’s Atlantic Ocean coast on it’s eastern seaboard and it’s Pacific Ocean to the west.
In 2012 the Trans Canada Highway became the world’s longest highway to incorporate electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, located at strategic points along it’s entire route.


6 – E30 – Also known as European Route 30, is a 5,800 kilometer east/west, international highway which runs from the city of Cork in southern Ireland to Russia’s capital city, Moscow.
The highway incorporates twenty three national highways, two ferry crossings and travels through the seven countries of the Republic of Ireland, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Belarus and the Russian Federation.
The highway is signposted as the E30 each country except Great Britain.
The highway’s ferry crossings are situated between Rosslare in the Republic of Ireland and Fishguard in Wales and Felixstowe in England and Hoek van Holland in the Netherlands.


7– National Highway G010, China – Also known as the Tongsan Highway, is a 5,700 kilometer  north/south highway which is the longest road in China. The highway travels through nine Chinese provinces between the city of Tongjiang located in China’s most north easterly province of Heilgjiang and the city of Sanya located in China’s most south easterly located province of Hainan.


8- US Route 20 – This 5,415 kilometers long highway which link with twelve interstate highways and travels through ten US states is the United States’s longest highway. The highway links the city of Newport in Oregon, located on America’s west coast with the city of Boston in Massachusettes located on America’s east coast.


9– U.S Route 6 – Also known as the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, this  5,159 kilometer long east/west highway links with ten interstate highways and travels through eleven U.S states linking the city of Bishop in California on America’s west coast with the city of Provincetown in Massachusettes on America’s east coast.


10- National Route 40, Argentina – This 5,000 kilometer long highway runs from Punta Layola in Santa Cruz to La Quiaca in Jujuy, Argentina. The road runs parallel with the Andes Mountain Range and passes through twenty seven national parks, crosses eighteen major rivers and links with twenty seven Andean mountain passes.  The road begins at sea level and climbs to an ultimate elevation of 5,000 meters above sea level.


State Highway 1, New Zealand



11– Interstate 90, USA – This 4,990 kilometer long east/west highway which links with thirteen interstate highways and travels through ten US states, links the city of Seattle in Washington on America’s west coast with the city of Boston in Massachusettes on America’s east coast.


 12 – The Rodovia Governador Mario Covas, Brazil – Also known as the BR-101, is a north/south highway measuring 4,800 kilometers in length which links the city of Touros on Brazil’s north coast with the city of Sao Jose de Norte on it’s south coast.  The highway passes through the twelve Brazilian states of  Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe, Bahia, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, linking each of the twelve state’s capital cities along with several coastal villages, port towns and beach resorts.  The highway is also served by the five kilometer long, Rio Niteroi Bridge, which spans the scenic Guanabar Bay, linking the city of  Rio de Janeiro with it’s suburb of Niteroi.


13 – Interstate 80, USA – This  4,666 kilometer long east/west highway which links with twelve interstate highways, one state highway and travels through nine US states, links the city of San Francisco in California, situated on America’s west coast, with the city of Teaneck in New Jersey, located on America’s east coast.


14 - Trans African Highway 2 (TAH2) –  Also known as the Trans Saharan Highway, this 4,500 kilometer long highway, which travels through a large swathe of sub Saharan Africa, links the Mediterranean coastal city of Algiers in Algeria with the Atlantic Ocean port city of Lagos in Nigeria. The highway, which travels through a vast area of the Sahara Desert, is classified as a good road, ninety five per cent of which is paved.


15– Interstate 10, USA – This 3,959 kilometer long east/ west highway, which links with eleven interstate highways and travels through six US states, links the city of Santa Monica in California on America’s west coast with the city of Jacksonville in Florida on America’s east coast.


 16 – The Will Rogers Highway, USA – Better known as Route 66 is a 3,945 kilometer long, historic highway system which begins life in the city of Chicago and travels in a southerly direction through the five states of Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, before veering in a westerly direction through the three states of New Mexico, Arizona and California, where it terminates in the coastal city of Santa Monica in Los Angeles County, California.


17 – Interstate 95, USA – This 3,089 kilometer long east coast, north/south highway, which links with seven interstate highways and one state highway, travels through nine US states linking the city of Miami in Florida with the town of Houlton, located on the US/Canada border, in the state of Maine.


18 - The Grand Trunk Road – Is a 2,500 kilometer long highway system which links the city of Kabul in Afghanistan with the city of Chittagong in Bangladesh.The highway travels through the four countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, passing through the cities of Peshwar in Pakistan, Dhaka and Chittagong in Bangladesh, Kabul in Afghanistan, and Lahore, Delhi, Benares and Calcutta in India and incorpoarates six national highways.


19 - D400 Highway, Turkey – This 2,057 kilometer east/west highway is situated along southern Turkey’s Mediterranean coast located along the Taurus Mountains. The highway links the small coastal town of Datca, located on the southernmost tip of the Datca Peninsula of western Turkey, with the city of Essendere in eastern Turkey, located near it’s border with Iran.


 20 - State Highway 1, New Zealand – This 2,047 kilometer north/south highway links both the north and south islands of New Zealand, from the very northern most point of the North Island at Cape Reinga on the Aupouri Peninsula, all the way through to Stirling Point, on the southern most point of the South Island.
The highway passes through the major New Zealand cities of Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill and incorporates a ferry crossing located between the city of Wellington on the North Island and the town of Picton on the South Island.



The Trans African Highways Network



And, just in case you were wondering, the countries with the the world’s longest highway networks are the USA with 6.4 million kilometers, India with 3.3 million kilometers, China with 1.9 million kilometers,  Brazil with 1.7 million kilometers and Japan with 1.1 million kilometers.
Despite Russia being the largest country in the world, the country only has around 755,000 kilometers of paved roads.
The country with the densest national road network is the Netherlands, a country which covers an area of just 41,543 square kilometers which is served by a 135,470 kilometer long national road network.



                       FIND HOTELS ALONG THE WORLD'S LONGEST HIGHWAYS
Finding the right hotel just got a whole lot easier - HotelsCombined.com 

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