The least populated county in all of Ireland, sparse County Leitrim has only around 31,000 people living on its 1,590 square kilometers. Carrick-on-Shannon is Leitrim's county town. A bustling place of fewer than 5000 residents, it, like many aspects of southern Leitrim, is defined by the stately River Shannon. The Shannon is linked to the River Erne via a canal here, while huge Lough Allen sprawls across the center of the county. The northwest part of the county is dominated by mountains, and eventually touches the Atlantic Ocean. The coastline at Tullaghan is the single shortest bit of county coastline in Ireland – a mere 2.5 kilometers long. Leitrim also shares a border with the Republic of Ireland.
County Leitrim's population was devastated during the Great Famine due to starvation and emigration. Because of this, you are more likely to meet someone with Leitrim roots outside of Ireland than you are to meet someone from Leitrim within Ireland. In 1847, the county's population was 160,000 - in 1996, only 25,000.