FWIW the UK is connected via a rail tunnel to France. But most goods are transported via cargo ship and most people via planes, so how much does it really matte

FWIW the UK is connected via a rail tunnel to France. But most goods are transported via cargo ship and most people via planes, so how much does it really matter? Furthermore, the US might have more land but they also have other challenges that Europe doesn't have, such as huge cities in dessert area, tornadoes, and no internal waterways from east to west (need the panama canal). There's pro's and con's to the land on both sides of the Atlantic. But it seems far from a decisive factor in the wealth of our nations.