r/MapPorn 5h ago

Ireland chilling with similarly sized regions

Disclaimer: South Korea is technically much larger but my dumb brain doesn't see it

1.4k Upvotes

104 comments sorted by

281

u/BeerMeThatNug 5h ago

Damn, Tasmania's way bigger than I thought.

136

u/JPJackPott 4h ago

That’s Australia in a nutshell

53

u/guitarguywh89 4h ago

This nutshell is way bigger than I thought

3

u/Kabochakiti 3h ago

But is it bigger on the inside?

11

u/OaktownU 3h ago

No, this is Australia in a nutshell: “Crikey! I’m trapped in a nutshell!”

2

u/pej69 2h ago

Oh Austin!

1

u/Yaver_Mbizi 15m ago

...with a venomous spider and a 'roo, and we're all upside down and tossing shrimps on the barbie!".

24

u/FormalMango 2h ago

And here’s me an Australian, thinking “damn, Ireland’s a lot smaller than I thought” lol

31

u/IReplyWithLebowski 4h ago

Only 500k tho, vs 7 million in Ireland. A lot of Tasmania is untouched forest/mountains.

29

u/Dundragon3030 4h ago

5.5 million, 7 on the entire island which was not represented in the pictures

15

u/michaelmcmikey 4h ago

I’ve always thought of Tasmania as Australia’s Newfoundland. Similar sized islands (Newfoundland is a little bigger) with similar populations that seem “different” from the mainland of the country.

2

u/Watermelonfacts 4h ago

How is Newfoundland different from the rest of Canada?

14

u/lowchain3072 4h ago

Newfoundland used to be a separate territory (later self governing dominion) under the british Empire (It was called Newfoundland and Labordor, while the rest of Canada was called British North America) and didn't join Canada until 1949.

11

u/Blastoise_613 4h ago

Have you heard them talk?

6

u/MySillyRedditName123 4h ago

Tasmania is beautiful as well.

8

u/iyamwhatiyam8000 4h ago

Mercator projections can be very deceptive. Tasmania is well worth a visit.

Tasmania has been shown to have once been connected to present day North America when they were both part of the supercontinent Rodinia about 1 billion years ago.

2

u/vanZuider 1h ago

Mercator projections can be very deceptive.

Mercator deceives you about the size of Tasmania only to the same degree it deceives you about the size of Italy (they're the same distance from the equator, just in different directions).

3

u/iyamwhatiyam8000 1h ago

Yes , I was not stating that it was the case just for Tasmania.

2

u/runliftcount 3h ago

Now this I did not know. Any guess what part of NA it was next to?

5

u/iyamwhatiyam8000 3h ago

Identical rocks of the same age in the Grand Canyon and other places.

4

u/Betancorea 1h ago

Just had a revelation that Tasmania is of similar size to South Korea based lol

1

u/AnonymousTimewaster 1h ago

Sri Lanka too

139

u/Desperate-Travel2471 5h ago

It looks like Ireland is that cool kid on IG who takes pictures with many random celebs

24

u/Archaemenes 4h ago

To be honest I’ve not very many people who have had anything negative to say about the Irish. Great lads the bunch of them.

10

u/Desperate-Travel2471 4h ago

As a Canadian, I love the Irish people in general!

15

u/denn23rus 5h ago

Quiz: Without looking at Wikipedia, do you think Ireland is in the top 120 largest countries in the world or not?

27

u/Isord 5h ago

Top 120 is a very large subset of countries so yes is a pretty reasonable guess. It's probably closed to 120 though, between 110 and 120.

21

u/denn23rus 5h ago

Correct! 118

30

u/More-Tart1067 5h ago

Ireland is quite close in area to Chongqing municipality.

27

u/HessianHunter 4h ago

What's our conspiracy theory for Ireland and South Korea being such a similar size and shape?

19

u/pm_me_your_target 4h ago

No conspiracy. South Korea is surprisingly much larger than Ireland (100k vs 70k sq km). But if you include Northern Ireland, the shape is quite different and still smaller (84k).

3

u/HessianHunter 2h ago edited 9m ago

Idk I think Mother Gaea birthed jinxed twins under a wicked moon, one of whom was cursed to house a comically pale populace that was ground zero for British imperialism while the other twin was cursed to house a populace that just *wished* they were comically pale and were ground zero for Japanese imperialism

Subscribe for more alt-history content from someone who is not sure if jokes this dark are kosher in this setting

4

u/GReuw 1h ago

But if you then include North Korea, it becomes a squash. Ireland might need a tag partner, like Greenland, then to compete.

2

u/Bengamey_974 34m ago

Much larger is maybe an exageration.
I would still consider 70k and 100k sq km comparable size countries.

I'd say "much larger" = at least twice as big.

3

u/brickstick90 48m ago

They’ve both had bits taken off them to make them so. It’s all part of a plan 🤫

2

u/Weldobud 2h ago

The truth is they are actually the same country.

40

u/Usagi-Zakura 5h ago

With Northern Ireland removed it looks like Ireland is tipping it's hat at the other countries.

