Celtic tribes arrived on the island between 600-150 B.C. Invasions by Norsemen that began in the late 8th century were finally ended when King Brian BORU defeated the Danes in 1014. English invasions began in the 12th century and set off more than seven centuries of Anglo-Irish struggle marked by fierce rebellions and harsh repressions. A failed 1916 Easter Monday Rebellion touched off several years of guerrilla warfare that in 1921 resulted in independence from the UK for 26 southern counties; six northern (Ulster) counties remained part of the UK. In 1949, 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 is gradually being implemented despite some difficulties. In 2006, the Irish and British governments developed and began to implement the St. Andrews Agreement, building on the Good Friday Agreement approved in 1998.

Western Europe, occupying five-sixths of the island of Ireland in the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Great Britain

slightly larger than West Virginia

temperate maritime; modified by North Atlantic Current; mild winters, cool summers; consistently humid; overcast about half the time

mostly level to rolling interior plain surrounded by rugged hills and low mountains; sea cliffs on west coast

natural gas, peat, copper, lead, zinc, silver, barite, gypsum, limestone, dolomite

water pollution, especially of lakes, from agricultural runoff

strategic location on major air and sea routes between North America and northern Europe; over 40% of the population resides within 100 km of Dublin

Irish 87.4%, other white 7.5%, Asian 1.3%, black 1.1%, mixed 1.1%, unspecified 1.6% (2006 census)

English (official, the language generally used), Irish (Gaelic or Gaeilge) (official, spoken mainly in areas along the western coast)

Roman Catholic 87.4%, Church of Ireland 2.9%, other Christian 1.9%, other 2.1%, unspecified 1.5%, none 4.2% (2006 census)

4,722,028 (July 2012 est.)

15.81 births/1,000 population (2012 est.)

6.38 deaths/1,000 population (July 2012 est.)

1.69 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.)

DUBLIN (capital) 1.084 million (2009)

6 deaths/100,000 live births (2010)

2.01 children born/woman (2012 est.)

3.187 physicians/1,000 population (2008)

5.17 beds/1,000 population (2007)

urban: 100% of population

rural: 98% of population

total: 99% of population

urban: 0% of population

rural: 2% of population

total: 1% of population

fewer than 100 (2009 est.)

republic, parliamentary democracy

29 counties and 5 cities*; Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Cork*, Donegal, Dublin*, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal, Galway, Galway*, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Limerick*, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, North Tipperary, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, South Dublin, South Tipperary, Waterford, Waterford*, Westmeath, Wexford, Wicklow

6 December 1921 (from the UK by treaty)

Saint Patrick's Day, 17 March

adopted 1 July 1937 by plebiscite; effective 29 December 1937

common law system based on the English model but substantially modified by customary law; judicial review of legislative acts in Supreme Court

has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

18 years of age; universal

bicameral Parliament or Oireachtas consists of the Senate or Seanad Eireann (60 seats; 49 members 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 lower house of Parliament or Dail Eireann (166 seats; members elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional representation to serve five-year terms)

Supreme Court (Court of Final Appeal) (judges appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister and cabinet); Courts of First Instance (includes High Court)

Fianna Fail [Michael MARTIN]; Fine Gael [Enda KENNY]; Green Party [Eamon RYAN]; Labor Party [Eamon GILMORE]; New Vision; Sinn Fein [Gerry ADAMS]; Socialist Party [Joe HIGGINS]; The Workers' Party [Michael FINNEGAN]; United Left Alliance

Families Acting for Innocent Relatives or FAIR [Brian MCCONNELL] (seek compensation for victims of violence); Families Against Intimidation and Terror or FAIT (oppose terrorism); Gaeltacht Civil Rights Campaign (Coiste Cearta Sibhialta na Gaeilge) or CCSG (encourages the use of the Irish language and campaigns for greater civil rights in Irish speaking areas); Iona Institute [David QUINN] (a conservative Catholic think tank); Irish Anti-War Movement [Richard BOYD BARRETT] (campaigns against wars around the world); Irish Republican Army or IRA (terrorist group); Keep Ireland Open (environmental group); Midland Railway Action Group or MRAG [Willie ALLEN] (transportation promoters); Peace and Neutrality Alliance [Roger COLE] (campaigns to protect Irish neutrality); Rail Users Ireland (formerly the Platform 11 - transportation promoters); 32 Country Sovereignty Movement or 32CSM (supports a fully sovereign Ireland); Ulster Defence Association or UDA (terrorist group)

ADB (nonregional member), Australia Group, BIS, CD, CE, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, FATF, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD (partners), IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MINURSO, MONUSCO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNITAR, UNOCI, UNRWA, UNTSO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and orange; officially the flag colors have no meaning, but a common interpretation is that the green represents the Irish nationalist (Gaelic) tradition of Ireland; orange represents the Orange tradition (minority supporters of William of Orange); white symbolizes peace (or a lasting truce) between the green and the orange

