South Asia - How to Identify

Red-and-white concrete bollards can be found throughout Bangladesh.

Note: Occasionally, they are square rather than round.

Concrete bollards with black-and-white stripes are the main type used in Nepal, often featuring a red reflector near the top.

The total number of stripes varies from three to five.

Note: Similar bollards can be found in India, but they usually do not have a red reflector.

The most common utility poles in India are square concrete or metal poles with trident-shaped tops, often featuring bent crossarms like those shown here.

Important: Many pole-top designs in India are specific to certain areas and can be very useful for identifying the region.

Concrete utility poles with large holes are very common in Sri Lanka.

These poles sometimes have distinctive large insulators (see photo 2), which can also help identify the country.Note: This pole resembles those found in the Indian state of Gujarat, where the holes extend all the way to the top. On the Sri Lankan pole, the holes only extend halfway up.

Besides poles with large holes, square concrete poles are also very common in Sri Lanka.

Small holes are sometimes visible near the top. These poles often have distinctive large Sri Lankan insulators (see photo 2).

Note: Similar square poles can be found in Thailand and Laos, but they do not have such large insulators. In Sri Lanka, the small holes are found only near the top of the pole. In Thailand and Laos, they run along the full length of the pole.

In South Asia, red license plates are common in Nepal and Bhutan.

Notes:

• Nepal also has white and black license plates.
• Bhutan also has yellow license plates, but they are used only on taxis.

Concrete blocks are often used as safety barriers along Bhutan’s winding mountain roads.

They are widespread and often one of the best clues for identifying rural Bhutan.

Note: Very similar stone blocks can be found along roads in the Philippines. They come in different shapes and sizes and aren’t always white.

Dashed yellow lines along the edges of the road are a good clue for Nepal.

Note: Nepal also has solid yellow edge lines. These can be found in India too, but they are less common there.

Many different vehicles were used to capture Street View coverage in Nepal. We’ll show only a few that we consider the most common.

! Remember: none of Nepal’s Street View cars are found in India!

A gray car without an antenna was used for Generation 3 coverage in Bhutan.

Note: Bhutan is the only country with left-hand traffic that uses this gray car. Don’t confuse it with the white car found in many countries, as they can look similar.

In most Generation 3 coverage in Sri Lanka, the front of the car is partly visible through the blur as blue, white, and red patches, resembling the French flag.

Note: The red patch is usually the easiest to spot.

India has distinctive Street View cars known as box cars because of their shape.

Their colors vary, so focus on the shape and specific details. There are 3 main variants:

• With strips along the sides.
• Without side strips, but with ridges on the roof.
• With raised rails along the sides.Note: A strap on the roof is almost always visible on box cars.

This box-shaped cars are found mainly in northern India and in some cities farther south.
! Important: In states with box car coverage, other car metas are very rarely seen, except for the round blur.

In Generation 4 coverage in Bangladesh, two car variants can be identified by the visible hood color: white and black.

Note: Bangladesh is the only country in South Asia with standard Generation 4 car coverage.

Most coverage in Pakistan was captured using a Gen 3 Trekker camera - a camera carried by a person walking with it mounted on a backpack.

Note: Much of the coverage in Pakistan was captured in large, well-maintained gardens, often enclosed by stone walls and located near historic temples or forts. These are commonly known as Mughal gardens.

All Gen 4 coverage in Sri Lanka was captured with a low-cam, meaning the camera was mounted lower on the car than in most other countries. There are two ways to recognize it:

• Larger car blur. The blur covering the car is noticeably larger than usual. This is generally the most reliable clue.

• Lower viewpoint. Roads appear wider, and roadside objects are seen from closer to ground level.

Sri Lanka’s Generation 3 coverage was captured with a camera mounted at the standard height.

Note: Japan and Switzerland also have low-cam coverage, but the surrounding scenery should usually help you tell them apart from Sri Lanka.

Smallcam is used in all India’s Generation 4 coverage. The car blur is wide and narrows toward the front.

Note: India also has extensive shitcam coverage, but within South Asia, smallcam is unique to India, while shitcam is not.

“Shitcam” is an informal term for a type of Street View camera that produces lower-quality imagery. Heavy image processing can make the footage look grainy and sometimes severely overexposed.

In South Asia, Shitcam coverage is most common in India and Nepal. It’s much rarer in Sri Lanka, and in Bangladesh it’s only found in the capital, Dhaka. You can also find this type of coverage outside South Asia.

Learning to tell camera generations apart takes practice. Pay attention to details like grain and overexposure, and you’ll get better at recognizing them over time.

Devanagari is a writing system used in South Asia, including India for Hindi and Marathi, and Nepal for Nepali. Its main visual feature is a horizontal line across the top, from which the letters appear to hang.

Few unique symbols: क, ध, ष, ज्ञ

Note: India has many languages. Devanagari script can be found in many states, but far from all of them.

Bengali is widely spoken in the Indian state of West Bengal and in Bangladesh.

It has smooth, rounded characters and a horizontal line across the top. One way to tell it apart from Devanagari is to look for the distinctive triangular shapes in some Bengali characters.

Few unique symbols: ক, ড, ঙ, র

Note: A very similar script is used for Assamese, a language spoken in some parts of India.

Tamil is the second official language of Sri Lanka and an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Rounded and flowing with many curves. Letters look smooth and circular. It does not have the horizontal top line like Devanagari. The pulli dot is very visually noticeable and frequent: (்), க்

For more practice identifying South Asian languages, try this quiz: Languages of South Asia

Dzongkha is the official language of Bhutan.

Angular and structured with clear horizontal headline across the top of letters (similar to Devanagari but straighter and more rigid). The printed Uchen style formal and geometric, while handwritten forms can be more flowing.

Note: English is also widely used in schools and government

Sinhala is the main language of Sri Lanka.

Very rounded and circular with soft flowing curves. Many letters look like spirals or loops, giving the script a “bubble-like” appearance. Sinhala has distinct inner curls and decorative loops.

Note: Sinhala script may initially look similar to scripts used in southern India, but you can quickly learn to tell them apart by their key features. Keep practicing!

For more practice identifying South Asian languages, try this quiz: Languages of South Asia

Bhutan’s architecture is distinctive and easy to recognize. Buildings usually have two or three stories, with wide roof overhangs that protect the walls from rain.

Wooden carvings and decorative patterns are characteristic features. Windows and cornices feature intricate woodwork, while facades are often painted with symbolic motifs and floral designs.

Most people in Sri Lanka are Buddhist. Across the country, you’ll often see Buddhist temples, statues of the Buddha, stupas, and Buddhist flags.

Note: Buddhism is also the predominant religion in Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos.