On Random but Interesting Facts

After nearly three weeks of travel, I am back in Galway. My travels went well, though it is nice to get a break. And now I have some interesting and slightly random facts on Ireland. Ireland is a relatively small country, just under about 70,000 sq km. However, their size about doubles when you take into consideration that countries include all of the continental shelf surrounding them. There are some disputes with surrounding countries as to where continental shelf boundaries begin and end (notably with the UK and Norway). As of 2007, less than 17% of the land was arable, and less than 1% covered by permanent crops. The population is around 4.2 million, and around 40% live in the Dublin area. And while the country is about the size of West Virginia, there are 34 airports. Per capita GDP is the second highest in the EU behind Luxembourg.