Read the road

How to tell which country you are in

Drop someone on an ordinary street anywhere on Earth and most people see nothing to go on. In fact the road is full of clues: the side people drive on, the paint on the tarmac, the letters on a shop sign, the plants on the verge. Start with the six that work almost everywhere, then pick a country.

Six clues that work anywhere

  1. Which side of the road. Look at parked cars and oncoming traffic. About a third of the world’s people drive on the left, including the United Kingdom, Japan, India, Australia and much of southern Africa.
  2. The script and the spelling. Even if you cannot read it, the alphabet narrows things down fast. Accents and letter clusters, like ã, ø or sz, usually point to a single language.
  3. The colour of the lines. Yellow centre lines are common across the Americas and in Norway and Finland. Most of Europe uses white.
  4. Number plates. Shape, colour and coloured bands on plates are often unique to one country, even when the text is blurred.
  5. Plants and soil. Palms, eucalyptus, birch or cactus, and the colour of the earth on the verge, tell you about climate and continent.
  6. The sun. At midday the sun sits to the south in the northern hemisphere and to the north in the southern hemisphere.

Europe

United KingdomDrives leftFranceDrives rightSpainDrives rightPortugalDrives rightItalyDrives rightGreeceDrives rightPolandDrives rightSwedenDrives rightNorwayDrives rightFinlandDrives rightIrelandDrives leftGermanyDrives rightNetherlandsDrives rightDenmarkDrives rightCzech RepublicDrives rightCroatiaDrives rightRomaniaDrives rightBulgariaDrives rightSwitzerlandDrives rightUkraineDrives rightAustriaDrives rightBelgiumDrives rightSloveniaDrives rightSerbiaDrives rightBosnia and HerzegovinaDrives rightAlbaniaDrives rightNorth MacedoniaDrives rightHungaryDrives rightLithuaniaDrives rightLatviaDrives rightEstoniaDrives rightIcelandDrives rightTürkiyeDrives rightMontenegroDrives rightSlovakiaDrives rightLuxembourgDrives rightMaltaDrives leftCyprusDrives leftFaroe IslandsDrives rightGibraltarDrives rightJerseyDrives leftIsle of ManDrives leftMonacoDrives rightSan MarinoDrives rightLiechtensteinDrives rightAndorraDrives rightSvalbardDrives right

Americas

United StatesDrives rightCanadaDrives rightMexicoDrives rightBrazilDrives rightChileDrives rightArgentinaDrives rightUruguayDrives rightPeruDrives rightEcuadorDrives rightColombiaDrives rightParaguayDrives rightGuatemalaDrives rightDominican RepublicDrives rightPuerto RicoDrives rightPanamaDrives rightCosta RicaDrives rightBermudaDrives leftCuraçaoDrives right

Asia

JapanDrives leftIndiaDrives leftIndonesiaDrives leftVietnamDrives rightSouth KoreaDrives rightTaiwanDrives rightThailandDrives leftPhilippinesDrives rightIsraelDrives rightMalaysiaDrives leftSri LankaDrives leftNepalDrives leftLaosDrives rightJordanDrives rightMongoliaDrives rightKazakhstanDrives rightKyrgyzstanDrives rightUzbekistanDrives rightBangladeshDrives leftCambodiaDrives rightBhutanDrives leftSingaporeDrives leftHong KongDrives leftMacauDrives leftUnited Arab EmiratesDrives rightOmanDrives rightLebanonDrives rightQatarDrives right

Africa

South AfricaDrives leftKenyaDrives leftNigeriaDrives rightGhanaDrives rightEgyptDrives rightTunisiaDrives rightSenegalDrives rightBeninDrives rightRwandaDrives rightUgandaDrives leftMadagascarDrives rightNamibiaDrives leftBotswanaDrives leftLesothoDrives leftEswatiniDrives leftRéunionDrives right

Oceania

AustraliaDrives leftNew ZealandDrives left

Put it into practice

Placivago gives you three real street-level places a day, on ordinary streets away from famous landmarks, so these clues are all you have. It is free, and takes about six minutes.

Play today’s three places