Ireland ire (ga)
Topography of Ireland.
Geography
Country	Ireland United Kingdom
Location	Atlantic Ocean
Contact	53 30 'N 7 24' W / 53.5, -7.4 53 30 'N 7 24' W / 53.5, -7.4
Area	81 638.1 km 2
Coast	3 700 km
Climax	Carrauntuohill (1041 m)
Geology	Continental island
Administration
Status	Shared between Ireland , independent country, and Northern Ireland , a constituent nation of the United Kingdom
Ireland
Counties	all
United Kingdom
Constituent nation	Northern Ireland
Demography
Population	5,981,448 inhab. (2006)
Density	73.27 inhabitants / km 2
Largest city	Dublin
Other information
Discovery	Prehistory
Time Zone	UTC +0
Ireland
Islands of Ireland - Islands of the United Kingdom

Ireland in Irish , in English , in Ulster Scots , in Latin ), is the third largest island of Europe. It is located west of Great Britain , between the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea.

The island is politically divided into two: the majority is occupied by Ireland , an independent state, and the north by the Northern Ireland , also called (erroneously, as it is only a part of the geographical region) Ulster , which is still part of the United Kingdom.

Several versions differ as to the origin of its name: for some, its name comes from the goddess riu (ire in Irish) and the word Germanic land ("land"). Erin is a poetic name for Ireland. For others, its name comes from the ancient Greek word '' (in French "Iris").

The island is inhabited by 6.3 million people (Census 2006): 4.45 million to the Republic of Ireland (of which 1.75 million for the Greater Dublin ) and just over 1.7 million for the Northern Ireland (including 800,000 for the Greater Belfast ).

To the west of Britain, the emerald island covers a total area of 84,412 square kilometers, the equivalent of Austria , to about 5.7 million - including 1.7 million for 14 139 km of Northern Ireland.

The maximum distance from north to south is 483 km and width from west to east, 275 km.

Its geology having structured over several hundred million years, the island bears the imprint of volcanoes and brand of ice , giving it a geomorphology varied.

Landscapes we encounter gentler on the East Coast and Coasts on the West Coast, the mountains covered with dense forests carved valleys and coves. The interior of the island, and much of the West Coast is the area of peatland used for peat , fuel of sufficient quality, which currently supplies about 14% of electricity in Ireland.

Many lakes cover 1,450 square miles of territory.

Ireland enjoys a temperate oceanic climate with the Gulf Stream that runs through his entire west coast. Throughout the island flora and fauna extremely varied benefits of a climate conducive to the development of related species to benefit from favorable weather conditions (fuchsia, sometimes high of over 4 meters; palm ...).

Ireland is bordered on the east by the Irish Sea and west by the Atlantic.

Climate

The country is located in an area of gentle winds oriented South-West. Seas, the Atlantic and the Irish Sea have warmed by the Gulf Stream. The climate is marked by mild winters and cool summers. The coldest months are January and February. The temperature oscillates between 4 and 7 C. Snow and frost are rare. However, the country is close to the North Atlantic area of low pressure, it is sometimes swept by hail or storms. During the hottest months, July and August, temperatures generally 14-16 C. They may rise to 25 C.

Each region has a specific climate. Southeast of the island, the climate is continental, northwest, marine. Overall, precipitation is evenly distributed.

The sunniest periods are during the months of May and June. At that time, the average sunshine per day throughout the country is on average six hours. Heavy rains (+ / - 1 000 mm per year) feeding a network of rivers (26 000 km of rivers).

During the winter, the country is at the meridian of Greenwich , but from April to October, it precedes an hour ^{The fauna and flora}

Ireland was separated from the European continent during the Ice Age ended there + / - 12 000 years. It is thus noted a variety of fauna and flora more limited than in other African countries.

There are still a few years, much of the territory was covered with virgin forest: oak, holly , birch , hazel and yew. Cleared, the country follows a program of reforestation of conifers: spruce , Sitka spruce, Norway, Pine Scotch, larch and fir. These forests are home when the deer and deer that were introduced recently. It also meets the woodcock , the owl , the thrush or songbirds, the squirrel , the hare blue, the shrew Pygmy, etc.

The pony is about him as famous as the horse. It is robust, intelligent and has a black mane and tail. These ponies can live in freedom but are not wild. International reputation, they are subject to a fair in the Connemara to Clifden , every August .

