Asian Highway Network

thumb|Map of the highways

thumb|Asian Highway 2 sign near [[Ratchaburi, Thailand]]

thumb|A section of [[Malaysia's North-South Expressway in Penang. Note the Asian Highway 2 signage.]]

thumb|right|Asian Highway route sign used on the [[AH6 (highway)|AH6]]

The Asian Highway Network (AH), also known as the Great Asian Highway, is a cooperative project among countries in Asia and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) to improve their connectivity via highway systems. It is one of the three pillars of the Asian Land Transport Infrastructure Development (ALTID) project, endorsed by the ESCAP commission at its 48th session in 1992, comprising Asian Highway, Trans-Asian Railway (TAR) and facilitation of land transport projects.

Agreements have been signed by 32 countries to allow the highway to cross the continent and also reach to Europe. Some of the countries taking part in the highway project are India (Act East policy), Sri Lanka, Pakistan, China, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Nepal and Bangladesh. and was adopted on November 18, 2003, by the Intergovernmental Meeting; the IGA includes Annex I, which identifies 55 AH routes among 32 member countries totalling approximately 140,000 km (87,500 miles), and Annex II "Classification and Design Standards". During the 60th session of the ESCAP Commission at Shanghai, China, in April 2004, the IGA treaty was signed by 23 countries. By 2013, 29 countries had ratified the agreement.

In 2007, British drivers Richard Meredith and Phil Colley completed the first full East to West journey of the entire highway in an Aston Martin Vantage which was later sold to raise money for UNICEF. The drive was a marketing stunt promoted by the car manufacturer.

Implications

The advanced highway network would provide for greater trade and social interactions between Asian countries, including personal contacts, project capitalizations, connections of major container terminals with transportation points, and promotion of tourism via the new roadways. Infrastructure consultant Om Prakash noted that, "It's an excellent step taken by ESCAP to gather all the Asian countries under one crown but the problem with this project is political disputes between some countries, notably Pakistan and Myanmar, which is delaying the project."

Numbering and signage

The project new highway route numbers begin with "AH", standing for "Asian Highway", followed by one, two or three digits. Route numbers are printed in the Latin script and Hindu-Arabic numerals and may simply be added to existing signage, like the E-road network.

