The longest distance overland in a straight line is 13,589 kilometers long and crosses 18 countries and territories in 9 different time zones.

It might possibly be the mother of all overland routes. An epic journey across two entire continents, straight through some of the most dangerous places on Earth. Can the longest distance on land in a straight line be my next challenge?

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I did my fair bit of research but never did I come across anyone who ever attempted to travel this route. In fact, anyone who would ever complete this route will instantly end up in the Guinness book of world records. So why is this route so unexplored? Is it because of complexity, travel safety, or is it perhaps simply impossible to travel this route? In this article I will talk about some of the challenges I spotted.

Statistics

First some statistics. The world’s longest straight line overland is located entirely on the Northern Hemisphere, is 13,589 km long (8,443 miles), crosses 9 time zones and 18 countries and territories and connects the Atlantic with the Pacific Ocean.

The line crosses into the following countries: Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana, (Burkina Faso), Niger, Chad, Libya, Egypt, Israel, The West Bank, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, (Tajikistan) and finally into China.

In Liberia the line touches the ocean on a small beach at a tiny settlement 10 kilometers from Greenville. In China it touches the sea near an industrial village Shitangzhen, approx. 320 kilometers south of Shanghai. Both locations are completely off-the-beaten-track.

The line in Google Maps looks anything from straight. That’s however only because of the way Google Maps projects the Earth on a flat surface. When looking up the line in Google Earth, you will find the line truly is straight as it could be.

1. Direction

The first thing to decide when you want to travel along this route, is to decide the direction. It can be a key factor as it will determine your success at the border crossings you need to take. Why? Some borders you cannot cross from one side to the other while vice versa it might be possible. A brief overview of some possible issues:

Tajikistan – China

The border between China and Tajikistan goes over the Qolma Pass and lays at an altitude of 4,362 meters. Due to extreme winter conditions this border is closed for several months each year. Also, for anyone not from China or Tajikistan it is only possible to cross from China into Tajikistan and not the other way around. There have even been reports that the border is entirely closed to foreigners.

Read More: The Easiest Way to Get a Cheap Chinese Visa

Nevertheless, an ultimate solution would be to enter Kyrgyzstan and then from there pass through Tajikistan. Another benefit then is that you can just buy your Chinese visa in Hong Kong. Travelling from China to Kyrgyzstan might be another solution but as we will see, following the straight line will lead to many, much more serious obstacles.

The Stans: (former) visa jungle

It is a generally known fact that for travelling the Stans getting all your visas in order is perhaps the biggest challenge of all. In this perspective it is often agreed that starting in Kyrgyzstan on towards the rest would be the best option because Kyrgyzstan is visa free for 60 days for many nationalities. On top, the capital Bishkek is considered an excellent place to apply for the visas for the other Stans, especially Tajikistan.

Lately there have however been improvements and visa rules have eased for many nationalities. Also eVisas are being introduced, which makes things a lot easier.

The Israeli stamp

Visiting Israel is possible even if you have an Iranian or Lebanese stamp or visa in your passport. I simply know from experience. The other way around, if you have an Israeli stamp in your passport, is more problematic though. You can expect serious problems trying to get into Iran, Iraq or Afghanistan.

The trick is to get the Israeli stamp on a separate piece of paper, or to ask the border officers simply not to give you a stamp at all. Lately actually Israel stopped stamping passports, which solves the whole thing. The only problem arises when you enter or leave Jordan from the King Hussein bridge. It will leave a gap in your passport itinerary since you will have stamps from Jordan that will indicate you crossed the bridge (which is technically controlled by Israel). The ultimate solution would be to get two passports.

Anyway, the Israel stamp should not be a deciding factor to determine the direction of travelling along the straight line

Conclusion

Considering the points above a quick first conclusion would be to travel along the straight line from China to Liberia. It will be the wisest decision to avoid some of the challenges that will pop up when travelling in the other direction.

2. Conflict & Wars

The imposed line runs straight through some of the hottest points of war and conflict in the world at the moment, two of which are the most apparent: Libya and Iraq. Though not officially a war zone, also the African Sahara I will discuss.

Libya

A few years ago Libya assumedly was Africa’s wealthiest nation and less people lived below the poverty line than in The Netherlands. But after Gaddafi’s overthrow, Libya is now a failed state. It’s a state without a functioning government where hundreds of armed militia groups have taken matter into their own hands. Among them are islamist extremists like ISIS, who have been spreading terror in Libya for the past three years. Libya is not a safe place to go to, especially not for Westerners.

