So, the other day I found myself wondering, you know, just how big is Ireland? I mean, when you try to picture it, especially compared to one of the U.S. states. It feels like it should be on the smaller side, but how small exactly? I didn’t really have a good grasp on it.
First Thing I Did: Look Up Ireland’s Size
My first move was pretty straightforward. I just opened up a browser and typed in something like “how big is Ireland” or “area of Ireland.” Pretty quickly, I got a number. It was around 32,595 square miles (or about 84,421 square kilometers, for those who prefer that). Okay, so that’s a concrete figure. Now what?
Next Step: Finding a U.S. State for Comparison
With that number in hand, I then needed to figure out which U.S. state was a similar size. My brain immediately started trying to guess, but I knew that wouldn’t be very accurate. So, I did another quick search, this time for “U.S. states by area.”
A whole list popped up, usually ranked from biggest to smallest, or sometimes alphabetical with the area next to it. I started scrolling, looking for states that were in that 32,000 square mile ballpark.
I skipped past the giants like Alaska, Texas, and California pretty fast. Then I got into the more medium-sized ones.
And there it was! I saw a couple of familiar names that were pretty close.
- South Carolina jumped out at me. It’s listed as being around 32,020 square miles. That’s incredibly close! Almost a direct match, give or take a few hundred miles.
- Then I also saw Maine. Maine is a bit bigger, around 35,380 square miles. So Ireland is a tad smaller than Maine.
I also briefly considered Indiana, which is around 36,418 square miles, so also in the same general vicinity, though Maine and South Carolina felt like better direct comparisons for “around the same size” or “just a bit bigger/smaller.”
So, What Did I Learn?
Well, it turns out Ireland is roughly the same size as South Carolina. Or, if you prefer, it’s a little bit smaller than Maine. It’s definitely not one of the tiny states like Rhode Island or Delaware, but it’s also not massive. It’s a decent-sized piece of land!
It’s kind of interesting to put it into that perspective. A whole country, with all its history and culture, fitting into an area comparable to one of our states. It was just a quick lookup, nothing too complex, but it satisfied my curiosity and gave me a much better mental image. Just a little bit of practical geography I figured out!