To be precise... is it precisely or is it not?
It cannot be almost precisely
Sorry, but misused (qualified) absolutes are a pet bugbear of mine
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To be precise... is it precisely or is it not?
In most respects (other than the number) A7 is the *same* road as the Danish E45Euan wrote: ↑Tue Jul 20, 2021 23:21 Very fascinating map. From what I can see, Germany and Denmark is the only pair of countries whose longest numbered roads connect with each other (the German A7 and the Danish part of the E45). Might there be any other pairs of countries in the world with this property?
Yes, the other reason is that most of the south and east coast of South Africa has little to no coastal plain, with irregular hilly or even mountainous terrain right down to the sea, so the road is often relatively winding and indirect. In fact quite a few people are disappointed that you don't see the sea at all for about 4 hours between Sir Lowry's Pass and Mossel Bay.crazyknightsfan wrote: ↑Mon Jul 26, 2021 09:21It looks quite similar to Highway 1 (Australia) between Melbourne and Adelaide, and Sydney and Melbourne, in following the coastal area but most through traffic uses the direct route.booshank wrote: ↑Sun Jul 25, 2021 23:42 The longest numbered road in South Africa is the N2, most internet searches give an unsourced length of 2255 km but a Google Maps measurement is 2230 km.
What is a little unusual about the N2 as a road number is that it isn't a sensible route to actually take between its end points in Cape Town and Ermelo either in terms of distance or time. In fact Google Maps suggests a route that doesn't involve the N2 at all. In fact it's not even a sensible route between the two largest cities it connects, Cape Town and Durban, with most traffic going N1-N5-N3 instead.
And yet I'll bet nobody would have complained if I'd said "almost exactly", even though the meaning is exactly (and precisely) the same.Micro The Maniac wrote: ↑Mon Jul 26, 2021 12:38To be precise... is it precisely or is it not?
It cannot be almost precisely
Sorry, but misused (qualified) absolutes are a pet bugbear of mine
It's actually a triplet - the E45 is also Sweden's longest numbered road, and (according to Google at any rate) the ferry route between Frederikshavn and Gothenburg is still officially the E45:Euan wrote: ↑Tue Jul 20, 2021 23:21Very fascinating map. From what I can see, Germany and Denmark is the only pair of countries whose longest numbered roads connect with each other (the German A7 and the Danish part of the E45). Might there be any other pairs of countries in the world with this property?ChrisH wrote: ↑Mon Jul 19, 2021 15:01 Here's an interesting map from Reddit / Maps on the web:
Interestingly the longest numbered road in any European country is not in Russia but is actually the E6 in Norway at a chunky 2628km. Spain's N340 is surprisingly long at over 1200km. Our own A1 clocks in at a mere 660km.
But does the E45 belong to Sweden, any more than the E6 belongs to Norway?FosseWay wrote: ↑Mon Aug 09, 2021 10:18It's actually a triplet - the E45 is also Sweden's longest numbered road, and (according to Google at any rate) the ferry route between Frederikshavn and Gothenburg is still officially the E45:Euan wrote: ↑Tue Jul 20, 2021 23:21Very fascinating map. From what I can see, Germany and Denmark is the only pair of countries whose longest numbered roads connect with each other (the German A7 and the Danish part of the E45). Might there be any other pairs of countries in the world with this property?ChrisH wrote: ↑Mon Jul 19, 2021 15:01 Here's an interesting map from Reddit / Maps on the web:
Interestingly the longest numbered road in any European country is not in Russia but is actually the E6 in Norway at a chunky 2628km. Spain's N340 is surprisingly long at over 1200km. Our own A1 clocks in at a mere 660km.
E45.png
No, the E45 doesn't belong to either Denmark or Sweden, but I don't think that matters for the purposes of this exercise: it's the longest numbered road in the country in question. That it extends elsewhere (and is also the longest numbered road in another country) doesn't really matter. In other words, if the Swedish and Danish E45 stretches were numbered something else (rv45 for Sweden, for example), they'd still be the same length and still connect with each other.Owain wrote: ↑Mon Aug 09, 2021 10:40But does the E45 belong to Sweden, any more than the E6 belongs to Norway?FosseWay wrote: ↑Mon Aug 09, 2021 10:18It's actually a triplet - the E45 is also Sweden's longest numbered road, and (according to Google at any rate) the ferry route between Frederikshavn and Gothenburg is still officially the E45:Euan wrote: ↑Tue Jul 20, 2021 23:21
Very fascinating map. From what I can see, Germany and Denmark is the only pair of countries whose longest numbered roads connect with each other (the German A7 and the Danish part of the E45). Might there be any other pairs of countries in the world with this property?
E45.png
I would argue that it doesn't, and that the Scandinavian countries have no domestic numbering system for their most important routes. That would mean that they cannot win this contest!
