How many miles of undersea internet cable are there?

Technology hard Data from 2024

Guess before you scroll — the answer is below

Answer in miles. Shorthand like 9m or 1.2bn works.

The answer

870,000 miles

Roughly 870K.

Around 870,000 miles of fibre-optic cable lie on the sea floor, enough to circle the Earth 35 times. Over 95% of all intercontinental internet traffic runs through them, not through satellites, and they are cut by ships’ anchors and fishing gear about 200 times a year.

Where this number comes from

Source TeleGeography Submarine Cable Map
Figure refers to 2024
Last checked
Unit miles

Numbers move. If this one has drifted from its source, let us know.

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