IntroductionGeography Ireland is located in Western Europe and occupies five-sixths of the island of Ireland. The island is located in the North Atlantic Ocean, facing a 2,000 mile wide expanse of ocean. Ireland faces geographic isolation as an island.
Ireland covers 70,273 sq km. The coastline of extends for 1,448 km. Sea cliffs and rugged hills characterize the western coastline. Population Ireland has an estimated population of 5.2 million people. This population is composed of several different ethnic groups, of which there are 82.2 percent Irish, 9.5 percent other white, 2.1 percent Asian, 1.4 percent black, and 1.5 percent other. In addition to the differing ethnicities, Ireland consists of men and women primarily in the age group of 24-54 years. The distribution of age ranges from 0-65 years and older. |
Government and Politics The Republic of Ireland is a parliamentary, representative democratic republic. It is a member state of the European Union.
The head of state is popularly elected and holds the title of President of Ireland. The current head of state is President Michael D. Higgins. This role is more of a ceremonial position. The head of government holds the real political power. This position belongs to the Taoiseach (Prime Minister), who is nominated by the House of Representatives and appointed by the President. Leo Varadkar acts as the current Prime Minister HistoryNorman Invasions begin in the 12th century, introducing the English language to Ireland.
Up until the 17th century, political power was widely shared a network of shifting alliances Following the “Flight of the Earls,” after an unsuccessful uprising in the early 17th century, Ireland effectively became a colony Ireland is formally incorporated into the United Kingdom under the Act of Union in 1801. The Great Famine hits Ireland from 1845-49 The independent Irish state is established in 1922 as a result of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. And, in 1949, Ireland formally left the British Commonwealth as the Republic of Ireland |
Languages
EnglishEnglish is an official language of Ireland. It is spoken by 99% of the population, and most day-to-day business is conducted in English.
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Irish Gaelic/GaeilgeThe Irish language (also called Irish Gaelic or Gaeilge) is the other official language of Ireland. Despite being an official language, it is only spoken by 39.8% of the population. Most native speakers of Gaeilge live in regions called gaeltachtai where Gaeilge is the predominant language.
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Other LanguagesAccording to WorldAtlas, Ireland has two regional languages: Ulster Scots and Shelta. Only .9% of the population is fluent in Ulster Scots, and approximately 30,000 people speak Shelta in Ireland.
There are also minority languages brought in by immigrants, the most common being Polish, with 119,526 speakers, and German, with 27,342 speakers. |
Education
School is compulsory from ages 6 to 16, or until 3 years of secondary school have been completed, according to the Citizens Information page, "Overview of the Irish education system."
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People in Ireland spend an average of 19 years in school.
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Irish is taught as a compulsory secondary language, but the majority of classes are taught in English and students can be exempted from Irish classes.
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