[And, like the linguistic difference, the road numbers serve to demonstrate that Finland is not Scandinavian!]
What struck me quickly was that for Malaysia, the longest route was on the Borneo part rather than the peninsular part.ChrisH wrote: ↑Tue Jul 27, 2021 09:58 Here is the next version: longest numbered roads in each county of Asia.
Lots of interesting snippets on this one, including Afghanistan's circular highway (presumably not recommended at the moment!); the Philippines' national route crossing many islands; and China's longest route the G318 connecting Shanghai to Nepal via Tibet.
Although it isn't continuous because there are, not one, but two, parts of Brunei that interrupt it!Was92now625 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 09, 2021 22:07What struck me quickly was that for Malaysia, the longest route was on the Borneo part rather than the peninsular part.ChrisH wrote: ↑Tue Jul 27, 2021 09:58 Here is the next version: longest numbered roads in each county of Asia.
Lots of interesting snippets on this one, including Afghanistan's circular highway (presumably not recommended at the moment!); the Philippines' national route crossing many islands; and China's longest route the G318 connecting Shanghai to Nepal via Tibet.
Yes, I see this now from a more careful look at the map. Of course, Borneo is the only island to contain 3 countries. Not many contain 2.Owain wrote: ↑Mon Aug 09, 2021 23:23Although it isn't continuous because there are, not one, but two, parts of Brunei that interrupt it!Was92now625 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 09, 2021 22:07
What struck me quickly was that for Malaysia, the longest route was on the Borneo part rather than the peninsular part.
Going back to Denmark, the geography of the country positively encourages the country's longest-numbered route to be on a different piece of land than the island occupied by the capital.
It's a crazy island! Your post prompted me to take a good look at it; I knew that there were two separate parts to Brunei, both surrounded by the Borneo portion of Malaysia, but look at the bridge Brunei built to enable access between its two separate parts. Wow!Was92now625 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 09, 2021 23:48Yes, I see this now from a more careful look at the map. Of course, Borneo is the only island to contain 3 countries. Not many contain 2.Owain wrote: ↑Mon Aug 09, 2021 23:23Although it isn't continuous because there are, not one, but two, parts of Brunei that interrupt it!Was92now625 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 09, 2021 22:07
What struck me quickly was that for Malaysia, the longest route was on the Borneo part rather than the peninsular part.
Going back to Denmark, the geography of the country positively encourages the country's longest-numbered route to be on a different piece of land than the island occupied by the capital.
I'd known Brunei was 2 separate parts inland but only on seeing this did I check carefully on a map and indeed, discounting the bridge (!), they are separate at the coast as well.Owain wrote: ↑Mon Aug 09, 2021 23:55
It's a crazy island! Your post prompted me to take a good look at it; I knew that there were two separate parts to Brunei, both surrounded by the Borneo portion of Malaysia, but look at the bridge Brunei built to enable access between its two separate parts. Wow!
That has to be some kind of record!Was92now625 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 10, 2021 23:12I'd known Brunei was 2 separate parts inland but only on seeing this did I check carefully on a map and indeed, discounting the bridge (!), they are separate at the coast as well.Owain wrote: ↑Mon Aug 09, 2021 23:55
It's a crazy island! Your post prompted me to take a good look at it; I knew that there were two separate parts to Brunei, both surrounded by the Borneo portion of Malaysia, but look at the bridge Brunei built to enable access between its two separate parts. Wow!
So, if you travel round the coast of Borneo, you encounter 6 national borders i.e. Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Malaysia, Brunei, Malaysia.
If they do carry out the plans to move the capital of Indonesia to Borneo from Java, then Borneo would have
- One part containing the capital AND the longest road for that country (Brunei)
One Part containing the capital BUT NOT the longest road (Indonesia)
One part containing the longest road but not the capital (Malaysia)
Actually, the E45 in Sweden was Rv45 between 1991 and 2006. Before 1991, the route did not have a contiguous numbering but half a dozen of numbers. This is a good example about making long routes by replacing number signs only.FosseWay wrote: ↑Mon Aug 09, 2021 11:20
No, the E45 doesn't belong to either Denmark or Sweden, but I don't think that matters for the purposes of this exercise: it's the longest numbered road in the country in question. That it extends elsewhere (and is also the longest numbered road in another country) doesn't really matter. In other words, if the Swedish and Danish E45 stretches were numbered something else (rv45 for Sweden, for example), they'd still be the same length and still connect with each other.
In a sense, Sweden does in any case have a domestic number for these important routes, since the numbers used by E-routes on Swedish territory are not duplicated in the national (riksväg) numbering scheme. There is no rv6, rv45, rv18 etc. AFAIK Denmark does the same. You see the point of this pedantry when you cross the Danish-German border onto the A7 - it's still the E45 but not signed as such.
I do hope you weren't watching Masterchef this evening - somebody described two things as "highly identical"!