Map of Ireland | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024 | More stats

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Background: 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.


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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 reference: Europe

Area
Comparative: slightly larger than West Virginia

Land boundaries

Coastline: 1448 km

Maritime claims

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

Natural resources: zinc lead natural gas barite copper gypsum limestone dolomite peat silver

Land use

Irrigated land: NA km²

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: NA

Geography
Note: strategic location on major air and sea routes between North America and northern Europe; over 40% of the population resides within 97 km of Dublin


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Population: 3,797,257 (July 2000 est.)
Growth rate: 1.16% (2000 est.)
Below poverty line: 10% (1997 est.)

Nationality

Ethnic groups: Celtic English

Languages: English is the language generally used Irish (Gaelic) spoken mainly in areas located along the western seaboard

Religions: Roman Catholic 91.6% Church of Ireland 2.5% other 5.9% (1998)

Demographic profile

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 1.16% (2000 est.)

Birth rate: 14.51 births/1000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate: 8.14 deaths/1000 population (2000 est.)

Net migration rate: 5.27 migrant(s)/1000 population (2000 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: water pollution especially of lakes from agricultural runoff

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 5.62 deaths/1000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

Total fertility rate: 1.91 children born/woman (2000 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name

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

Dependent areas

Independence: 6 December 1921 (from UK by treaty)

National holiday: Saint Patrick's Day 17 March

Constitution: 29 December 1937; adopted 1 July 1937 by plebiscite

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

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch

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)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court judges appointed by the president on the advice of the government (prime minister and cabinet)

Political parties and leaders: Communist Party of Ireland [Michael O'RIORDAN]; Democratic Left [Proinsias DE ROSSA]; Fianna Fail [Bertie AHERN]; Fine Gael [John BRUTON]; Green Alliance [Patricia HOWARD]; Labor Party [Ruairi QUINN]; Progressive Democrats [Mary HARNEY]; Sinn Fein [Gerry ADAMS]; The Workers' Party [Marion DONNELLY]

International organization participation: Australia Group BIS CCC CE EBRD ECE EIB EMU ESA EU FAO IAEA IBRD ICAO ICC ICFTU ICRM IDA IEA IFAD IFC IFRCS ILO IMF IMO Intelsat Interpol IOC IOM (observer) ISO ITU MINURSO NAM (guest) NEA NSG OECD OPCW OSCE UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNFICYP UNHCR UNIDO UNIFIL UNIKOM UNITAR UNMIBH UNMIK UNMOP UNTAET UNTSO UPU WEU (observer) WHO WIPO WMO WTrO ZC

Diplomatic representation

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

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: Ireland is a small modern trade-dependent economy with growth averaging a robust 9% in 1995-99. Agriculture once the most important sector is now dwarfed by industry which accounts for 39% of GDP and about 80% of exports and employs 28% of the labor force. Although exports remain the primary engine for Ireland's robust growth the economy is also benefiting from a rise in consumer spending and recovery in both construction and business investment. Over the past decade the Irish government has implemented a series of national economic programs designed to curb inflation reduce government spending and promote foreign investment. The unemployment rate has been halved; job creation remains a primary concern of government policy. Recent efforts have concentrated on improving workers' qualifications and the education system. Ireland joined in launching the euro currency system in January 1999 along with 10 other EU nations. The construction and other sectors are beginning to press against capacity and growth is expected to drop in 2000 perhaps by 1 percentage point.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 8.4% (1999 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $20,300 (1999 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: turnips barley potatoes sugar beets wheat; beef dairy products

Industries: food products brewing textiles clothing; chemicals pharmaceuticals machinery transportation equipment glass and crystal; software

Industrial production growth rate: 14% (2000 est.)

Labor force: 1.82 million (2000 est.)
By occupation services: 64%
By occupation industry: 28%
By occupation agriculture: 8% (2000 est.)

Unemployment rate: 4.1% (2000)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line: 10% (1997 est.)

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 2%
Highest 10: 27.3% (1997)

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: $25.7 billion
Expenditures: $19.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $2 billion (2000)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 5.6% (2000)

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $73.5 billion (f.o.b. 2000)
Commodities: machinery and equipment computers chemicals pharmaceuticals; live animals animal products
Partners: EU 59% (UK 19% Germany 9% France 7%) US 20% (2000)

Imports: $45.7 billion (f.o.b. 2000 est.)
Commodities: data processing equipment other machinery and equipment chemicals; petroleum and petroleum products textiles clothing
Partners: EU 54% (UK 29% Germany 6% France 5%) US 18% Japan 5% Singapore 4% (2000)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $11 billion (1998)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Irish pounds per US dollar - 1.0658 (January 2000) 1.0823 (2000) 0.9374 (1999) 0.7014 (1998) 0.6588 (1997) 0.6248 (1996)


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Electricity
Production: 19.542 billion kWh (1999)
Production by source fossil fuel: 94.42%
Production by source hydro: 4.23%
Production by source nuclear: 0%
Production by source other: 1.35% (1999)
Consumption: 18.414 billion kWh (1999)
Exports: 50 million kWh (1999)
Imports: 290 million kWh (1999)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones
Main lines in use: 1.59 million (2000)
Mobile cellular: 2 million (2000)

Telephone system
General assessment: modern digital system using cable and microwave radio relay
Domestic: microwave radio relay
International: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)

Broadcast media

Internet
Country code: .ie
Service providers isps: 22 (2000)
Users: 1 million (2000)

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $738 million (2000 est.)
Percent of gdp: 0.75% (2000 est.)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 44 (2000 est.)
With paved runways total: 17
With paved runways over 3047 m: 1
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 1
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 3
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 5
With paved runways under 914 m: 7 (2000 est.)
With unpaved runways total: 27
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 2
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 25 (2000 est.)

Heliports

Pipelines: natural gas 7,592 km (transmission 1158 km; distribution 6,434 km) (2000)

Railways
Total: 1,947 km
Broad gauge: 1,947 km 1.600-m gauge (38 km electrified; 485 km double track) (1998)

Roadways

Waterways: 700 km (limited facilities for commercial traffic) (1998)

Merchant marine
Total: 29 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 115,554 GRT/135,391 DWT
Ships by type: bulk 4, cargo 22, container 2, short-sea passenger 1 (2000 est.)

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: Northern Ireland issue with the UK (historic peace agreement signed 10 April 1998); disputes with Iceland Denmark and the UK over the Faroe Islands continental shelf boundary outside 200 NM

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs