Electricity Poles -- GeoMeta Trainer

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Argentina

Round concrete poles carrying three lines in a staggered, alternating pattern; "double" poles standing side by side are also a common local sight.

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Australia

Watch for "Stobie poles" -- steel flanges either side with a concrete core -- unique to South Australia. Separately, metal poles with drilled holes running down them are a Northern Territory tell.

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Belgium

Square concrete poles with a column of small holes running up the shaft.

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Brazil

Rectangular poles with a ladder-like lower section (long horizontal segments) and small holes nearer the top.

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Bulgaria

Lattice steel poles that look like a miniature Eiffel Tower -- a very distinctive silhouette.

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Cambodia

Two common types: a square pole with ladder-style indents, or a round pole with small side holes.

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Chile

Square concrete poles with side indents, similar to Brazil's but with fewer horizontal supports and small pinholes nearer the top.

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Colombia

Often has yellow-and-black striping; along with Mexico, one of the only Latin American countries where octagonal poles regularly appear.

🇪🇨

Ecuador

Mostly plain round concrete, but also has a distinctive "ladder pole" style with many small indents that's essentially unique to Ecuador within Latin America.

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Eswatini

Simple wooden poles with three insulators mounted on the side.

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France

Poles with shallow indents rather than through-holes -- a subtler variant of the hole patterns seen further east.

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Guam

Large octagonal concrete poles -- nearby Northern Mariana Islands uses wooden poles instead, a good way to tell the two apart.

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Hungary

One of the two countries famous for "holey poles" -- concrete poles with large holes running all the way down to the ground.

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Romania

Also has classic "holey poles" like Hungary, but Romania's often add a white-painted base section and yellow markings, which Hungary's typically lack.

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Indonesia

Poles topped with three upward-facing bulbs, sometimes painted in the national red-and-white; a variant in the Lesser Sunda Islands adds long diagonal support beams not seen on standard Indonesian poles.

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Israel

Street-light poles (not just power poles) often show black-and-white banding around the base.

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Japan

Yellow-and-black diagonal stripes are common, and small region-specific ID plates on the pole can narrow down not just the country but the area of Japan.

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Laos

An asymmetric design with two "pine-cone" insulator clusters bunched on one side of the pole and a single one on the other; small holes running up the shaft are common too, echoing Thailand's poles.

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Malaysia

Often carry a black rectangular plate with white lettering mounted partway up the pole.

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Mexico

Two recognizable styles: octagonal poles, or a distinctive crucifix-shaped pole.

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New Zealand

Typically wrapped with a single silver or white metal band partway up the pole.

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Nigeria

Ladder-style poles are a common sight.

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North Macedonia

Poles are frequently fitted with a distinctive local lamp style, useful as a secondary tell alongside signage.

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Peru

Poles with three arms sticking outward near the top, giving a fairly unmistakable silhouette.

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Philippines

Wooden, crucifix-shaped poles are the most common type.

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Poland

Concrete poles with holes like Hungary and Romania, but the key difference is the holes stop about half a metre above the ground rather than continuing all the way down.

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Senegal

Ladder-style poles, inherited from Senegal's history as a French colony -- similar in style to poles seen in parts of France.

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South Korea

Diagonal yellow-and-black stripes partway up the pole, often topped with a sharp, spike-like point -- the spike is the more unusual and memorable of the two features.

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Sri Lanka

Two common variants: one with holes lower on the pole, one with holes nearer the top.

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Taiwan

Cylindrical poles with diagonal black-and-yellow stripes running all the way down to ground level.

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Thailand

Small holes run vertically up the pole shaft; separately, streetlight poles often show black-and-red or black-and-white paint near the base.

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Turkey

Metal poles with noticeably larger holes than the concrete Romanian, Hungarian, or Polish "holey poles".

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Ukraine

Many utility poles have their base section painted white.

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Uruguay

A common style has three bulbs pointing upward, giving the pole a trident-like silhouette.

⚡ Electricity Poles