The island of Ireland is 300 miles/450 km long and 190 miles/300 km wide and covers approximately 32,600 sq. miles/84,500 sq. km. Ireland is divided into four provinces - Ulster, Munster, Leinster and Connaught and into 32 counties. The Republic of Ireland consists of 26 counties and Northern Ireland consists of 6 counties.
Ireland is on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and in accordance with daylight saving, clocks are put forward one hour mid-March and back one hour at the end of October. During summer it stays light until as late as 11.00pm but by mid-December it can be dark by 4.00pm.
Home
| Regions & Cities
| Food & Shopping
| Geography
Full Name: Republic of Ireland
Area: 70,280 sq km (land: 68,890 sq km, water: 1,390 sq km)
Population: 4,109,086 (July 2007 est.)
Capital City: Dublin
People: Celtic, English
Language: English (official) is the language generally used, Irish (official) (Gaelic or Gaeilge) spoken mainly in areas located along the western seaboard
Religion: Roman Catholic 88.4%, Church of Ireland 3%, other Christian 1.6%, other 1.5%, unspecified 2%, none 3.5% (2002 census)
Government Type: Republic
Chief of State President Mary MCALEESE (since 11 November 1997)
Head of Government: Prime Minister Bertie AHERN (since 26 June 1997)
GDP: $US 180.9 billion (2006 est.)
GDP per Capita: $US 44,500 (2006 est.)
Inflation: 3.9% (2006 est.)
Unemployment: 4.3% (2006 est.)
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
Currency: Euro (€ - EUR)
Member of EU: Yes
|
|