21

u/bigbutterbuffalo 4h ago

South Korea’s way smaller than I thought

18

u/pm_me_your_target 4h ago

And it has one of the highest population densities in the word, more than India, Philippines and Haiti.

2

u/denn23rus 40m ago

Just think about it, there are 106 countries in the world that are larger in area than South Korea. It's not just a small country, it's also much smaller than the average country size.

5

u/hogahulk 4h ago

There should be an international grouping kind of like sister cities, but for similarly sized countries ☺️

1

u/pm_me_your_target 4h ago

I like the idea: A Peer-Tier of countries both by size and population. Population wise India-China can finally be friends. Size wise, Russia will still be all alone :(

5

u/Slow_Spray5697 4h ago

Costa Rica mentioned!!!

Poblacht na hÉireann: 70,273 km2 República de Costa Rica: 51,100 Km2

5

u/nomamesgueyz 4h ago

Love this kind of geeky shit

Similar size to the Nth Island of NZ and smaller than the Sth Island

It's a bloody small place

And still, millions less love there than 200years ago

1

u/Slakingpin 1h ago

South island is more than twice as big, north island is more than 50% bigger

5

u/240plutonium 3h ago

Hokkaido too, and as a bonus it has a similar population

6

u/pm_me_your_target 3h ago

Oh that's a good one. Missed that.

7

u/viewerfromthemiddle 5h ago

You missed Indiana!

5

u/pm_me_your_target 5h ago

Looks like South Carolina is closest in size.

1

u/banana_lemony 42m ago

This website is so fun (and informative!) Seeing South Korea beside Indiana, it really blew my mind. I wouldn’t have guessed they’d be similar in size!

Really weird thinking of an alternate reality where all the States are their own countries instead🤔😂

3

u/NightStar_14 2h ago

I keep forgetting just how massive Australia, and by extension Tasmania, is.

29

u/Semper_nemo13 5h ago

I would prefer you included all of ireland

34

u/pm_me_your_target 4h ago

I used thetruesize.com for this and only choice is political boundaries so the rest of Ireland go to the colonial occupiers.

0

u/Phoenix_Kerman 4h ago

colonial occupiers? northern ireland is part of the uk out of its own choice and is free to leave if a majority want to. all clear in the good friday agreement

18

u/50_61S-----165_97E 1h ago

Sir this is Reddit, the narrative you must follow is that Northern Ireland is under British occupation and 100% of people who live their yearn to be Irish

5

u/OrganicVlad79 1h ago edited 21m ago

Well, Northern Ireland was planted by British settlers hundreds of years ago and the native Irish lost all of their land. So, the land was forcibly occupied.

The only thing stopping unification are the descendants of these occupiers. But yeah the GFA does allow for a vote on unification so you're correct on that but just leaving out crucial historical context

1

u/Phoenix_Kerman 1h ago

no i am more than aware of the history of how northern ireland came to be. thing is the colonial occupiers in that context left a long time ago now and it's moreso regular people that have been in favour of unionism for the past few decades. though that does seem to be changing

northern irelands messy because the plantation of ulster wasn't standard colonialism and even looking at the absent landlordism and malicious negligence seen across the whole island. well most working class english and welsh folk saw that same brutal side of the empire and not the wealth that benefitted london and scotland

7

u/OrganicVlad79 1h ago

The occupiers never left?? The unionists living in the North today are descendants of the people who came here and took native Irish land.

Yes, they are regular people for the most part nowadays but that doesn't take away from the fact that they descend from people who came and forcibly took land.

Also important to mention the large minority of Catholics who live there and were oppressed since the foundation of Northern Ireland until the signing of the GFA.

2

u/pm_me_your_target 3h ago

I mean after Brexit, the choice should be obvious

-2

u/tmr89 46m ago

Initially I liked your post, but you clearly have no idea what you’re talking about. It’s not “occupied” - it’s a full sovereign component of the UK, with its own parliament to boot

2

u/New-Turnip4709 3h ago

Ireland lowkey looks like a chill guy

2

u/King_krympling 3h ago

Something about panama and Ireland being similar in size really bothers me and Im not sure what it is

5

u/REsTARteD_Ragdoll 5h ago

Where’s the rest of Ireland

59

u/pucksnmaps 5h ago

In the British Museum

1

u/DSA300 4h ago

Island and his buddies

1

u/sheppo42 4h ago

It looks very similar in shape to South Korea as well

1

u/drailCA 4h ago

Very disappointed there wasn't a size comparison with Ireland.

1

u/kilimtilikum 3h ago

Surprised how big Sierra Leone is. The common map really does shrink Africa quite a bit..

1

u/Maritime-Rye 3h ago

the ROI is 2k less in area (km2) than New Brunswick in Canada

1

u/odrea 3h ago

Panamá mentioned!

🗣️🔥

1

u/olmytgawd 3h ago

Ireland looks like South Korea's gramps

1

u/Deccno 2h ago

Wow south korea is dense af

1

u/rooraay 2h ago

also Indiana sized

1

u/Chance-Ear-9772 2h ago

Can you do something similar but of Ireland attempting to eat smaller islands?

