Recognizing countries - Africa & Middle East

Introduction

Very few countries have streetview coverage, so your choices are quite limited.

streetview coverage of Africa

Left-hand or right-hand traffic

You will find left-hand traffic in :

-Eastern Africa : Ouganda and Kenya.

-Southern Africa: Botswana, South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini (which are 2 small countries near South Africa).


You will find right-hand traffic in:

-western Africa: Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal.

-Maghreb and Middle East : Tunisia, Israel & palestinian territories, Jordan, United Arab Emirates.

French speaking Africa

You can find some french in only 2 countries, Tunisia and Senegal.

Tunisia

-They use arab and french languages.

-Landscapes are arid and sandy.

Senegal

-They use Wolof and french.

-Senegal is located in Black Africa.

-Some bars are visible on the google if you look at the ground. In Africa, Ghana and sometimes Nigeria have bars on the google car, but with a different look.

bars meta - Senegal

English speaking Africa

The 2 areas where you will find english are Tropical Africa and Southern Africa.

Southern Africa

Those four countries haev streetview coverage : Botswana, South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini.

southern Africa

All those countries have the same yellow paintings on the side of the roads :

road paintings in southern Africa

If you find a road number, you will be able to tell them apart : A roads are in Botswana/Lesotho, R roads are in South Africa, MR roads are in Eswatini.

Also, finding dutch sounding words is a good indication that you're likely in South Africa.

Tropical Africa

4 countries have streetview coverage : Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and Ouganda.

The most obvious way to find in which one you are is to look at the google car or the follow car.

In Ghana, the google car has bars with black tape.

Ghana google car meta

In Nigeria, there is often a police car following you.

Nigeria follow car meta

In Kenya, the car has a snorkel.

Kenya google car with a snorkel

In Ouganda, only the capital Kampala has streetview coverage, the google car is a white commercial vehicle.

Ouganda google car

Middle East

Middle East has almost exclusively desertic landscapes.

Jordan and the United Arab Emirates

They use both arab and english languages.

Even though they're very similar, one obvious difference is the black and white paint on the side of the road in the UAE..

UAE road paintings

Israël and palestinian territories.

You will find a mix of arab and hebrew languages, also main roads are written in red :

Israël road signs