Ireland vs United Arab Emirates

United Arab Emirates is 1.2 times larger than Ireland — 83,600 against 70,273 km². United Arab Emirates is 2.1 times more populous than Ireland — 11,513,149 against 5,484,367 people.

Side by side

Population density

United Arab Emirates is 1.8 times more densely populated than Ireland — 138 against 78 people per km². Density is where area and population interact, and it often reverses the impression the headline figures give — a large country with a small population can feel emptier than a small crowded one by an enormous margin.

Practical differences

• They drive on opposite sides — Ireland on the left, United Arab Emirates on the right.
• Different currencies: the Euro and the United Arab Emirates dirham.
• Different continents — Europe and Asia.

Ireland

The interior is a low limestone plain ringed by coastal mountains, which is why the rivers drain inward and the middle of the country is bog. The Cliffs of Moher run 14 km and reach 214 m. Ireland has no native snakes, and only one native reptile.

United Arab Emirates

The Burj Khalifa in Dubai is 828 m, the tallest building in the world, and has been since 2010. Most of the country is desert; the Liwa Oasis on the edge of the Empty Quarter carries dunes over 250 m high. Jebel Jais in the Hajar mountains reaches 1,934 m and sees occasional snow.

Neutral facts only. Nothing here addresses politics, government, economics or which country is preferable in any respect — population is the one figure that dates, and it carries its year.