History

The British Isles in 1843 when the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

Eamon de Valera

Michael Collins

The first people arrived in Ireland in the ^eighth millennium BC. AD , when the climate was more hospitable following the retreat of polar ice caps of the last glacial period. Prehistory is poorly known, our knowledge become clearer with the installation of the Celts in the sixth century BC After them, the Vikings raided and settled the land in the eighth century AD The Head shipping name Viking Thorgis and proclaimed himself king and abbot of Ireland. These are the Vikings who founded the city of Dublin in the year 988. The Vikings have also destroyed many monasteries beginning with that of Lindisfarne. Toponymy (names of cities), for example, Wexford and Wicklow comes from the Vikings. After that, the Anglo-Normans colonized the island with great success in its eastern half, but eventually became more Irish than the Irish themselves. Under Henry VIII of England was therefore completely colonized the country, the Irish tried to fight against the British and the British and there were many revolutions. In 1800 , the British government seeks by all means the path of integration until the Prime Minister William Pitt, do proclaim the union of Ireland and Great Britain, creating the UK Great Britain and Ireland.

In 1829 , the Irish MP Daniel O'Connell (Dnall Conaill), adept at passive resistance, obtained the emancipation of Catholics. From 1846 to 1850 , late blight, a disease of potatoes (the staple food in Ireland) causes a terrible famine: 3 million Irish died. The Irish population was 8 million in 1845 and fell to 5 million in 1850. It's the Great Famine (An Gorta Mr), which cause the most tremendous emigration of the day: half of the survivors sailed for the New World, particularly Canada and the United States. Some will even settle in France and Switzerland.

The late nineteenth ^century was marked by the rise of national claims among Catholics. A separatist movement (Sinn Fein) calls the "home rule" while the "Orangemen" faithful to oppose the British crown. In 1914, home rule is almost accepted, but the war differs from its application. Some are radicalized movements and consider the difficulties the British during the Great War as an opportunity for Ireland. During Easter 1916, the nationalists rose up in Dublin but were crushed by the British army. The ferocious repression that hits the patriotic movement (De Valera owes his survival to his American citizenship, Collins uses his anonymity) returns of international opinion in favor of independence. However, and despite the support of the Irish in the United States, the Irish question was not discussed at conferences of the postwar period.

In 1921 , the Treaty of London with the negotiations by Michael Collins to lead a divided island. Southern Ireland gains its independence followed by a civil war between supporters of independence and those of the independent republic. Independence was gained in 1937. Northern Ireland, meanwhile, remains part of the United Kingdom. The Republic of Ireland is very poor until the 1990s. Since its accession to the European Community in 1973 , its economic development extremely dynamic place in the lead of European countries. In Northern Ireland, the Republicans (Catholics) want, mostly, that their region leaves the UK to incorporate the Republic of Ireland. Unionists (Protestants), for their part, want to remain British.

Politics

Ireland is divided into two parts:

• of Ireland or Eire;
• the Northern Ireland , part of the United Kingdom.

Ireland is also known as Republic of Ireland is an independent state made up of twenty-six counties, and its capital city is Dublin.

Flag of Ireland

Northern Ireland consists of six counties (predominantly Protestant) in the north-east of the island and its capital is Belfast. It is sometimes called the "North" (mostly by the Nationalists), "the six counties" or "Ulster" because it is composed of two thirds of the Irish province of Ulster which actually comprises nine counties, three, Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan the are left to the Republic by the British after the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1921.

Northern Ireland is still part of the UK , but his position is challenged. The nationalists want to leave the United Kingdom , to fit into the Republic of Ireland. The Unionists, meanwhile, have a position that is the opposite. This conflict is at the root of unrest in the region and has expanded in 1969 to the Stormont Agreement in April 1998. Therefore, there was a parliament decentralized Belfast but because of continuing conflicts between nationalists and unionists, he was suspended and is currently the Government of the United Kingdom that the government directly. The conflict has become increasingly political and less and less violent.

Flag of Northern Ireland (unofficial)

The government of Tony Blair was given until November 2006 to find common ground to restore the institutions in Northern Ireland. Otherwise, London finally resume the hand. The British military has therefore left Northern Ireland in 2007, along with the retirement of Tony Blair , to encourage the continuation of the peace process.

Despite the political separation, many organizations are working on an all-Ireland, for example the Irish Rugby Football Union , IRFU or the GAA ( Gaelic Athletics Association ) which includes the traditional sports of " hurling "and" Gaelic Football.

The current president is Mary McAleese and Prime Minister Brian Cowen.

Society

Languages

map of the Gaeltacht

Several languages are spoken on the island of Ireland:

• The English is the main language spoken
• The Irish (1.6 million have some knowledge of the language, while 250 000 have a good knowledge. Of the 15 members European ones on the island of Ireland, 6 expressed correctly in Irish)
• The Ulster Scots spoken in the province of Ulster

Ireland has the official languages of English and the Ulster Scots spoken in the province of Ulster and the Irish.