Iraq

Iraq doesn’t need much explanation. The line runs straight through the south of Iraq, territory controlled by the Islamic State and can be considered even more dangerous than Libya. Consider it the last place on Earth where I would go to at the moment.

Update 2019: things have improved again, though overland border crossings can still be tricky. Check out my recent report from me things have improved again, though overland border crossings can still be tricky. Check out my recent report from me spending a holiday in Iraq

Central Sahara

The African desert, another major obstacle for travelling the longest overland route in a straight line

Vast areas of the African Sahara are a no man’s land of open desert. A perfect environment for armed people smugglers to take advantage of the lawless situation and corruption (for example in getting Africans smuggled into Libya and then onwards to Europe). Pretty much all of the key migrant routes into Europe run through the Sahara because of the lack of control, and many people die along the way.

No one in the world has ever attempted to travel this route. Anyone planning to do so in the near future must be completely out of his mind

Conclusion

The conflict areas in the route are serious and by no means do I actively encourage you try to travel through them. That means that once you have entered Iran, you should either skip Iraq or travel to Iraqi Kurdistan (like Erbil – which is very safe) and somehow make it to Jordan. But from there you will soon reach another obstacles: the Egyptian Sinai, Libya and the lawless African desert used by people smugglers and gangs. Safety therefore is a major obstacle and makes it pretty much impossible to travel this route overland.

Read More: Travelling to a Potential Conflict Zone: Safety Assessment Tips

3. Border problems

Egypt-Libya

The only way to be able to pass legally between Egypt and Libya was to use the official border at the Egyptian town Salloum (and Musaid in Libya). But since the spread of violence and the civil war in Libya this border has been closed by Egypt. That makes it that the only way to cross the border overland is to find some people smugglers to travel through the no mans land of open desert in the South. You can then make an illegal crossing somewhere along the 1,200 kilometers of border. It is said that Egypt’s overstretched army, which also has to deal with violence in the troubled Sinai desert, does not have the means to control all of its borders.

Libya – Chad/Niger

One other major obstacle is the fact that there is no legal overland border crossing between Libya and Chad. It is also not possible to make it through Niger because also here there is no legal border crossing.

As crazy as it might sound, I came across a traveller who was considering to cross from Libya into Chad illegally back in 2007. I’m sure though he was not attempting to complete the longest overland journey in a straight line…

Tajikistan – Afghanistan – Tajikistan

The way the line runs through Afghanistan can be considered one of the obstacles. The arrows I have placed exactly at the available border crossing for foreigners (click to enlarge)

Even though it is possible to enter Afghanistan from Tajikistan in three different ways (more info here), it seems a bit weird to include Afghanistan in the route even though the line runs through it just a tiny bit (see the picture above, click to enlarge).

Reaching the area where the line goes through is very remote and I am not sure if you can even reach it. On top, technically speaking after Afghanistan you would then need to go back into Tajikistan (so you need a multi-entry visa), and then on to Uzbekistan. Or you could go directly from Afghanistan to Uzbekistan. All of it just doesn’t make sense, especially considering the dangers you have to face along the way.

Niger – Burkina Faso – Ghana – Burkina Faso – Côte d’Ivoire

The line runs through Burkina Faso twice

Pretty much all border crossings depicted in the figure above come with some form of a challenge. There are disputed areas you have to cross (between Niger and Burkina Faso), corrupt border officers you have to deal with and survive in countries still ravaged by civil war (Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia). On top, the line runs through Burkina Faso twice, which complicates the whole thing even more: West-Africa is a region where most countries require visas for most Western nationalities.

Read More: 12 Kick-Ass Route Ideas to Travel the World

Update 2019: I just finished an epic overland trip in West Africa and can confirm getting visas is one of the main challenges!

It makes overland travel between all these countries, especially if you have been on the road ever since China, incredibly challenging.

Conclusion

There are many obstacles to travel the longest overland route in a straight line. This articles has summed up just a few of them, many of them which are very serious ones prohibiting you from ever succeeding.

Most likely this is also the reason why there is (yet) no one in the world who has ever attempted to travel this route. Anyone planning to do so in the near future must be completely out of his mind, but it will possibly put you in the Guinness book of world records! Who is up for the challenge?

Do you have more information relevant for this article? Feel free to leave a comment below!

Even Google does not know how to plan this route

The location in China where the route touches the Pacific Ocean, in the middle of an industrial area