Ireland is a small, modern, trade-dependent economy. Ireland was among the initial group of 12 EU nations that began circulating the euro on 1 January 2002. GDP growth averaged 6% in 1995-2007, but economic activity has dropped sharply since the onset of the world financial crisis, with GDP falling by over 3% in 2008, nearly 7% in 2009, and less than 1% in 2010. Ireland entered into a recession in 2008 for the first time in more than a decade, with the subsequent collapse of its domestic property and construction markets. Property prices rose more rapidly in Ireland in the decade up to 2007 than in any other developed economy. Since their 2007 peak, average house prices have fallen 47%. In the wake of the collapse of the construction sector and the downturn in consumer spending and business investment, the export sector, dominated by foreign multinationals, has become a key component of Ireland's economy. Agriculture, once the most important sector, is now dwarfed by industry and services. In 2008 the COWEN government moved to guarantee all bank deposits, recapitalize the banking system, and establish partly-public venture capital funds in response to the country's economic downturn. In 2009, in continued efforts to stabilize the banking sector, the Irish Government established the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) to acquire problem commercial property and development loans from Irish banks. Faced with sharply reduced revenues and a burgeoning budget deficit, the Irish Government introduced the first in a series of draconian budgets in 2009. In addition to across-the-board cuts in spending, the 2009 budget included wage reductions for all public servants. These measures were not sufficient. In 2010, the budget deficit reached 32.4% of GDP - the world's largest deficit, as a percentage of GDP - because of additional government support for the banking sector. In late 2010, the former COWEN Government agreed to a $112 billion loan package from the EU and IMF to help Dublin further increase the capitalization of its banking sector and avoid defaulting on its sovereign debt. Since entering office in March 2011, the KENNY government has intensified austerity measures to try to meet the deficit targets under Ireland's EU-IMF program. Ireland achieved moderate growth of 1.4% in 2011 and cut the budget deficit to 9.1% of GDP. Although the recovery slowed in 2012 because of weaker EU demand for Irish exports, Dublin managed to trim the deficit to about 8.5% of GDP.

$191.5 billion (2012 est.)

$190.1 billion (2011 est.)

$187.5 billion (2010 est.)

$204.7 billion (2012 est.)

2.104 million (2012 est.)

9.3% of GDP (2012 est.)

35% of GDP (2012 est.)

-8.5% of GDP (2012 est.)

118% of GDP (2012 est.)

108.2% of GDP (2011 est.)

1.5% (31 December 2012)

1.75% (31 December 2010)

3.1% (31 December 2012 est.)

3.81% (31 December 2011 est.)

$118.5 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$118.3 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$291.1 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$260 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$892.3 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$983.4 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$35.36 billion (31 December 2011)

$33.72 billion (31 December 2010)

$29.88 billion (31 December 2009)

barley, potatoes, wheat; beef, dairy products

$3.5 billion (2012 est.)

$2.484 billion (2011 est.)

$113.6 billion (2012 est.)

$118.1 billion (2011 est.)

machinery and equipment, computers, chemicals, medical devices, pharmaceuticals; food products, animal products

US 22.3%, UK 16.1%, Belgium 15.5%, Germany 7%, France 5.7%, Switzerland 4.2% (2011)

$63.1 billion (2012 est.)

$67.18 billion (2011 est.)

data processing equipment, other machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum and petroleum products, textiles, clothing

UK 39.8%, US 13%, Germany 7.8%, Netherlands 5.8% (2011)

$1.703 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$2.115 billion (2010 est.)

$2.352 trillion (30 September 2011)

$2.283 trillion (31 December 2010)

$260.5 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$243.5 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$338.1 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$324.2 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

euros (EUR) per US dollar -

26.35 billion kWh (2011 est.)

26.1 billion kWh (2011 est.)

242 million kWh (2011 est.)

732 million kWh (2011 est.)

7.401 million kW (2009 est.)

75.3% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

3.2% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

17.5% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0 bbl/day (2011 est.)

0 bbl/day (2009 est.)

53,560 bbl/day (2009 est.)

0 bbl (1 January 2012 est.)

55,340 bbl/day (2009 est.)

144,000 bbl/day (2011 est.)

17,480 bbl/day (2010 est.)

166,000 bbl/day (2009 est.)

346 million cu m (2011 est.)

4.981 billion cu m (2011 est.)

4.633 billion cu m (2011 est.)

9.911 billion cu m (1 January 2012 est.)

40.48 million Mt (2010 est.)

2.047 million (2011)

4.906 million (2011)

publicly-owned broadcaster Radio Telefis Eireann (RTE) operates 2 TV stations; commercial TV stations are available; about 75% of households utilize multi-channel satellite and TV services that provide access to a wide range of stations; RTE operates 4 national radio stations and has launched digital audio broadcasts on several stations; a number of commercial broadcast stations operate at the national, regional, and local levels (2007)

1.387 million (2012)

3.042 million (2009)

956 km (pleasure craft only) (2010)

Cork, Dublin, Shannon Foynes, Waterford

Irish Defense Forces (Oglaigh na h-Eireannn), Permanent Defence Force: Army, Naval Service, Air Corps (2012)

17-25 years of age for male and female voluntary military service (17-27 years of age for the Naval Service); enlistees 16 years of age can be recruited for apprentice specialist positions; 17-35 years of age for the Reserve Defense Forces (RDF); maximum obligation 12 years (5 years IDF, 7 years RDF); EU citizenship or 5-year residence in Ireland required (2010)

0.9% of GDP (2005 est.)

Ireland, Iceland, and the UK dispute Denmark's claim that the Faroe Islands' continental shelf extends beyond 200 nm

transshipment point for and consumer of hashish from North Africa to the UK and Netherlands and of European-produced synthetic drugs; increasing consumption of South American cocaine; minor transshipment point for heroin and cocaine destined for Western Europe; despite recent legislation, narcotics-related money laundering - using bureaux de change, trusts, and shell companies involving the offshore financial community - remains a concern