A failed 1916 Easter Monday Rebellion touched off
several years of guerrilla warfare that in 1921 resulted
in independence from the UK for the 26 southern counties;
the six northern counties (Ulster) remained part of
Great Britain. In 1948 Ireland withdrew from the British
Commonwealth; it joined the European Community in
1973. Irish governments have sought the peaceful unification
of Ireland and have cooperated with Britain against
terrorist groups. A peace settlement for Northern
Ireland, approved in 1998, has not yet been implemented.
Geography
Location: Western Europe, occupying
five-sixths of the island of Ireland in the North
Atlantic Ocean, west of Great Britain
Area:
total: 70,280 sq km
land: 68,890 sq km
water: 1,390 sq km
Land boundaries:
total: 360 km
border countries: UK 360 km
Coastline: 1,448 km
Climate: temperate maritime; modified
by North Atlantic Current; mild winters, cool summers;
consistently humid; overcast about half the time
Terrain: mostly level to rolling interior plain surrounded
by rugged hills and low mountains; sea cliffs on west
coast
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Carrauntoohil 1,041 m
Natural resources: zinc, lead, natural
gas, barite, copper, gypsum, limestone, dolomite,
peat, silver
Land use:
arable land: 13%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 68%
forests and woodland: 5%
other: 14% (1993 est.)
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides,
Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Desertification, Environmental Modification, Hazardous
Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test
Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical
Timber 83, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent
Organic Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol,
Endangered Species, Marine Life Conservation.
People
Population: 3,797,257 (July 2000
est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 21.85% (male 425,795; female 403,777)
15-64 years: 66.83% (male 1,271,367; female 1,266,150)
65 years and over: 11.33% (male 185,913; female 244,255)
(2000 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.16% (2000
est.)
Net migration rate: 5.27 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2000 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Irishman(men), Irishwoman(women), Irish (collective
plural)
adjective: Irish
Ethnic groups: Celtic, English
Religions: Roman Catholic 91.6%,
Church of Ireland 2.5%, other 5.9% (1998)
Languages: English is the language
generally used, Irish (Gaelic) spoken mainly in areas
located along the western seaboard
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98% (1981 est.)
male: NA%
female: NA%