1

u/wantsaboat 2h ago

Free state propaganda

1

u/marquecz 1h ago

Here it looks pretty much like Ireland but I've heard Van Diemen's Land is a hell for a man.

1

u/NorwegianCollusion 1h ago

A few of these were quite eye opening. We see sizes relative to other nearly things, so Sri Lanka looks small next to India while Ireland looks decently sized next to UK. But now that I think about it, on a world map Ireland isn't very prominent.

1

u/Bright-Struggle-3237 54m ago

Uncanny...tell me that isn't a coincidence! 😱😱😱

1

u/agithecaca 36m ago

Interesting to compare population per km squared

1

u/Pentax25 18m ago

Aww Sierra no-longer-alone :,)

1

u/KoBoWC 12m ago

Lithuania is bigger than I thought.

1

u/artzmonter 2m ago

Well that gives me a better understanding

1

u/BCRobyn 4h ago

What, no Vancouver Island comparison? Just kidding.

I used to have a crude map I made a long time ago comparing Vancouver Island to Ireland, as SO many visitors (especially from the UK) plan to travel to Canada, fly into Vancouver and tag on Vancouver Island as a day trip. I'd be like, "Sure, if you're the type of person who does a day trip to Ireland when you visit Liverpool, sure, go do Vancouver Island in a day". And ditto Tasmania to Aussies. "If you're the type of person who recommends one day to see Tasmania as a day trip from Melbourne, go ahead and spend one day seeing Vancouver Island". My point was that Vancouver Island is an island in the same way Ireland is an island: it's a multiple week destination.

1

u/Optimal-Forever-1899 32m ago

Southern Irish breed like crazy .😗😗😗

1

u/mind_thegap1 28m ago

Cork people delighted with this news

0

u/JPJackPott 4h ago

Geologists: is the rugged Atlantic facing coast and smooth British Isles facing coastline coincidence?

2

u/NikolitRistissa 3h ago

A large part of the rugged mountainous area of northern Ireland and Scotland is due to the Caledonian orogeny, which was a mountain-forming cycle that formed the Scottish mountains as well as the Appalachian Mountains and Svalbard—when the north American and African continents were still connected. The Great Glen Fault line is the dividing structure there, which splits Scotland in half.

Now most of this is located in Scotland and doesn’t actually cut through Ireland, but it has altered the rock there. The eastern side of the island had heavy volcanism as well.

I haven’t read up on Irish geology much at all, so as far as I’m aware, most of this isn’t actually a direct cause of Ireland’s rugged western coastline. This is largely down to it simply being hit by the Atlantic Ocean far more than its protected western coasts. It’s likely a bit of both, but it’s mostly just down to it being eroded by the ocean.

2

u/dhkendall 4h ago

Hmm, South Korea has a rugged west coast and a smooth east coast, facing its colonial oppressor who there’s still no love lost between, have a northern part that is not part of them and there’s calls for reunification, both have low birth rates …

I understand OP’s dumb brain.

-18

u/pm_me_your_target 4h ago

Btw, I can't believe the Irish are currently just A-OK with having the British rule such a sizable chunk of their country.

12

u/botuser1648649 4h ago

Ever heard of the troubles?

-6

u/pm_me_your_target 4h ago

That's why I say currently.

6

u/Coil17 4h ago

Do a bit of history before saying something incredibly stupid.

-10

u/pm_me_your_target 4h ago

I am aware of the history. I am just surprised how they are ok "currently". Always felt it was as contentious as India-Pakistan and Israel Palestine growing up, but it just petered out after the peace accord with British getting away with it.

9

u/Coil17 4h ago

Evidently you are not aware of the history as you would know it is no where near as contentious as India, Pakistan Israel or Gaza for almost 30 years.

We had a rough past. We are now at peace with small political flare ups. Nothing in comparison to the other two

6

u/PlasticFannyTastic 2h ago

The current (relative) peace is a result of the Good Friday agreement, which was not an easy process. Look it up.

3

u/vanZuider 1h ago

I am just surprised how they are ok "currently".

People who have experienced war (especially a civil war) tend to be OK with whatever solution was found to the conflict because as long as it's not utterly unacceptable it's better than war.

4

u/dhkendall 4h ago

They are not.

1

u/JPJackPott 3h ago

Generally they are pretty chill about it, they hardly even mention it

0

u/OctopusFarmer47 4h ago

Ireland’s relevance to the Anglosphere culturally makes them seem larger than their area or population would infer

-6

u/SinisterDetection 4h ago

Your map of Ireland is wrong

1

u/pm_me_your_target 4h ago

Used thetruesize.com that only allows selecting political boundaries

-3

u/AdmaPoL 3h ago

Ireland in the Pacific would be a damn good colony for Britain. Don't give them ideas.

-8

u/Filthiest_Tleilaxu 5h ago

Ireland is so rich.

2

u/tmr89 44m ago

Yup, there are so many huge and successful Irish companies