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bitumen

Form of petroleum primarily used in road construction

EntityQ167510

Also known as asphaltum · asphalt

Subclass of: building material
, film former
1
Sources
1.Stated in Q37810035
View statement on Wikidata ↗
, petroleum product

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Bitumen is an immensely viscous constituent of petroleum. Depending on its exact composition, it can be a sticky, black liquid or an apparently solid mass that behaves as a liquid over very large time scales. In American English, the material is commonly referred to as asphalt. Whether found in natural deposits or refined from petroleum, the substance is classed as a pitch. Prior to the 20th century, the term asphaltum was in general use. The word derives from the Ancient Greek word ἄσφαλτος (ásphaltos), which referred to natural bitumen or pitch. The largest natural deposit of bitumen in the world is the Pitch Lake of southwest Trinidad, which is estimated to contain 10 million tons.

Overview

All data

50 statements · 12% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Has use: waterproofing
building material
Made from material: rock asphalt
petroleum
Different from: bitumen of Judea
rock asphalt
asphalt concrete applies to name of subject: asphalt · applies to name of object: asphalt
tar

On other databases

39 identifiers linking bitumen across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

12%

externally sourced

Source last edited October 22, 2026. AIDb refreshes this page daily.

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AIDb. (2026). bitumen (Q167510). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/bitumen-Q167510