Guide to Ireland Introduction Background: Celtic tribes arrived on the island between 600-150 B.C. Invasions by Norsemen that began in the late 8th century were finally ended when King Brian BORU defeated the Danes in 1014. English invasions began in the 12th century and set off more than seven centuries of Anglo-Irish struggle marked by fierce rebellions and harsh repressions. A failed 1916 Easter Monday Rebellion touched off several years of guerrilla warfare that in 1921 resulted in independence from the UK for 26 southern counties; six northern (Ulster) counties remained part of the United Kingdom. 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, known as the Good Friday Agreement and approved in 1998, is being implemented with some difficulties.
Geography Location: Western Europe, occupying five-sixths of the island of Ireland in the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Great Britain
Geographic coordinates: 53 00 N, 8 00 W
Map references: Europe
Area: total
Area - comparative: slightly larger than West Virginia
Land boundaries: total
Coastline: 1,448 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea
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
Natural resources: natural gas, peat, copper, lead, zinc, silver, barite, gypsum, limestone, dolomite
Land use: arable land
Irrigated land: NA sq km
Natural hazards: NA
Environment - current issues: water pollution, especially of lakes, from agricultural runoff
Environment - international agreements: party to
Geography - note: strategic location on major air and sea routes between North America and northern Europe; over 40% of the population resides within 100 km of Dublin
People Population: 4,015,676 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years
Median age: total
Population growth rate: 1.16% (2005 est.)
Birth rate: 14.47 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate: 7.85 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate: 4.93 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth
Infant mortality rate: total
Life expectancy at birth: total population
Total fertility rate: 1.87 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.1% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 2,800 (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 100 (2003 est.)
Nationality: noun
Ethnic groups: Celtic, English
Religions: Roman Catholic 88.4%, Church of Ireland 3%, other Christian 1.6%, other 1.5%, unspecified 2%, none 3.5% (2002 census)
Languages: English (official) is the language generally used, Irish (official) (Gaelic or Gaeilge) spoken mainly in areas located along the western seaboard
Literacy: definition
Government Country name: conventional long form
Government type: republic
Capital: Dublin
Administrative divisions: 26 counties; Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Donegal, Dublin, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford, Wicklow note
Independence: 6 December 1921 (from UK by treaty)
National holiday: Saint Patrick's Day, 17 March
Constitution: adopted 1 July 1937 by plebiscite; effective 29 December 1937
Legal system: based on English common law, substantially modified by indigenous concepts; judicial review of legislative acts in Supreme Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament or Oireachtas consists of the Senate or Seanad Eireann (60 seats - 49 elected by the universities and from candidates put forward by five vocational panels, 11 are nominated by the prime minister; members serve five-year terms) and the House of Representatives or Dail Eireann (166 seats; members are elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional representation to serve five-year terms) elections
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (judges appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister and cabinet)
Political parties and leaders: Fianna Fail [Bertie AHERN]; Fine Gael [Enda KENNY]; Green Party [Trevor SARGENT]; Labor Party [Pat RABITTE]; Progressive Democrats [Mary HARNEY]; Sinn Fein [Gerry ADAMS]; Socialist Party [Joe HIGGINS]; The Workers' Party [Sean GARLAND]
Political pressure groups and leaders: NA
International organization participation: Australia Group, BIS, CE, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MIGA, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMIK, UNMIL, UNOCI, UNTSO, UPU, WCO, WEU (observer), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission
Flag description: three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and orange; similar to the flag of Cote d'Ivoire, which is shorter and has the colors reversed - orange (hoist side), white, and green; also similar to the flag of Italy, which is shorter and has colors of green (hoist side), white, and red
Economy Economy - overview: Ireland is a small, modern, trade-dependent economy with growth averaging a robust 7% in 1995-2004. Agriculture, once the most important sector, is now dwarfed by industry and services. Industry accounts for 46% of GDP, about 80% of exports, and 29% of the labor force. Although exports remain the primary engine for Ireland's growth, the economy has also benefited from a rise in consumer spending, construction, and business investment. Per capita GDP is 10% above that of the four big European economies and the second highest in the EU behind Luxembourg. Over the past decade, the Irish Government has implemented a series of national economic programs designed to curb price and wage inflation, reduce government spending, increase labor force skills, and promote foreign investment. Ireland joined in circulating the euro on 1 January 2002 along with 11 other EU nations.
