Numbered routes in South Africa

In South Africa some roads are designated as numbered routes to help with navigation. There is a nationwide numbering scheme consisting of national, provincial and regional routes, and within various urban areas there are schemes of metropolitan route numbering.

Numbering
In the nationwide numbering scheme, routes are divided into a hierarchy of three categories: national routes, which are the most important routes connecting major cities; provincial routes, which connecting smaller cities and towns to the national route network; and regional routes, which connect smaller towns to the route network. Route numbers are allocated to these classes as follows:
 National routes - N1 to N21
 Provincial routes - R21 to R99
 Regional parallel routes - R101 to R120 (A Regional parallel route will consist of road segments formerly part of the national route R1xy. Nxy that have been replaced by upgraded roads)
 Regional routes in the former Cape Province: R300 to R499.
 Regional routes in the former Transvaal Province: R500 to R599
 Regional routes in KwaZulu-Natal: R600 to R699
 Regional routes in the Free State: R700 to R799
These numbers are allocated by the Route Numbering and Road Traffic Signs Sub Committee within the Roads Co-ordinating Body, an organisation which contains representatives from road authorities in national, provincial and local government.

In metropolitan numbering schemes the local authority can designate routes consisting of M followed by any number. The following metropolitan municipalities and their cities have metropolitan numbering schemes.
 Buffalo City (East London)
 City of Cape Town (Cape Town)
 City of Johannesburg & Ekhuruleni (Johannesburg) including Krugersdorp which is in the West Rand
 City of Tshwane (Pretoria)
 Ethekwini (Durban)
 Mangaung (Bloemfontein)
 Nelson Mandela Bay (Port Elizabeth)
 Pietermaritzburg-Hilton area (Pietermaritzburg)

There are also a number of Ring Roads in South Africa found nationwide

Lists of routes
List of national routes in South Africa
List of provincial routes in South Africa
List of regional routes in South Africa
List of Regional Parallel Routes (South Africa)
List of Regional Routes in the former Cape Province (South Africa)
List of Regional Routes in the former Transvaal Province (South Africa)
List of Regional Routes in KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa)
List of Regional Routes in the Free State (South Africa)

List of Metropolitan Routes in South Africa
Metropolitan Routes in East London
Metropolitan Routes in Cape Town
Metropolitan Routes in Johannesburg
Metropolitan Routes in Pretoria
Metropolitan Routes in Durban
Metropolitan Routes in Bloemfontein
Metropolitan Routes in Port Elizabeth
Metropolitan Routes in Pietermaritzburg

References

Category:Transport in South Africa