Well, here in the Czech Republic we managed to cover all the main urban centers with MeshCore in less than one year:

https://analyzer.meshcore.cz/#/live

I can send a message to a friend in Prague with my MeshCore companion, it goes via the MeshCore repeater I have on my balcony which forwards the message to the local city mesh. Then it goes over various repeaters, usually on hills, to the Prague city mesh & reaches the friends companion. It usually takes about 8 to 10 hops, covering 200-400 km, based on the path taken.