GDP (purchasing power parity): $126.4 billion (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 5.1% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $31,900 (2004 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture
Labor force: 1.92 million (2004 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 8%, industry 29%, services 63% (2002 est.)
Unemployment rate: 4.3% (2004 est.)
Population below poverty line: 10% (1997 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%
Distribution of family income - Gini index: 35.9 (1987)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.2% (2004 est.)
Investment (gross fixed): 23.8% of GDP (2004 est.)
Budget: revenues
Public debt: 31.2% of GDP (2004 est.)
Agriculture - products: turnips, barley, potatoes, sugar beets, wheat; beef, dairy products
Industries: steel, lead, zinc, silver, aluminum, barite, and gypsum mining processing; food products, brewing, textiles, clothing; chemicals, pharmaceuticals; machinery, rail transportation equipment, passenger and commercial vehicles, ship construction and refurbishment; glass and crystal; software, tourism
Industrial production growth rate: 7% (2004 est.)
Electricity - production: 22.88 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel
Electricity - consumption: 21.78 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports: 100 million kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports: 600 million kWh (2002)
Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption: 174,400 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports: 27,450 bbl/day (2001)
Oil - imports: 178,600 bbl/day (2001)
Oil - proved reserves: 0 bbl (1 January 2002)
Natural gas - production: 815 million cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: 4.199 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports: 3.384 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves: 9.911 billion cu m (1 January 2002)
Current account balance: $-2.881 billion (2004 est.)
Exports: $103.8 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities: machinery and equipment, computers, chemicals, pharmaceuticals; live animals, animal products
Exports - partners: US 19.7%, UK 17.7%, Belgium 14.7%, Germany 7.7%, France 6%, Netherlands 4.6%, Italy 4.5% (2004)
Imports: $60.65 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities: data processing equipment, other machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum and petroleum products, textiles, clothing
Imports - partners: UK 35.6%, US 13.8%, Germany 8.9%, Netherlands 4.3%, France 4.2% (2004)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $4.152 billion (2003)
Debt - external: $11 billion (1998)
Economic aid - donor: ODA, $283 million (2001)
Currency (code): euro (EUR) note
Currency code: EUR
Exchange rates: euros per US dollar - 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications Telephones - main lines in use: 1.955 million (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 3.4 million (2003)
Telephone system: general assessment
Radio broadcast stations: AM 9, FM 106, shortwave 0 (1998)
Radios: 2.55 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 4 (many low-power repeaters) (2001)
Televisions: 1.82 million (2001)
Internet country code: .ie
Internet hosts: 162,228 (2004)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 22 (2000)
Internet users: 1.26 million (2003)
Transportation Railways: total
Highways: total
Waterways: 753 km (pleasure craft only) (2004)
Pipelines: gas 1,795 km (2004)
Ports and harbors: Cork, Dublin, New Ross, Shannon Foynes, Waterford
Merchant marine: total
Airports: 36 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total
Airports - with unpaved runways: total
Military Military branches: Army (includes Naval Service and Air Corps)
Military service age and obligation: 17 years of age for voluntary military service; enlistees under the age of 17 can be recruited for specialist positions (2001)
Manpower available for military service: males age 17-49
Manpower fit for military service: males age 17-49
Manpower reaching military service age annually: males
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $700 million (FY00/01)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 0.9% (FY00/01)
Transnational Issues Disputes - international: Ireland, Iceland, and the UK dispute Denmark's claim that the Faroe Islands' continental shelf extends beyond 200 nm
Illicit drugs: transshipment point for and consumer of hashish from North Africa to the UK and Netherlands and of European-produced synthetic drugs; minor transshipment point for heroin and cocaine destined for Western Europe; despite recent legislation, narcotics-related money laundering using bureaux de change, trusts, and shell companies involving the offshore financial community remains a concern
Last updated: 20 October, 2005
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