Which Side of the Road Do Countries Drive On? The Full World List

Quick answer

54 of the world's roughly 195 sovereign countries drive on the left — about 28%. If you also count dependent territories (places like the Cayman Islands, Isle of Man, and Hong Kong, which set their own traffic rules but aren't independent countries), the total climbs to around 75 left-driving jurisdictions, which is where the commonly quoted "1 in 3" or "35%" figures come from. Either way you count it, right-hand traffic is the global majority: roughly 140+ sovereign countries, covering about 75% of the world's roads.

Different sites report different totals — 54, 56, 67, 74, 76 — mostly because they're counting different things: UN member states only, versus UN states plus territories, versus slightly different judgment calls on a handful of edge cases. The number below (54 sovereign countries) follows the same methodology as Wikipedia's reference list; see Sources at the end.

Countries that drive on the left (54 sovereign states)

Left-hand traffic is concentrated heavily in former British territories, plus a few notable exceptions.

Europe (4): United Kingdom, Ireland, Malta, Cyprus

Asia (14): Japan, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Timor-Leste, Maldives

Africa (14): South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Seychelles

Oceania (10): Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Samoa, Kiribati, Nauru, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu

Caribbean & South America (12): Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, The Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Guyana, Suriname

Notice the overlap with Commonwealth realms and former British colonies — see our full list of the world's monarchies for how closely these two maps line up, and where they diverge (Mozambique and Suriname, for instance, drive on the left despite Portuguese and Dutch colonial histories, purely because every neighbour they border does).

Countries that drive on the right (the global majority)

Right-hand traffic covers nearly all of the Americas, mainland Europe, and most of Africa and mainland Asia:

• North America: United States, Canada, Mexico
• South America: every country except Guyana and Suriname, including Brazil, Argentina, and Chile
• Mainland Europe: France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and every EU country except Ireland, Malta, and Cyprus
• Most of Asia: China, Russia, South Korea, North Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines, and — despite widespread use of right-hand-drive cars — Myanmar
• Most of Africa: Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt, Morocco, Ethiopia, Algeria, Sierra Leone, The Gambia

Why the split exists

The pattern traces back mainly to two historical influences:

• British-influenced left-hand traffic predates cars, tracing to horseback and sword-hand convention — riders kept to the left so their right (usually sword) hand faced oncoming traffic. Britain formalised this into law and exported it through the empire; Japan reached the same convention independently through its own samurai-era tradition, later reinforced by British railway engineers who helped build Japan's early rail network.
• Right-hand traffic spread mainly through Napoleon-era France, which standardised right-hand traffic across much of continental Europe. French colonies inherited it, and it later became the default for most of the Americas and francophone Africa.

Countries that switched sides — the full story

Most driving-side articles mention Sweden and stop there. The fuller picture is more interesting:

• Sweden switched from left to right in 1967 in a single coordinated event known as Dagen H ("H Day"), to align with its Nordic and continental European neighbours.
• Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia — all former British colonies that inherited left-hand traffic — switched to the right in the 1970s specifically to match their francophone West African neighbours (Benin, Togo, Niger, Senegal, Guinea), reducing friction at land borders.
• Myanmar switched from left to right in 1970, reportedly on the advice of a fortune teller to the military ruler at the time. Decades later, most cars on Myanmar's roads are still right-hand-drive imports — a mismatch that makes overtaking notably more dangerous there.
• Samoa switched from right to left in 2009 — the most recent switch on record — specifically to make it cheaper to import used cars from nearby Australia, New Zealand, and Japan.
• Okinawa switched from right to left in 1978, six years after the US returned administration of the islands to Japan, to align with the rest of the country.

Between 1919 and 1986, roughly 34 countries switched from left-hand to right-hand traffic — part of a broader 20th-century trend, though a few, like Samoa, have gone the other direction.

Why this matters for travelers

• Rental cars: driving on the unfamiliar side is one of the leading causes of tourist accidents abroad — pedestrians instinctively look the wrong way before crossing, too.
• Border crossings: a handful of land borders switch sides mid-crossing via a dedicated flyover or changeover bridge — notably between Thailand (right) and Malaysia (left), and between mainland China (right) and Hong Kong or Macau (left).
• Steering wheel side: left-driving countries typically use right-hand-drive cars, and vice versa. This affects rental costs and, in places like Myanmar, creates a lasting mismatch between road rules and the used-car market.

For more on how colonial history still shapes the modern map, see countries that no longer exist and official country names vs common names.

Quick reference table

| Region | Predominant side | Notable exception |

|---|---|---|

| Western Europe | Right | UK, Ireland, Malta, Cyprus drive left |

| Southern & East Africa | Left | Most of the region, unlike North and West Africa |

| West Africa | Right | Nigeria and Ghana switched from left in the 1970s |

| South America | Right | Guyana and Suriname are the only left-driving exceptions |

| South & Southeast Asia | Mixed | India, Thailand, Indonesia left; China, Vietnam, Myanmar right |

| Oceania | Left | Australia, NZ, and most Pacific island nations |

How we verified this list

Country counts and classifications follow Wikipedia's Left- and right-hand traffic reference list, cross-checked against World Population Review and World Standards. Where sources disagreed on totals, we counted sovereign UN member states only (54) and noted separately how the figure changes once dependent territories are included (~75).

FAQs

What percentage of countries drive on the left?

About 28% of sovereign countries (54 of ~195). If dependent territories are included, the total rises to around 75 left-driving jurisdictions — closer to a third — which is why you'll see both figures quoted.

Why does the UK drive on the left?

The convention predates cars, originating in horseback and sword-hand etiquette, and was carried into motoring and exported across the British Empire.

Has any country recently switched sides?

Samoa switched from right to left in 2009 — the most recent switch — specifically to ease car imports from neighbouring left-driving countries.

Do all former British colonies drive on the left?

No. Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia were all British colonies but switched to right-hand traffic in the 1970s to align with francophone neighbours. The United States and Canada also drive on the right, for unrelated historical reasons.

Why do Mozambique and Suriname drive on the left despite not being former British colonies?

Both are surrounded by left-driving neighbours — Mozambique by South Africa, Eswatini, and others; Suriname by Guyana. Matching neighbouring countries made cross-border driving safer and more practical than following their Portuguese or Dutch colonial heritage.

Test yourself

Once the regional patterns feel familiar, try guessing a country's driving side before checking the tables above — Africa and Asia are the hardest to call correctly, since both are genuinely mixed rather than uniform. Since driving side correlates so strongly with colonial and Commonwealth history, our monarchies of the world list is a good companion guide if you want to see exactly where those historical lines still show up today.