Routes

AH1 to AH9: Continent-Wide Routes

East-West, from S to N: 2, 1 intermixed, 5, 9, 6.
North-South, from E to W: 1 (along East China), 3, 4, 7, 8.
35px|link=AH1 – : Tokyo, Japan – Bulgarian border, Turkey Bulgaria – Kapıkule – Istanbul – Gerede – Ankara – Sivas – Refahiye – Aşkale – Doğubayazıt – Gürbulak – Bazargan – Ivughli – Tabriz – Qazvin – Tehran – Semnan – Damghan – Sabzevar – Neishabour-Mashhad – Dowqarun –Islam Qala – Herat – Delaram – Kandahar – Kabul – Torkham –Peshawar – Hassan Abdal – Rawalpindi – Islamabad – Lahore – Wagah – Attari – New Delhi – Agra – Kanpur – Varanasi – Sasaram –Gaya–Dhanbad– Kolkata – Petrapole – Benapole – Jashore – Dhaka – Kachpur – Sylhet – Tamabil – Dawki – Shillong – Jorabat – Guwahati – Nagaon – Dimapur – Chümoukedima – Kohima – Viswema – Imphal – Moreh – Tamu – Mandalay – Meiktila – Payagyi – Yangon – Myawaddy – Mae Sot – Tak – Nakhon Sawan – Bang Pa-in – Bangkok – Hin Kong – Kabin Buri – Aranyaprathet – Poipet – Phnom Penh – Bavet – Mộc Bài – Ho Chi Minh City – Biên Hòa – Vũng Tàu – Nha Trang – Hội An – Da Nang – Huế – Đông Hà – Vinh – Hanoi – Đồng Đăng – Hữu Nghị –Youyiguan – Nanning – Guangzhou – Shenzhen – Hong Kong – Xiangtan – Changsha – Wuhan – Xinyang – Zhengzhou – Shijiazhuang – Beijing – Shenyang – Dandong – Sinuiju – Pyongyang – Kaesong – Munsan – Seoul – Daejeon – Daegu – Gyeongju – Busan – Fukuoka – Tokyo
35px|link=AH2 – : Denpasar, Indonesia – Khosravi, Iran
Border of Bulgaria – Kapikule – Istanbul – Gerede – Merzifon – Samsun – Trabzon – Sarp –
Batumi – Poti – Senaki – (Port of Anaklia – Zugdidi bypass road – Samtredia) Khashuri – Mtskheta – Tbilisi –
Red Bridge – Qazax – Ganja – Gazi Mammed – Alat – Baku ...
Turkmenbashi – Serdar – Ashgabat – Tejen – Mary – Turkmenabat – Farap –
Olot – Bukhara – Navoi – Samarkand – Syrdaria – Tashkent – Chernyavka –
Chernyaevka – Shymkent – Merki –
Chaldovar – Kara Balta – Bishkek –
Kordai – Kaskelen – Almaty –
Khorgas – Jinghe – Kuytun – Ürümqi – Turpan – Lanzhou – Xi'an – Xinyang – Nanjing – Shanghai
35px|link=AH6 (highway) – : Busan, South Korea – Belarusian border, Russia
St. Petersburg – Moscow – Ulyanovsk – Toliatti – Samara – Orenburg – Sagarchin –
Zhaisan – Aktobe – Kyzylorda – Shymkent – Taraz – Almaty –
Khorgas – Urumqi – Lianyungang

AH10 to AH29: Southeast Asia Routes

35px|link=AH11 – : Vientiane, Laos – Sihanoukville, Cambodia
Đà Nẵng – Kon Tum – Pleiku – Ho Chi Minh – Vũng Tàu
35px|link=AH18 – : Hat Yai, Thailand – Johor Bahru Causeway, Malaysia Laoag, Philippines – Zamboanga, Philippines

|Chabahar, Iran (on AH75)

|Bandar Imam Khomeini, Iran (on AH8)

AH100 to AH299: ASEAN Southeast Asia Routes

These routes were set up by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as part of an extension to the Asian Highway Network, known as the ASEAN Highway Network.

|AH112

|Thaton, Myanmar

|Kawthaung, Myanmar

|AH131

|Vũng Áng, Vietnam

|Thakhek, Laos

|AH132

|Quảng Ngãi, Vietnam

|Thang Beng, Laos

|AH140

|Butterworth, Malaysia

|Pasir Puteh, Malaysia

|AH141

|Port Klang Malaysia

|Kuantan, Malaysia

|AH142

|Yong Peng, Malaysia

|Gambang, Malaysia

|AH143

|Sengkang, Singapore

|Senai, Malaysia

|AH150

|Telok Melano, Sarawak

|Entikong, West Kalimantan

|Also known as the Pan-Borneo Highway

|AH151

|Tebing Tinggi, North Sumatra

|Bandar Lampung, Lampung

|Also known as the Central Trans-Sumatran Highway. The highway is also co-signed as alt=|20x20px Sumatra by the Ministry of Transportation (Indonesia) since 2019.

|AH152

|Jakarta

|Surakarta, Central Java

Distance by country or region

The planned network runs a total of .

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Country or region !! Distance in km (mi)

| ||

References

External links

The project homepage
Alternative link
Intergovernmental Agreement on the Asian Highway Network
Asia signs up to 'new Silk Road' BBC News report (April 26, 2004)
UNESCAP press release announcing treaty
2003 Asian Highway Handbook
Driven Together, Historic first crossing of Asia's new Highway to the West
Asian Highway Network Details