Netherlands boasts more bicycles than actual human residents, with an estimated twenty-three million bikes compared to a population of just seventeen million.

A closer look

Netherlands boasts more bicycles than actual human residents, with an estimated twenty-three million bikes compared to a population of just seventeen million. This two-wheeled dominance didn't happen by accident; it was the result of a massive civic movement in the 1970s protesting the alarming rate of traffic fatalities caused by cars. The government subsequently rebuilt their entire infrastructure to prioritize pedaling over driving, creating thousands of miles of dedicated, elevated bike paths. Now, cycling is practically a mandatory religion there, and the average Dutch citizen cycles over six hundred miles a year. Meanwhile, in North America, choosing to commute on a bicycle is basically considered an extreme sport where you wear a styrofoam hat and pray you don't get completely flattened by an exhausted accountant driving a massive three-ton SUV while texting