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3 percent (4.5 million km2 / 2.8 million mi2) of the Earth’s land cover is occupied by urban areas. However, even non-urban areas contain roads, railroads, and other marks of human presence. 14.6% of the planet’s land area has been modified by humans. Only ten percent of the world is truly a wilderness.
The following maps illustrate the extent of humanity’s transformation of planet Earth.
Railroads have played an immense role in shaping the world we live in today. Since the first steam locomotive journey on February 21st, 1804 in South Wales, history has been written in rail cars and railways across every continent. In everything from leisure, to territorial expansion, to map making, and even (especially) the Industrial Revolution – Rail travel has created a transportation narrative that lives on today and has shaped the day to day transportation needs of millions of people from New York to Tokyo and everywhere in between.
Pictured here are the thousands of railways that connect the various regions of our world. These revolutionary transportation networks were the godfathers of the hyper-connectivity we know today.
The combined length of all railroads on Earth is 1,051,768 km (653,538 miles).
Top 10 countries by railroad network size
Rank
Country
Length, km
Area (sq. km) per km track
Population per km track
1
United States
219,200
65.55
2,060
2
China
150,000
65.62
9,570
3
Russia
85,600
199.98
1,678
4
India
67,956
25.98
10,999
5
Canada
49,422
214.48
674
6
Germany
40,625
9.26
2,145
7
Argentina
36,966
77.45
1,117
8
Australia
33,168
231.91
742
9
Brazil
29,817
299.6
7,225
10
France
29.273
22.78
2,374
Roads
The combined length of all roads on our planet is 33,618,331 km (20.89 million miles).
The United States boasts the global’s most extensive road network, followed by India and China.
Top 10 countries by road network size
Rank
Country
Total length, km
Density, km/100 sq km
1
United States
6,853,024
71
2
India
6,215,797
189
3
China
6,198,000
54
4
Brazil
2,000,000
23
5
Russia
1,529,373
9
6
France
1,053,215
191
7
Canada
1,042,300
10
8
Australia
873,573
11
9
Mexico
780,512
40
10
South Africa
750,000
61
Roads vs Railroads
Seaports
There are 7698 seaports in the world.
Ocean freight is responsible for 90% of world trade. Fifteen of the top busiest 20 ports globally are located in Asia, which occupy all the top 10 spots of the world’s busiest and largest ports. Seven of the ten largest ports by cargo volume are located in China.
Top 10 busiest ports
Rank
City
Country
Million twenty-foot equivalent unit
1
Shanghai
China
43.5
2
Singapore
Singapore
36.6
3
Ningbo-Zhoushan
China
28.72
4
Shenzhen
China
26.55
5
Guangzhou Harbor
China
23.19
6
Busan
South Korea
22
8
Hong Kong
China
30.07
9
Tianjin
China
18.35
10
Rotterdam
The Netherlands
14.35
Airports
There are 7698 airports in the world. The United States has the most airports. Brazil has the second most.
Top 10 Top 10 countries by a number of total serviceable airports
Rank
Country
Number of airports
1
United States
13,513
2
Brazil
4,093
3
Mexico
1,714
4
Canada
1,464
5
Russia
1,218
6
Argentina
916
7
Bolivia
855
8
Colombia
836
9
Paraguay
799
10
Indonesia
673
The transport system of our planet
Cities
The population living in cities has more than doubled over the last 40 years. Nowadays, about 57% of the world’s population lives in cities.
The total number of cities in the world is 1,880, 246, 838.
Top 10 countries by a number of urban areas
Rank
Country
Urban areas over 500 thousand
Urban areas over 1 million
Urban areas over 5 million
1
China
224
101
17
2
India
107
59
11
3
United States
78
43
9
4
Russia
37
15
2
5
Brazil
36
27
3
6
Mexico
30
13
1
7
Nigeria
24
11
2
8
Indonesia
23
14
2
9
Japan
22
9
3
10
Philippines
21
4
1
And finally, a world map that illustrates cities and the transportation system of our planet.
