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| Best viewed with MSIE | |
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| More History Resources |
 Teach Yourself The History of Ireland (Teach Yourself) Madden Finbar |
 A History of Wales John Davies |
 Having It So Good: Britain in the Fifties Peter Hennessy |
 Revolution: The Great Crisis of the British Monarchy, 1685-1720 Tim Harris |
 Iron Curtain: From the Stage to Cold War Patrick Wright |
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About the Country |
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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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Map courtesy of www.theodora.com/maps used with permission. |
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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 Area: Area - comparative: slightly larger than West Virginia Land boundaries: Climate: temperate maritime; modified by North Atlantic Current; mild winters, cool summers; consistently humid; overcast about half the time
Population: 3,969,558 (July 2004 est.) Age structure: Population growth rate: 1.16% (2004 est.) Ethnic groups: Celtic, English Religions: Roman Catholic 91.6%, Church of Ireland 2.5%, other 5.9% (1998) Languages: English is the language generally used, Irish (Gaelic) spoken mainly in areas located along the western seaboard
Government type: republic Capital: Dublin 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
Labor force: 1.8 million (2001) Unemployment rate: 5% (2003 est.) Exports - commodities: machinery and equipment, computers, chemicals, pharmaceuticals; live animals, animal products Imports - commodities: data processing equipment, other machinery and equipment, chemicals; petroleum and petroleum products, textiles, clothing Currency: euro (EUR)
Military branches: Army (includes Naval Service and Air Corps), National Police (Garda Siochana) Military expenditures - dollar figure: $700 million (FY00/01) |
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Source of background and statistical data: The World Factbook
For more on Ireland, click here |
