I’m currently in Kenya, which drives on the left, but I’m originally from Germany where we drive on the right. The switch always throws me off for the first few days. Got me wondering what the full global picture looks like.
Turns out only about 54 out of 195 countries drive on the left, mostly former British colonies plus a few others like Japan and Thailand.
Sources: World Bank, CIA World Factbook, UN, Natural Earth (map geometry)
Tools: Python (matplotlib, geopandas)
Did I get any of these wrong? Would love corrections if so, some of the smaller countries were tricky to verify.
Affectionate-End5470 on
Wow danke
Way more than i thought
EdinburghNerd on
Seems like a massive minority but it’s as much as 35% of the population
Highfivesghost on
I wonder which side has more accidents
goldenkicksbook on
The reason that the UK and its colonies drive on the left can be traced back to the Romans, who marched on the left to keep their sword hands in the centre of the road. This was also the case across all the former Roman colonies until Napoleon, who switched to the right. As Napoleon never conquered Britain, the British remained on the left.
ViolentPurpleSquash on
Left handed driving is better because I like it more
JPBillingsgate on
I have driven on the left in several different countries, so far without incident.
That said, the most odd is the U.S. Virgin Islands, where you drive on the left but using American cars. That was an especially odd experience.
But Scottish “B” roads are the ones that have been the most intimidating.
Acceptable_Use_428 on
Hong Kong and Macau drive on the left
Rameez_Raja on
Burma/Myanmar used to drive on the left too until one day (not joking at all) their dictator had a dream that driving on the left would make the people communist or whatever, so he consulted a wizard who picked an auspicious day to have the entire country start driving on the right literally overnight.
Apart from all the immediate issues that this change created, Burma is poor af and most of its vehicles are used imports from Japan, India, and Thailand meaning they’re all RWD cars… everyone is driving with the steering wheel on the wrong side. This creates interesting scenarios like if you’re on public bus, you have to alright _into_ the traffic lane.
nesquikchocolate on
OP I think you might be missing it, but in South Africa we don’t drive on the left. We drive on what’s left…
gyanChodu on
Malta almost invisible in the map, also drives on the left.
drdistressedflamingo on
Lol. The do drive in Taiwan. It’s on the right. And on the left in Hong Kong
xxearvinxx on
I was not aware of this. I thought the US was in the minority by driving on the right side of the road. I didn’t realize basically all of Europe did as well, with the exception of the UK and Ireland.
hide_in_plain_sight_ on
Big up Left side of the roaders 🤜👊
SaltyShawarma on
I thought in India they drive wherever the hell they want.
Scr33ble on
Where is the little yellow dot for Bermuda?!
nico87ca on
I mean picture is not HD, or you’re forgetting Malta!
HurricaneLink on
I wonder with Guyana growing so much, they might switch to right-hand driving, to better connect with the regional economy.
SorenShieldbreaker on
When I vacation every year in Grand Cayman, the left side driving isn’t hard to adjust to at all. The stalks being switched always gets me for the first couple days though.
20 Comments
I’m currently in Kenya, which drives on the left, but I’m originally from Germany where we drive on the right. The switch always throws me off for the first few days. Got me wondering what the full global picture looks like.
Turns out only about 54 out of 195 countries drive on the left, mostly former British colonies plus a few others like Japan and Thailand.
Sources: World Bank, CIA World Factbook, UN, Natural Earth (map geometry)
Tools: Python (matplotlib, geopandas)
Did I get any of these wrong? Would love corrections if so, some of the smaller countries were tricky to verify.
Wow danke
Way more than i thought
Seems like a massive minority but it’s as much as 35% of the population
I wonder which side has more accidents
The reason that the UK and its colonies drive on the left can be traced back to the Romans, who marched on the left to keep their sword hands in the centre of the road. This was also the case across all the former Roman colonies until Napoleon, who switched to the right. As Napoleon never conquered Britain, the British remained on the left.
Left handed driving is better because I like it more
I have driven on the left in several different countries, so far without incident.
That said, the most odd is the U.S. Virgin Islands, where you drive on the left but using American cars. That was an especially odd experience.
But Scottish “B” roads are the ones that have been the most intimidating.
Hong Kong and Macau drive on the left
Burma/Myanmar used to drive on the left too until one day (not joking at all) their dictator had a dream that driving on the left would make the people communist or whatever, so he consulted a wizard who picked an auspicious day to have the entire country start driving on the right literally overnight.
Apart from all the immediate issues that this change created, Burma is poor af and most of its vehicles are used imports from Japan, India, and Thailand meaning they’re all RWD cars… everyone is driving with the steering wheel on the wrong side. This creates interesting scenarios like if you’re on public bus, you have to alright _into_ the traffic lane.
OP I think you might be missing it, but in South Africa we don’t drive on the left. We drive on what’s left…
Malta almost invisible in the map, also drives on the left.
Lol. The do drive in Taiwan. It’s on the right. And on the left in Hong Kong
I was not aware of this. I thought the US was in the minority by driving on the right side of the road. I didn’t realize basically all of Europe did as well, with the exception of the UK and Ireland.
Big up Left side of the roaders 🤜👊
I thought in India they drive wherever the hell they want.
Where is the little yellow dot for Bermuda?!
I mean picture is not HD, or you’re forgetting Malta!
I wonder with Guyana growing so much, they might switch to right-hand driving, to better connect with the regional economy.
When I vacation every year in Grand Cayman, the left side driving isn’t hard to adjust to at all. The stalks being switched always gets me for the first couple days though.
Taiwan drives on the right side!