5 ms·

Submarine Cable Map

61 points by theckel 1y ago

Amorymeltzer 1y ago
Previous discussions of note: - 6 Oct 2022: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33110478 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33110478> (175pts, 62 comments - 7 Nov 2020: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25020431 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25020431> (235pts, 135 comments
- tomhow 1y ago
  Thanks! Here's the full list: Interactive Submarine Cable Map - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33110478 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33110478 - Oct 2022 (61 comments) Submarine Cable Map - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25020431 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25020431 - Nov 2020 (134 comments) Submarine cable map - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13614598 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13614598 - Feb 2017 (35 comments) Map of Undersea Internet Cables - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10163461 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10163461 - Sept 2015 (13 comments) Submarine Cable Map - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9216894 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9216894 - March 2015 (39 comments) Submarine Cable Map - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3643749 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3643749 - Feb 2012 (109 comments)
craftkiller 1y ago
Interesting that the US and Russia get so close to touching and yet I don't see any cables going between the two countries. All our west coast cables seem to go south to Japan/China/Australia.
- jedberg 1y ago
  Almost none of the Russian population lives on the East coast of the country. To be useful, they would have to have overland cables going thousands of miles. It's much easier to get to the bulk of their population from the west via Europe.
  - roelschroeven 1y ago
    Both Russia and the USA have cables there though, they're just not connected.
    - jedberg 1y ago
      Gray cables are planned, not yet laid.
  - araes 1y ago
    Not a strong disagree or anything, yet Khabarovsk (~617,000)[1], Vladivostok (~605,000)[2], and Yakutsk (~312,000)[3] are somewhat large in the Far East. There's probably an economic case for 1.5 million citizens access. Admittedly, it's probably much easier to go through China, Korea, or Japan if those countries are accepting. There's decades of political and social issues to wade through with Russia / US cables, vs just going to China, Korea, or Japan, and then jumping over the Pacific. Canada would likely also be an easier possibility. Which is pretty much what it looks like Russia did with the Hokkaido-Sakhalin Cable System[4], and Russia-Japan Cable Network.[5] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khabarovsk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khabarovsk [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladivostok https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladivostok [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakutsk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakutsk [4] https://www.submarinecablemap.com/submarine-cable/hokkaido-sakhalin-cable-system-hscs https://www.submarinecablemap.com/submarine-cable/hokkaido-s... [5] https://www.submarinecablemap.com/submarine-cable/russia-japan-cable-network-rjcn https://www.submarinecablemap.com/submarine-cable/russia-jap...
divbzero 1y ago
Just this morning I came across and reread “Mother Earth Mother Board” Wired article from December 1996: https://web.archive.org/web/20151029000518/https://www.wired.com/1996/12/ffglass/ https://web.archive.org/web/20151029000518/https://www.wired...
- pchristensen 1y ago
  This is incredibly enjoyable read!
aaron695 1y ago
[dead]
libraryofbabel 1y ago
I used a similar map ten years ago when teaching a class for gen ed freshman undergraduates about “the internet” (mostly cultural topics with a bit of technical flavor). It’s interesting how things have changed a little since then - for example, there used to be no direct link between South America and Africa (a fact that we confirmed in my class with a traceroute). Now there are four cables. The submarine cable map was consistently a student favorite and a big “wow” moment in the class. Many of them said they had thought all the Internet traffic went over satellite.
tomhow 1y ago
Other active discussion about submarine cables: A Technical Update on Submarine Cables [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45119310 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45119310 - Sept 2025 (17 comments)
ChrisArchitect 1y ago
Perhaps a more current and newsworthy topic discussion related to this: Microsoft Azure: "Multiple international subsea cables were cut in the Red Sea" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45152773 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45152773

61 points by theckel 1y ago

Previous discussions of note: - 6 Oct 2022: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33110478 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33110478> (175pts, 62 comments - 7 Nov 2020: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25020431 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25020431> (235pts, 135 comments

tomhow 1y ago
Thanks! Here's the full list: Interactive Submarine Cable Map - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33110478 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33110478 - Oct 2022 (61 comments) Submarine Cable Map - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25020431 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25020431 - Nov 2020 (134 comments) Submarine cable map - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13614598 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13614598 - Feb 2017 (35 comments) Map of Undersea Internet Cables - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10163461 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10163461 - Sept 2015 (13 comments) Submarine Cable Map - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9216894 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9216894 - March 2015 (39 comments) Submarine Cable Map - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3643749 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3643749 - Feb 2012 (109 comments)

craftkiller 1y ago

Interesting that the US and Russia get so close to touching and yet I don't see any cables going between the two countries. All our west coast cables seem to go south to Japan/China/Australia.

jedberg 1y ago
Almost none of the Russian population lives on the East coast of the country. To be useful, they would have to have overland cables going thousands of miles. It's much easier to get to the bulk of their population from the west via Europe.
- roelschroeven 1y ago
  Both Russia and the USA have cables there though, they're just not connected.
  - jedberg 1y ago
    Gray cables are planned, not yet laid.
- araes 1y ago
  Not a strong disagree or anything, yet Khabarovsk (~617,000)[1], Vladivostok (~605,000)[2], and Yakutsk (~312,000)[3] are somewhat large in the Far East. There's probably an economic case for 1.5 million citizens access. Admittedly, it's probably much easier to go through China, Korea, or Japan if those countries are accepting. There's decades of political and social issues to wade through with Russia / US cables, vs just going to China, Korea, or Japan, and then jumping over the Pacific. Canada would likely also be an easier possibility. Which is pretty much what it looks like Russia did with the Hokkaido-Sakhalin Cable System[4], and Russia-Japan Cable Network.[5] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khabarovsk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khabarovsk [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladivostok https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladivostok [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakutsk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakutsk [4] https://www.submarinecablemap.com/submarine-cable/hokkaido-sakhalin-cable-system-hscs https://www.submarinecablemap.com/submarine-cable/hokkaido-s... [5] https://www.submarinecablemap.com/submarine-cable/russia-japan-cable-network-rjcn https://www.submarinecablemap.com/submarine-cable/russia-jap...

divbzero 1y ago

Just this morning I came across and reread “Mother Earth Mother Board” Wired article from December 1996: https://web.archive.org/web/20151029000518/https://www.wired.com/1996/12/ffglass/ https://web.archive.org/web/20151029000518/https://www.wired...

pchristensen 1y ago
This is incredibly enjoyable read!

aaron695 1y ago

[dead]

libraryofbabel 1y ago

I used a similar map ten years ago when teaching a class for gen ed freshman undergraduates about “the internet” (mostly cultural topics with a bit of technical flavor). It’s interesting how things have changed a little since then - for example, there used to be no direct link between South America and Africa (a fact that we confirmed in my class with a traceroute). Now there are four cables. The submarine cable map was consistently a student favorite and a big “wow” moment in the class. Many of them said they had thought all the Internet traffic went over satellite.

tomhow 1y ago

Other active discussion about submarine cables: A Technical Update on Submarine Cables [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45119310 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45119310 - Sept 2025 (17 comments)

ChrisArchitect 1y ago

Perhaps a more current and newsworthy topic discussion related to this: Microsoft Azure: "Multiple international subsea cables were cut in the Red Sea" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45152773 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45152773