Panamericana

Panamericana, or the Pan-American Highway (Carretera Panamericana), is a network of roads that connects much of North, Central, and South America. It is among the longest road systems in the world, but there is no single continuous highway because of a break in the Darién Gap between Panama and Colombia.

The route passes through about 14 countries, from the United States and Canada in the north, through Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama in Central America, to Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile and Argentina in South America. Depending on the chosen path, the total length of the network is about 48,000 miles (77,000 km). A commonly cited continuous driving route from Alaska to Argentina covers roughly 19,000 miles (30,000 km) but ends at the Darién Gap; travelers must ship a vehicle or fly around it to continue.

The Pan-American Highway is not a single road but a loose network of existing highways linked by international agreements and cross-border improvements. It gained prominence in the 20th century as a symbolic project to enable overland travel and trade across the Americas, though geopolitical, geographic, and economic factors have limited its full, uninterrupted realization in places.

In Spanish, it is known as la Carretera Panamericana.