Countries that drive on the left

“Drive on the left” means that normal traffic uses the left side of a two-way road. It does not mean that the steering wheel is on the left. In many left-driving countries, ordinary passenger cars have the steering wheel on the right so the driver sits closer to the center of the road.

Our map classifies country profiles. It does not assign the mainland’s rule to every overseas jurisdiction: Hong Kong and Macau, for example, drive on the left while mainland China drives on the right.

Left-driving countries are a minority of the 196 profiles, but they include very populous countries such as India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Counting countries and counting residents would therefore produce different pictures of how common the rule is. The map describes jurisdictional rules; it is not weighted by the number of drivers or road journeys.

The regional patterns also have exceptions worth learning. Japan and Thailand drive on the left, while several countries with historical British connections drive on the right. The United Kingdom and Ireland share the left-driving rule, but crossing from continental Europe changes the normal side. In southern Africa, left-driving countries form a substantial neighbouring group, making the rule relevant to overland itineraries as well as island destinations.

Use the full country lookup when planning a route through several states. A nearby country, shared language or Commonwealth membership is not a reliable substitute for checking the actual rule. The comparison tool below makes the change between two selected countries explicit.