The world’s longest fences

Not all fences were made equal. At Ryder Services we supply fencing materials to the UK and Europe, but for the purposes of this blog, we cast our net a bit wider to discover the world’s longest fences. And there are some whoppers. Fences are usually to keep something out or in, mark a boundary etc, and a fence can also tell a story…

The Dingo Fence, Australia

Length: 5,614 km (3,488 miles)

The world’s longest fence is, and stand-by quizzers, The Dingo Fence in the Australian outback. This one’s got history too. It was first constructed in the 1880s to keep dingoes out of fertile southeast Australia.

Quirky fact:

The Dingo Fence is so long it has a dedicated patrol team that drives hundreds of miles to check for breaches. It’s also visible from space. But that doesn’t stop a determined feral camel when it wants to get to the other side. They’re known to occasionally crash through it.

The Great Hedge of India

Length: 1,100 km (684 miles)

For all you hair-splitters, yes this is a hedge made from thorny bushes, but it has the same function as a fence. It was designed to stop smugglers from avoiding taxes on salt when first built by the British in the 19th century. Most of it has withered away, decayed or been destroyed by some other means, but its legacy still lives on.

Quirky fact:

In its heyday, the hedge was 4 metres wide and 3 metres high. It also became home to countless snakes.

The Rabbit-Proof Fence, Australia

Length: 3,253 km (2,021 miles)

Back down under we go and it’s The Rabbit-Proof Fence that warrants a mention. Its official name is The State Barrier Fence, and was built in the early 1900s to stop rabbits from devouring Western Australia’s crops. Rabbits were introduced to Australia for sport and quickly multiplied to become a major agricultural headache.

Quirky fact:

The story behind this fence inspired the film 'Rabbit-Proof Fence'. It aligns its significance to Australia’s Aboriginal history. Oh, and we should also mention that it’s not impregnable to all rabbits.

The Maginot Line, France

Length: 720 km (447 miles)

Technically a combination of fences and fortifications, the Maginot Line deserves an honorary mention in our list of the world’s longest fences. Built in the 1930s as a defence against Germany, it stretches across the country’s eastern border and boasts a combination of barbed wire, concrete, and artillery posts.

Quirky fact:

The Maginot Line was famous for being bypassed during WWll. Germany simply went around it through Belgium. Today, parts of it are open to tourists.

The Inner German Border Fence

Length: 1,393 km (866 miles)

Built to stop people from escaping East Germany, this Cold War relic was no ordinary fence. Running the length of East and West Germany’s border, it was built from a series of fences, walls, and watchtowers, and heavily patrolled and surrounded by mines and tripwires.

Quirky fact:

Nature has reclaimed much of the area since the Berlin Wall fell. Now it's a 1,400 km-long green belt and home to wildlife.

The Snow Fence, China

Length: 60,000 km (37,282 miles)

This is a mega-fence and snow fences are an essential feature across China’s northern regions, designed to mitigate the impact of ferocious snowstorms on roads and railways. Made of a mix of metal, wood, and vegetation, they work by slowing wind speeds and forcing snow to settle in specific areas rather than piling up in the wrong places.

Quirky fact:

China’s snow fences are part of a larger environmental strategy. They double up protectors against the encroaching deserts.

The Morpeth Cattle Fence, New Zealand

Length: 176 km (110 miles)

Built in the 1940s, New Zealand’s Morpeth Cattle Fence, though shorter than some of the other fences on our list, still holds its own as one of the world’s longest cattle fences. It snakes through hostile landscapes to protect farms from wandering cattle and sheep.

Quirky fact:

This fence cuts through such remote areas that its maintenance workers use helicopters to reach certain sections.

Sources:

nationalgeographic.com

bbc.co.uk

australianwildlife.org

history.com

dw.com