South American License & Number Plate Designs

Map created by geo.facts_The map above shows the various designs (some old and new) of license (number) plates in various South American countries. From the map’s author.

As you can see this is a post about the vehicle registration plates from South America.

4 countries are now in a process of changing these license plates, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

This was decided during a Mercosul/Mercosur meeting in 2010 as a way to unify even more these countries.

Venezuela was also included on this deal, but since it was suspended as a member on December 2016 it isn’t allowed to take part in this process.

Even tho the Mercosul/Mercosur vehicle registration plates might look similar, there are a few differences, examples being :

• The Argentinian that follows a pattern such as AR 123 BA (2 letters- space- 3 numbers- space- 2 letters);
• The Brazilian one that follows the pattern BRA7L09 (3 letters-1 number-1 letter- 2 numbers);
• The Paraguayan one that fallows the pattern AAAA 153 (4 letters- 3 numbers);
• And the Uruguayan that follows the pattern URU 1830 (3 letters- 4 numbers);

Note that both old and new plates are still in use on these countries!

Besides from this, French Guyana uses the European Union format, while the Falkland Islands/Islas Malvinas uses a type of British format, in which the front plates are white and the back ones are yellow.

Bolivia’s vehicle registration plates are being used since 1999 although cars that cross Mercosul/Mercosur borders are in a process of changing plates. Be aware of Bolivia’s interest on entering the group!

Which one is your favorite? Are you pro or against the Mercosur/Mercosul changing process?

And as a bonus How far can you get in 8 hours of driving starting from 6 South American capitals from reddit user Park__Explorer

From the author:

I think the contrast in the road networks is extremely interesting. 4 of the 6 are heavily limited by mountains and/or the ocean.

I am aware that people often drive at or above the speed limit, but the reason for subtracting 10% is to (attempt to) account for traffic, construction, and regular breaks. In some areas it will be too much, in some areas it will be too little.