Editing County Donegal (section)

===Geography===
[[File:Slieve League (15919171422).jpg|alt=Slieve League panorama|thumb|[[Slieve League]] cliffs, the second tallest in Ireland]]
[[File:Glengesh Pass.jpg|thumb|left|Glengesh Pass, near [[Ardara, County Donegal|Ardara]]]]
Donegal is the most mountainous county in Ulster. It consists of two ranges of low mountains, the [[Derryveagh Mountains]] in the north and the [[Blue Stack Mountains]] in the south, with [[Errigal]] at {{cvt|751|m|ft|0}} the highest peak, making it the 11th-highest [[List of Irish counties by highest point|county top]] in Ireland. It has a deeply indented coastline forming natural [[sea lough]]s, of which [[Lough Swilly]] and [[Lough Foyle]] are the most notable. Donegal boasts the [[List of Irish counties by coastline|longest mainland coastline]] of any county in Ireland, and has either the longest or third longest total coastline (including islands), depending on how it is measured. Estimates of the length of the coastline range from less than {{cvt|1000|km|mi|0}} to {{cvt|1235|km|mi|0}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://research.thea.ie/bitstream/handle/20.500.12065/1521/Collins%2C%20Anthony%201996.pdf?sequence=7&isAllowed=y |title=Managing the Donegal Coast in the Twenty-first Century |website=research.thea.ie |publisher=[[Institute of Technology, Sligo]] |accessdate=13 July 2021 |archive-date=13 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210713101438/https://research.thea.ie/bitstream/handle/20.500.12065/1521/Collins,%20Anthony%201996.pdf?sequence=7&isAllowed=y |url-status=live}}</ref> The official figure used by Donegal County Council is {{cvt|1134|km|0}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.donegalcoco.ie/media/donegalcountyc/planning/pdfs/viewdevelopmentplans/landscapecharacterassessmentofcountydonegal/seascapecharacterassessmentofcountydonegal/Seascape%20Character%20Assessment.pdf |title=Seascape Character Assessment of County Donegal |website=donegalcoco.ie |publisher=Donegal County Council |accessdate=13 July 2021 |archive-date=13 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210713103425/https://www.donegalcoco.ie/media/donegalcountyc/planning/pdfs/viewdevelopmentplans/landscapecharacterassessmentofcountydonegal/seascapecharacterassessmentofcountydonegal/Seascape%20Character%20Assessment.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Slieve League]] cliffs are among the highest sea cliffs in Europe, while [[Malin Head]] is the most northerly point on the island of Ireland.

Two permanently inhabited islands, [[Arranmore]] and [[Tory Island]], lie off the coast, along with a large number of islands with only transient inhabitants. The 129&nbsp;km long [[River Erne]], Ireland's ninth-longest river, enters [[Donegal Bay]] near the town of [[Ballyshannon]]. The River Erne, along with other Donegal waterways, has been dammed to produce [[hydroelectricity|hydroelectric]] power. A canal linking the Erne to the [[River Shannon]] was constructed between 1846 and 1860, creating Ireland's longest navigable waterway. The project was plagued with setbacks and closed in 1870, ten years after its completion. A joint effort between the Irish and Northern Irish governments restored the canal in the late 20th century, and the [[Shannon–Erne Waterway]] reopened in 1994.{{sfn |Delany |2004 |pp=199–201}}

Historically, the eastern boundary of the kingdom of [[Tyrconnell|Tír Chonaill]] was demarcated by the [[River Foyle]]. In the 17th century, an area of land west of the Foyle was transferred to the newly established city of Derry. The Foyle still demarcated a large section of Donegal's eastern border. To the south, the Drowes River forms a 9&nbsp; km (6 miles) long natural boundary with County Leitrim.

[[File:Kinnagoe Bay, Inishowen, Co Donegal - geograph.org.uk - 83440.jpg|thumb|Kinnagoe Bay]]
Donegal has a population density of 34.2 people per square kilometre, the lowest in Ulster and the fifth lowest in Ireland. The county has an expansive network of wildlife and conservation zones, including 46 European Union designated [[Special Area of Conservation|Special Areas of Conservation]] (SACs) and 26 [[Special Protection Area]]s (SPAs), as well as 14 [[Natural Heritage Area]]s (NHAs), 74 proposed Natural Heritage Areas, 145 Irish Geological Heritage Areas (IGHs) and Ireland's second largest national park, [[Glenveagh]], which extends to over {{cvt|42000|acre|km2|0}} in northwestern Donegal.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.donegalcoco.ie/media/donegalcountyc/community/lcdc/App%201%20to%20LECP%20%20The%20Profile%20of%20the%20County%20February%202016.pdf |title=The Donegal Local Economic & Community Plan 2016-2022 |website=donegalcoco.ie |publisher=Donegal County Council |accessdate=23 July 2021 |archive-date=23 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210723010704/https://www.donegalcoco.ie/media/donegalcountyc/community/lcdc/App%201%20to%20LECP%20%20The%20Profile%20of%20the%20County%20February%202016.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>

Owing to its scenic landscape and "''world-class wilderness''", Donegal was named [[National Geographic]]'s "Coolest place on the Planet" in 2017.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/travel/donegal-named-coolest-place-on-planet-by-national-geographic-1.2889597 |newspaper=The Irish Times |title=Donegal named coolest place on planet by National Geographic |access-date=23 July 2021 |archive-date=24 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124232040/https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/travel/donegal-named-coolest-place-on-planet-by-national-geographic-1.2889597 |url-status=live}}</ref> The county was also ranked the 4th best region in the world by [[Lonely Planet]]'s ''Best in Travel'' series for 2024, which called Donegal "''purely wild with a big heart''".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/best-in-travel#donegal|title=Best in Travel 2024|last=|website=lonelyplanet.com|language=en|access-date=27 October 2023|archive-date=28 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728073433/https://www.lonelyplanet.com/best-in-travel#donegal|url-status=live}}</ref>

The forested area in the county extends to {{cvt|55534|ha|0}}, the 4th highest total forest cover in Ireland.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/65294-irelands-national-forest-inventory/ |title=National Forestry Inventory, Third Cycle 2017 |work=DAFM |date=17 November 2020 |access-date=23 July 2021 |archive-date=20 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210620124029/https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/65294-irelands-national-forest-inventory/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Historic deforestation left Donegal devoid of forest cover by 1900. Much of the county's forests are commercial timber plantations which were initially established in the 1930s as a way to create rural employment in areas with poor agricultural land and high rates of emigration.<ref>O'Carroll, pp. 22-23</ref> The county contains extensive tracts of [[blanket bog]] which are concentrated in western and upland regions. Blanket bog covers an area of {{cvt|148656|ha|0}}, or roughly 30 percent of the entire county.<ref>Douglas et al., pp. 27</ref>