You might think this is a rhetorical question – and if it were, I am sure there are a half a dozen true and hilarious answers.
It’s not, though. So, what is the actual longest road in the world?
The standard and most-accepted answer is the Pan-American Highway. It stretches over 19,000 miles from Alaska all the way to Argentina.
Some people, though, prefer to argue due to the fact that the Pan-American Highway is not completely connected.
The highway was first proposed by the United States in 1923 as a way to bind together all of the nations along it (while boosting sales and exports to Latin America).
in 1924, 37 delegates from Latin America came to Washington DC to hear the sales pitch. A deal was reached several years later, signed by Argentina, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, and the United States in 1937.
After that, nothing significant happened until the 1970s, when President Nixon promised to finish the continent-crossing highway – a promise he actually failed to keep.
Today, you’re not able to drive the full length of the highway. There’s a significant (100-mile-long) gap in the Darian Gap, which connects Panama to Columbia.
No road goes through the gap, and environmentalists are a big reason Nixon failed to connect this final piece.
The area is also frequented by armed militia, gangs, and drug traffickers, which also present a significant safety risk.
Despite the gap, the Pan-American Highway still holds the Guinness World Record for the “longest motorable road.”
Asian Highway 1 is its closest competitor. It traverses 12,774 miles from Tokyo, Japan to the Turkish/Bulgarian border, going through Korea, China, Southeast Asia, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Iran.
There is a 585-mile gap in this road, too, because of the bit of sea that separates Japan from South Korea – and the fact that civilians can’t cross through the Demilitarized Zone.
The longest road that’s actually drivable the whole entire length is Australia’s Highway 1. It stretches for 9,000 miles and holds the Guinness World Record for the “longest continuous road.”
The record for circling Australia on it is 5 days, 13 hours, and 43 minutes.
Now you now.
Go forth and conquer those Trivial Pursuit games, my friends.
If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read a story that reveals Earth’s priciest precious metal isn’t gold or platinum and costs over $10,000 an ounce!