Recognizing utility poles in Geoguessr leverages specific features like shapes, markings, and accessories. Look for characteristics such as the presence or absence of holes (like the 'holey poles' in Hungary and Romania), distinctive color patterns (yellow and black stripes in South Korea and Japan), special shapes (octagonal poles in Mexico and Colombia), or unique additions (white base painting in Curaçao or ladder-like indents in Brazil). Identifying these nuances can pinpoint the country or even region within Geoguessr matches.

Test your knowledge

Start the Poles Quiz!

Poles Metas

Peruvian poles have 3 arms sticking out like this.

🇵🇪 Peru

Concrete utility poles with large holes extending down to the ground are often found in Hungary. The Geoguessr community calls them "holey poles".

🇭🇺 Hungary

Octagonal shaped utility poles are common in Mexico.

🇲🇽 Mexico

In mainland Malaysia, utility poles often have black rectangles with white lettering.

🇲🇾 Malaysia

Many Ukrainian utility poles have their base section painted white.

🇺🇦 Ukraine

Poles in Thailand have small holes in them running up the pole vertically.

🇹🇭 Thailand

Tunisia most commonly uses these metallic wire-style poles as utility poles.

🇹🇳 Tunisia

Poland has concrete utility poles with holes in them. Polish poles are distinct from the utility poles of Hungary and Romania as the holes don’t go all the way to the ground- they stop about half a metre above the ground.

🇵🇱 Poland

Sri Lanka has two common types of poles. This one has small holes in the top part of the pole. The other type is a holey pole in the lower part of the pole.

🇱🇰 Sri Lanka

Some utility poles in Tasmania have olive-colored metal wrappings around the pole, approximately 2 meters above the ground.

🇦🇺 Australia

In Mexico, a common type of utility pole resembles the shape of a crucifix.

🇲🇽 Mexico

This is the most common type of Belgian utility pole. It is square shaped and contains small holes running up it- much like the Thai utility poles.

🇧🇪 Belgium

Sri Lanka has two common types of poles. This one has see-through holes in the lower part of the pole ("holey pole"). The other type has small holes in the top part of the pole.

🇱🇰 Sri Lanka

In Taiwan, utility poles are a common sight. They are cylindrical and often have their lower section adorned with diagonal black and yellow stripes extending all the way to the ground.

🇹🇼 Taiwan

France has these utility poles with no holes but rather indents.

🇫🇷 France

Spain has a variety of different poles. Ladder-style poles are one of the more common ones.

🇪🇸 Spain

Many utility poles in South Korea feature diagonal yellow and black stripes that do not extend all the way to the ground..

🇰🇷 South Korea

Many of Romania's holey poles have a white painted bottom and/or some sort of yellow marking on them.

🇷🇴 Romania

Street light poles in Thailand have black-and-red or black-and-white paintings on the bottom.

🇹🇭 Thailand

In Australia, these metal utility poles with holes in them are unique to the Northern Territory.

🇦🇺 Australia

Eiffel Tower-like poles are a common sight throughout Bulgaria.

🇧🇬 Bulgaria

In Australia, Stobie poles are unique to the state of South Australia. They are utility poles made with steel on both sides and concrete in the center.

🇦🇺 Australia

In New Zealand, most utility poles have a lone piece of metal, usually silver or white, wrapping around them.

🇳🇿 New Zealand

The most common Eswatini pole is wooden with three insulators on the side and has an overall simple design.

🇸🇿 Eswatini

Poles in Indonesia sometimes feature the Indonesian red-white flag as stripes on the lower section.

🇮🇩 Indonesia

Cambodia has two common types of poles. This one is a square ladder-style pole, with the indents not extending to the bottom or top. The other type of pole is a round pole with small holes.

🇰🇭 Cambodia

Guam has these large octagonal, concrete utility poles, in contrast to the Northern Mariana Islands which generally has wooden utility poles.

🇬🇺 Guam

Botswana also uses these red and white chevrons, but they are much more common in South Africa.

🇧🇼 Botswana

Cambodia has two common types of poles. This one is a round pole with small holes on the side. The other is a ladder-type pole.

🇰🇭 Cambodia

In Argentina, it's common to see round concrete poles supporting three electricity lines arranged in an alternating pattern.

🇦🇷 Argentina

These double up poles can be a good clue for Argentina.

🇦🇷 Argentina

The best way to region guess in Japan is to look at the small plates that are affixed to the utility poles. These plates have different design based on the region in Japan.

🇯🇵 Japan

South Korean utility poles stand out as they mainly have what resembles a long, sharp, pointed spike extending upwards from the top of the main pole.

🇰🇷 South Korea

In Indonesia, most utility poles have three upward-facing bulbs. The tops of these poles are either even or uneven, varying by region. Many steel poles are painted black and feature the red and white colors of the Indonesian flag.

🇮🇩 Indonesia

Israeli street lights often feature these black and white stripes on their base.

🇮🇱 Israel

In the Lesser Sunda Islands, east of Java, utility poles are identifiable by one or two long support beams running diagonally from the end of the horizontal crossbar to the main pole, distinguishing them from the standard Indonesian poles with no or shorter diagonal supports.

🇮🇩 Indonesia

Colombia is the only country in Latin America, apart from Mexico and rarely Ecuador, where octagonal poles can be found.

🇨🇴 Colombia

A common style of utility pole in Laos is this asymmetric type. Two ‘pine cones’ are on one side and one on the other. Many Laos utility poles also have small holes in them, much like the Thai utility poles.

🇱🇦 Laos

The most common type of utility pole in the Philippines is the wooden crucifix-style pole.

🇵🇭 Philippines

In Ecuador, most utility poles have a generic round and concrete design. However, there's another type of pole (the 'ladder pole') with numerous small indents resembling ladder steps. This type of pole is more or less unique to Ecuador within Latin America.

🇪🇨 Ecuador

In Japan, many poles are characterized by unique vertical yellow and black stripes.

🇯🇵 Japan

Turkey uses a wide range of utility poles. Some of the more recognisable poles have large holes in them. These poles are different to the poles in Romania, Hungary and Poland as they are made out of metal and have larger holes.

🇹🇷 Turkey

In Brazil, the most common utility poles resemble a ladder at the bottom portion. They are rectangular with long segments running along the bottom and have small holes near the top.

🇧🇷 Brazil

Colombia often has yellow and black stripes on its poles.

🇨🇴 Colombia

Utility poles in Curaçao are commonly painted with a white base.

🇨🇼 Curaçao

The most common type of utility pole in Uruguay features three upward-facing bulbs that makes the pole resemble a trident.

🇺🇾 Uruguay

In Chile, square concrete poles with indents on both sides are common. They are similar to Brazilian poles but have fewer horizontal supports in the indent. The upper part usually features small pinholes.

🇨🇱 Chile

Concrete utility poles with large holes extending down to the ground are often found in Romania. The Geoguessr community calls them "holey poles".

🇷🇴 Romania

In North Macedonia, utility poles are often equipped with distinctive lamps.

🇲🇰 North Macedonia

As a former French colony, Senegal has the same ladder-style poles as parts of France.

🇸🇳 Senegal

Nigeria has many of these ladder-style poles.

🇳🇬 Nigeria