Guide and practice

Utility poles in GeoGuessr: how to read them, then practise

Wood, concrete or metal; holes, ladders and the top of the pole give away the region.

clues: 1,779
countries: 82
decks: 9

1 of 10

In which country do you see these concrete poles?

Keys 1–4 to answer, Enter to continue.

Turn on JavaScript to practise here, or open the deck in the web app. Study the deck with spaced repetition

What to look at

Electricity and telephone poles show up in almost every round, in towns too, and every power company has its own models. That is why they help with both the country and the region: MetaSpotter has regional pole decks for Brazil, India, Peru and Costa Rica.

MaterialWood, concrete or metal. That alone rules out whole continents.
Cross-section and shapeRound, square, H-shaped, with steps or with a painted band.
HolesMany concrete poles have a row of holes; their shape and number change from country to country.
The topCrossarms, insulators, transformers and how the wires are held.
Plates and markingsPlates with numbers or colours, and bands painted at a certain height.

Start with these

Six clues from the starter deck, with the explanation of why they give the country away.

concrete pole — Cambodia — **🇰🇭 Cambodia**Cambodia mostly uses two pole types: a concrete 'ladder' (or 'waffle') pole with shallow indents instead of through-holes, and a round concrete pole with holes running its whole length and a distinctive top pattern. Wooden and thin metal poles show up rarely.

power pole paint — Indonesia — **🇮🇩 Indonesia**Many steel poles in Indonesia are painted black and often carry the national flag colours, red and white, in bands near the base.

blue sticker on a pole — France — **🇫🇷 France**Small blue rectangular markings on wooden and metal utility poles are unique to France. The community calls them "stickers", though they are actually small plates; they show up on almost every pole except ladder poles.

pole marking — Taiwan — **🇹🇼 Taiwan**Poles in Taiwan are often wrapped in black-and-yellow diagonal stripes that run all the way to the base and have a slight orange tint. South Korea has similar stripes, but they are shorter and stop well above the ground.

ladder pole — Spain — **🇪🇸 Spain**These concrete "ladder" poles, named for the ladder-like rungs running up the side, are common in Spain. France has similar poles, so use landscape or language to tell them apart.

pole — Brazil — **🇧🇷 Brazil**The most common Brazilian poles are rectangular with a ladder-like base of 3 or more long segments. Chilean poles look similar but have only 1-2 large sections at the base.

Where it helps: 82 countries

Countries with clues from this family in MetaSpotter. The stronger the colour, the more clues.

World map of the 82 countries with poles clues in MetaSpotter — Fewer cluesMore clues

Europe31

🇦🇱 Albania
🇦🇹 Austria
🇧🇪 Belgium
🇧🇬 Bulgaria
🇭🇷 Croatia
🇨🇿 Czechia
🇩🇰 Denmark
🇪🇪 Estonia
🇫🇮 Finland
🇫🇷 France
🇩🇪 Germany
🇬🇷 Greece
🇭🇺 Hungary
🇮🇪 Ireland
🇮🇹 Italy
🇱🇻 Latvia
🇱🇹 Lithuania
🇱🇺 Luxembourg
🇳🇱 Netherlands
🇲🇰 North Macedonia
🇳🇴 Norway
🇵🇱 Poland
🇵🇹 Portugal
🇷🇴 Romania
🇷🇺 Russia
🇷🇸 Serbia
🇸🇰 Slovakia
🇪🇸 Spain
🇸🇪 Sweden
🇺🇦 Ukraine
🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Asia22

🇧🇩 Bangladesh
🇧🇹 Bhutan
🇰🇭 Cambodia
🇮🇳 India
🇮🇩 Indonesia
🇮🇱 Israel
🇯🇵 Japan
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan
🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan
🇲🇾 Malaysia
🇲🇳 Mongolia
🇳🇵 Nepal
🇴🇲 Oman
🇵🇭 Philippines
🇶🇦 Qatar
🇰🇷 South Korea
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
🇹🇼 Taiwan
🇹🇭 Thailand
🇹🇷 Turkey
🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates
🇻🇳 Vietnam

Africa9

🇧🇼 Botswana
🇸🇿 Eswatini
🇬🇭 Ghana
🇰🇪 Kenya
🇳🇦 Namibia
🇳🇬 Nigeria
🇸🇹 São Tomé and Príncipe
🇸🇳 Senegal
🇿🇦 South Africa

North America7

🇨🇦 Canada
🇨🇷 Costa Rica
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
🇬🇹 Guatemala
🇲🇽 Mexico
🇵🇦 Panama
🇺🇸 United States

South America9

🇦🇷 Argentina
🇧🇴 Bolivia
🇧🇷 Brazil
🇨🇱 Chile
🇨🇴 Colombia
🇪🇨 Ecuador
🇵🇾 Paraguay
🇵🇪 Peru
🇺🇾 Uruguay

Oceania4

🇦🇺 Australia
🇬🇺 Guam
🇳🇿 New Zealand
🇲🇵 Northern Mariana Islands

When the clue is not enough

Here the same clue shows up in several countries, so on its own it does not decide: combine it with another one. In MetaSpotter these countries are never offered as wrong answers.

Spain · Franceladder pole
Cambodia · Vietnamconcrete pole with holes
Andorra · Spain · France · Portugalflat rectangular signpost
United Arab Emirates · Omansignpost
Albania · Czechia · Romania · Serbia · Slovakiautility pole top
Colombia · Mexicooctagonal utility pole
Czechia · Slovakiaconcrete utility pole
Estonia · Finland · Latvia · Norway · Swedenmetal pole cap

How to learn them and keep them

They are learned like any meta: a few every day, reviewed right before you forget them. Start with World · Poles (beginner) (28 cards, about 1 days at 20 new a day) and move on to World · Poles (all). MetaSpotter keeps one progress per clue: what you learn in one deck counts in every deck that holds it.

Study World · Poles (beginner)

Decks in this family

  
      World · Poles (beginner)
      Level 228 cards
    
      World · Poles (all)
      Level 4244 cards
    
    🇧🇷
    
      Brazil · Poles
      Level 426 cards
    
    🇮🇳
    
      India · Poles
      Level 425 cards
    
    🇵🇪
    
      Peru · Poles
      Level 425 cards
    
    🇨🇷
    
      Costa Rica · Poles
      Level 48 cards
    
    🇻🇳
    
      Vietnam · Poles
      Level 419 cards
    
    🇯🇵
    
      Japan · Transformers
      Level 510 cards
    
    🇯🇵
    
      Japan · Guy wires
      Level 59 cards

More guides

Bollards

The short posts at the edge of the road. Shape, colour and reflector change by country.

Road lines

Yellow or white centre, edge lines, doubles, dashes: one of the most reliable metas.

Camera car

Camera generation, antennas, mirrors and the colour of the car that shot the coverage.

Clues come from Learnable Meta maps by trausi, realBeelzebuub, Hallo3d/Block_Gamer, Herkules, ryan, Nebaj, Japanknower, devinstugg. Photos: Google Street View, © Google. Checked by hand by the MetaSpotter team on 13 October 2026. How we make the content