Brittany in 4 figures: surface area, population, GDP and coastline

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What is the surface area of Brittany?

First of all, Brittany has an easily-recognisable shape. It’s a peninsula at the start of Europe, when you arrive by sea.
Its longest point extends 300 kilometres from Ushant to east of Vitré and its widest some 200 kilometres from Cancale in the north to La Bernerie en Retz in the south.

Its 34018 square kilometres are distributed over five counties, or départements, which are very similar in terms of size. In fact, the smallest is Finistère with 6733 and the largest Côtes d’Armor with 6878 square kilometres.

In comparison ….

Wales has a surface area of 20735 km2, Ireland 84412 km2 and Scotland 77910 km2.
Brittany is as large as Taiwan at 36188 km2 or Belgium and its 37354 km2. It is larger than Israel at 22072 km2 or Slovenia and its 20273 km2.
Denmark, the country which is often quoted as being very similar to Brittany, has a population of 5.9 million within its 42933 km2. Actually, Denmark is a quarter larger and a quarter more populous than Brittany.

What is the population of Brittany?

On 1st January 2020, Brittany had a population of 4,830,716.
This population size is on exactly the same scale as New Zealand or the Republic of Ireland.
It’s more than Croatia and its 4.1 million.
It’s not much less than other European countries. Among them are Norway and its 5.4 million and Finland and its 5.5. In addition, Denmark and Scotland have 5.8 million each.

What is the GDP Gross Domestic Product of Brittany?

Brittany’s annual GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is around 143 billion Euro.
This makes Brittany’s GDP roughly equivalent to Ukraine’s. And it comes just behind Kuwait at €141 Bn and Hungary at €156 Bn. Moreover, it is more than double Lithuania’s or Slovenia’s at around €54 Bn.
With an equivalent population, New Zealand has a GDP of €203 Bn and the Republic of Ireland €373 Bn.

What is the length of Brittany’s coastline?

Its very long coastline makes Brittany a shining example of a maritime country : 2,700 kilometers.
Brittany has as much coastline as South Africa or Ukraine. And its coastline is longer than that of Peru, Germany, Egypt or Portugal.
Brittany marks the entrance to the largest shipping lane in the world, and has the largest algae field in Europe and the tenth largest in the world.

JML