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OFFICIAL NAME:
Ireland COUNTRY DESCRIPTION  Ireland is a highly developed democracy with a modern economy.
Tourist facilities are widely available.PEOPLE The Irish people are mainly of Celtic origin, with the country's only significant sized minority having descended from the Anglo-Normans. English is the common language, but Irish (Gaelic) is also an official language and is taught in schools. Anglo-Irish writers such as Swift, Sheridan, Goldsmith, Burke, Wilde, Joyce, Yeats, Shaw, and Beckett have made a major contribution to world literature over the past 300 years.  The earliest inhabitants--people of a mid-Stone Age culture--arrived
about 6000 BC. About 4,000 years later, tribes from southern Europe
arrived and established a high Neolithic culture, leaving behind
gold ornaments and huge stone monuments. The Bronze Age people, who
arrived during the next 1,000 years, produced elaborate gold and
bronze ornaments and weapons. The Iron Age arrived abruptly in the fourth century BC with the invasion of the Celts, a tall, energetic people who had spread across Europe and Great Britain in the preceding centuries. The Celts, or Gaels, and their more numerous predecessors divided into five kingdoms in which, despite constant strife, a rich culture flourished. The coming of Christianity from across the Irish Sea brought major changes and civilizing influences. Tradition maintains that St. Patrick arrived on the island in AD 432 and, in the years that followed, worked to convert the Irish to Christianity. The pagan druid tradition collapsed before the spread of the new faith, and Irish scholars excelled in the study of Latin learning and Christian theology in the monasteries that flourished. Missionaries went forth from Ireland to England and the continent, spreading news of the flowering of learning, and scholars from other nations came to Irish monasteries. The excellence and isolation of these monasteries helped preserve Latin and Greek learning during the Dark Ages. The arts of manuscript illumination, metalworking, and sculpture flourished and produced such treasures as the Book of Kells, ornate jewelry, and the many carved stone crosses that dot the island. Two hundred years of Viking invasion and settlement was later followed by a Norman conquest in the 12th century. The Norman conquest resulted in the assimilation of the Norman settlers into Irish society. The early 17th century saw the arrival of Scottish and English Protestants, sent as colonists to the north of Ireland and the Pale around Dublin. In 1800 the Irish Parliament passed the Act of Union with Great Britain, and Ireland was an official part of the United Kingdom until 1921. Religious freedom, outlawed in the 18th century, was restored in 1829, but this victory for the Irish Catholic majority was overshadowed by a severe economic depression and the great famine from 1846-48 when the potato crop failed. Millions died, and the millions that emigrated spawned the first mass wave of Irish emigration to the United States. A decade later, in 1858, the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB--also known as the Fenians) was founded as a secret society dedicated to armed rebellion against the British. An aboveground political counterpart, the Home Rule Movement, was created in 1874, advocating constitutional change for independence. Galvanized by the leadership of Charles Stewart Parnell, the party was able to force British governments after 1885 to introduce several home rule bills. The turn of the century witnessed a surge of interest in Irish nationalism, including the founding of Sinn Fein ("Ourselves Alone") as an open political movement. ENTRY/EXIT REQUIREMENTS A passport is necessary, but a visa is not required for tourist or business stays of up to three months. Visit the Embassy of Ireland web site for the most current visa information, or contact the embassy at 2234 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008, tel: (202) 462-3939, or the nearest Irish consulate in Boston, Chicago, New York or San Francisco. QUICK FACTS Geography Area: 70,282 sq. km. (27,136 sq. mi.); slightly larger than West Virginia. Terrain: Arable 10%, meadows and pastures 77%, rough grazing in use 11%, inland water 2%. Climate: Temperate maritime. People Nationality: Noun--Irishman, Irishwoman. Adjective--Irish. Population: 4,234,935 (2006 est.). Cities: Capital--Dublin (pop. 505,739). Other cities--Cork (119,143), Galway (71,983), Limerick (52,560), Waterford, (45,775). Population breakdown 0-14 years (21%), 15-24 years (15%), 25-34 years (17%), 35-44 years (14%), 45-54 years (12%), 55-64 years (10%), 65 years and over (11%) Population growth rate: 1.14 (2007 est.). Ethnic groups: Irish, with English minority. Religions: Roman Catholic 86.8%; Church of Ireland 3 %; Presbyterian 0.5%; Methodist 0.25%; Muslim 1 %; Jewish 0.1%; other 8.35%. Languages: English, Irish (Gaelic). Education: Compulsory up to age 16. Enrollment rates: first (primary) level 449,508, second (high school and vocational) level 335,162, third (university and college) level 133,691. Literacy--98%-99%. Health: Infant mortality rate--5.2/1,000. Life expectancy at birth--male 75.3 yrs., female 80.7 yrs. Work force: Services--66%; industry--28%; agriculture--6%. Government Type: Parliamentary republic. Independence: December 6, 1921. Constitution: December 29, 1937. Branches: Executive--president, chief of state; Prime Minister (Taoiseach--pronounced "TEE-shuck"), head of government. Legislative--bicameral national Parliament (Oireachtas--pronounced "o-ROCK-tas"): House of Representatives (Dail--pronounced "DOIL") and Senate (Seanad--pronounced "SHAN-ad"). Judicial--Supreme Court. Administrative subdivisions: 26 counties, 34 local authorities. Major political parties: Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Labour, Progressive Democrats, Green Party, Sinn Fein. Suffrage: Universal over 18. Economy Nominal GDP (2006): $180.7 billion. Real GDP growth (2006): 6%. Nominal GDP per capita (2006): $44,500. Natural resources: Zinc, lead, natural gas, barite, copper, gypsum, limestone, dolomite, peat. Agriculture (3% of GDP): Products--cattle, meat, and dairy products; potatoes; barley; hay; silage; wheat. Industry (32% of GDP): Types--food processing, beverages, engineering, computer equipment, textiles and clothing, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, construction. Trade (2006): Exports--$119.8 billion (excluding services): machinery, transport equipment, chemicals, food, live animals, manufactured materials, beverages. Imports--$87.4 billion (excluding services): grains, petroleum products, machinery, transport equipment, chemicals, textile yarns. Major suppliers-Great Britain and Northern Ireland 31%, U.S. 11%, Germany 8%, China 7%, Japan 4%, France 3%, rest of the world (including other EU Member States) 36%. USEFUL LINKS U.S. Government
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