Despite the independence and the use of bilingual road signs , the Republic of Ireland could not fully revive the Irish language. The extreme poverty of the country, which was not resolved in the first decades after independence, made emigration an important economic activity, and the Irish continued to emigrate to English speaking countries, as in the nineteenth ^century. However, part of western Ireland, known as Gaeltacht , stands out as an area where Irish is still a living language and mother tongue first. In Dublin, the place of the Irish is less, however, since independence, the schoolchildren of the state of Ireland also learn the Irish language, in addition to English.

Bilingual road signs in Irish and English.

Demographics

Ireland has been inhabited since the Stone Age. Historians date the installation of the first Celts between the ^sixth and the ^first century BC. AD. In ^the eighth century , the tranquility of the area is disturbed by the arrival of the Vikings , then by the Normans and English. Soil fertility in this island a mild climate (compared to Great Britain), allowed an increase in population. Thus, in 1841 , there were more than eight million inhabitants, almost half the population of Great Britain at the time, now almost 10 times more populous than the island of Ireland. The great famine of 1846 divided the population by two, both by the mass deaths by emigration. This famine is difficult to separate from socio-economic causes related to the English domination of Ireland which holds the majority in a tough economic and social exclusion. Most of the land then belonged to British owners that the Irish were farmers. Access to several military and civilian positions in the United Kingdom the eighteenth ^{and nineteenth} centuries, Catholics were excluded. Emigration after the disaster at the origin of the large Irish diaspora , especially in the United States , where people of Irish ancestry now represent nearly 39 million people .

In 1961 , the declining population drop to 2.6 million. After that date, the increase becomes a reality. It is mainly due to the reversal of migration flows: a dramatic decrease of emigration and the beginning of a migration to the country, sometimes emigrants or descendants of emigrants. In 1981 , there were 5 million Irish. But from 1985 to 1989 , faced with rising unemployment, population, particularly young, emigrated again to the United States and England , but less massive than previously. With the brisk economic growth of the 1990s, migration ceases, and little by little, the Irish immigration becomes a reality, especially in the Republic of Ireland. Thus, in the 2000s, in particular, we note the development of a community Polish immigrant and French (the number of French nationals living in Ireland has quadrupled from 1997 to 2007 ).

The population of major urban centers account (figures 1992 ) .

Education

Economy

Ireland is a member of the European Union and belongs to the euro area. In 1992 , Irish voters overwhelmingly approved the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty on European Union but have not ratified the Treaty of Nice after a second referendum in 2002.
With 4.9% growth of gross domestic product in 2004 , the Republic of Ireland has become one of the country 's most prosperous of Europe. Once considered the "sick man" of Europe, the country experiencing a boom since 1990. Dubbed the Celtic Tiger because of its good economic performance, Ireland has an unemployment rate the lowest in Europe with around 4.4% unemployment and has reduced its public debt (50% of GDP 1999 to 39% in 2000 to reach 24% in 2003). GDP per capita in Ireland increased from 69% of the area average in 1990 to 144% in 2007. The growth of the Irish economy was strong and uninterrupted pe from each for seven years, ranging between 6 and 11%, 9% annually against 2.5% for the entire euro area. Growth was boosted by the tax advantages of companies to the point that this was one reason cited for rejecting June 12, 2008 by the Irish Lisbon Treaty that would impose on Ireland harmonization considered unfavorable. The concern is even greater than the economic slowdown is felt (net slowing of growth and government revenue) and that inflation is important.

The country's Central Bank expects a decline of 7% of its gross domestic product in 2009. For the president of the Eurogroup Jean-Claude Juncker, the situation is "serious".

The cumulative fall in activity between 2008 and 2010 is estimated at "over 12%" (Reuters)

The Central Bank of Ireland said Friday, April 3 bet on a contraction in gross domestic product (GDP) of 7% in 2009 and 3% next year. The cumulative fall in activity between 2008 and 2010 is estimated at "more than 12%," a crisis that the institution was described as "unprecedented". The chairman of the Eurogroup Jean-Claude Juncker himself has described as "serious" economic situation of the country, which faces a recession and a dramatic surge of public deficit. These estimates, found in the latest quarterly business survey released by the "Ceann Bench" are even more pessimistic than the government, who said Thursday night considering a fall in GDP of 6.75% this year. Irish gross domestic product has already contracted by 2.3% in 2008, a record, which is the first full year recession since 1983. The debate on the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty has been revived and a new referendum should be organized in autumn 2009. This decline contrasts with the significant growth rates in previous years (6% again in 2007). Ireland had thus earned the nickname "Celtic Tiger".

A drawing of the Celtic Tiger. The media represent the Irish in the image of v with green stripes.

Agriculture and Fisheries

Agriculture occupies an important place in the Irish economy. It represents 10% of GDP and employs one fifth of the workforce. These are mainly family farms that produce livestock and dairy products (70% of agricultural production). More than half of production is exported.

The forestry develops gradually, thanks to the program of reforestation advocated in recent years. Similarly, the fishing has developed. Some cities like Illibegs in Donegal based on economic exploitation of sea products

Industry

The industry was concentrated in the east, close to major urban centers, including Dublin. Gradually, it developed in the West. The government has also created an industrial development authority to assist local industries.

The wealth of the subsoil

Ireland has a vast mineral wealth: zinc, which has also enabled the country to reach the top rank of European production of concentrated zinc and bronze. The mineral and energy resources are many and varied: barite , phosphate, coal , peat ... There were two major discoveries of oil deposits off the Irish coast, the Kinsale gas field in the Celtic Sea in 1973, today exhausted, and more recently the source of hydrocarbons of the Corrib off the coast of Mayo , who is about to be exploited, despite significant opposition to the methods used by oil companies.

Tourism

Tourism is one of the oldest country's resources. Already in the ^nineteenth century , service road traveled over 6000 km per day. Most visitors came from England , or the United States.

In operational terms, tourism is the third largest national production. It employs several thousand people.

Most travelers come to soak up the culture or enjoy the varied landscapes. ^Computer

Since the early 1990s, it is customary to call Ireland the Celtic Tiger because of its record growth linked to a policy of welcoming foreign investment, particularly in the area of new technologies. It should be noted that since the 2008 crisis the technology sector decline with plant closures. (Example: Dell in Limerick)

Culture

Logo of the brand of beer Guinness.

Banning smoking in any public place within the Republic has not altered the attendance in these places of consumption.

Ireland remains a place where the impact of religion ( Catholic in southern Ireland, Protestant and Catholic in Northern Ireland) is very present. Divorce is legal in the Republic since 1995 , when a real debate is just beginning regarding abortion. However, the homosexuality and contraception are generally accepted.

• Irish National Day : 17 March ( St. Patrick ). The Irish are very committed to this religious festival.
• Irish national symbols : clover with three leaves (shamrock, used by St. Patrick to explain the Holy Trinity Celtic peoples), sheep, horse, salmon, and harp.
• Irish cuisine
• Irish literature
• Irish music
• Irish

Sport

Gaelic football match.

Ireland is the home of Gaelic sports. The hurling and Gaelic football are the most practiced sports on the island. The hurling is part of national identity. A match is also described before the battle of Moytura in 1272 BC. According to legend, the hero C Chulainn Battut-alone 150 opponents in a game of hurling. Gaelic sports are organized by a transnational association, the Gaelic Athletic Association or GAA. Irish is the leading association in terms of numbers (800,000 members) and influence ^Religions

Ireland (Eire), 91% of the population is Catholic , 7% Protestant. The remaining 2% are Jews (0.6%) or atheist. In Ulster, 53% of the population is Protestant.

Tribute

Ireland is represented by a plaque located in the city of Quebec , Canada. This emblem emphasizes the important contribution of Irish immigrants in the history of Quebec and particularly in Quebec City. Over 30% of Quebecers have Irish origins.

See also

Related articles

• History of Ireland
• Chronology of Ireland
• Irish patriotism in the eighteenth century
• Northern Ireland conflict
• Ireland economy
• Provinces of Ireland
• Counties of Ireland
• List of Irish Universities
• Patrick Ireland
• Celtic
• Cities in Ireland
• Celtic Tiger
• Sport in Ireland

External Links

Ireland category of the directory dmoz

Bibliography

• Ireland, people and backgrounds, Brigitte Le Juez and Agnes Maillot, Cambridge edition, 1992 ( ISBN 2-7242-7124-6 )
• Ireland, Mr. Caufield Booking editions, 1993, ( ISBN 2-87714-181-0 )
• The backpacker's guide, published by Hachette, 1999, ( ISBN 2-01-242950-5 )
• History of Ireland, John Guiffan, Hatier edition, 1992 ( ISBN 978-2-218-03854-9 )

Notes, references

British Isles
Sovereign states	Ireland United Kingdom
British Crown Dependencies	Guernsey Isle of Man Jersey
Constituent nations of the United Kingdom	Northern Ireland Scotland Wales England
Political Cooperation	British-Irish Council British-Irish Interparliamentary Body Common Travel Area
Islands	Channel Islands Britain Hebrides Ireland Isle of Man Orkney Shetland Isle of Wight
List of islands	England Ireland Isle of Man Scotland Wales
History	British Isles England Ireland Isle of Man Jersey Scotland UK Wales
State Historical	Kingdom of Scotland Kingdom of England Principality of Wales Kingdom of Ireland United Kingdom of Great Britain UK Irish Free State Kingdom of Man and the Isles
Modern Languages	BSL Cornish English French Guernsey Irish ISL Jersey NISL Manx Scots Ulster Scots Scottish Welsh
Peoples	British Celts Cornish English Irish Travellers Manx Scottish Ulster Scots Welsh

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