Ireland has been inhabited since the Stone Age. People moved westwards across the European continent for more than seven thousand years and settled in the country. Each new group of immigrants, Celts, Vikings, Normans, English, has contributed to its present population. The major centres of population are
Dublin
,
Cork
,
Galway
,
Limerick
and
Waterford
. Sixty per cent of the population live in cities and towns of 1,000 people or more. A high proportion of the population is concentrated in the younger age groups. As a consequence of improved economic performance in recent years there has been a significant increase in net migration. The present population is over 3,900,000, the highest on record since 1871.
The Republic of Ireland, the
most northwesterly country in the European Union, is 480 kilometers long and 305 kilometers wide. It is battered
from the west by the Atlantic Ocean and lapped from the east by
the choppy Irish Sea.
Ireland is divided into four provinces: Ulster, Leinster, Connacht and Munster comprised of 32 counties, 6 in Northern Ireland and 26 in the Republic of Ireland (these counties are shown on the map to the right). Though different historical paths have shaped the culture and identity of northern and southern Ireland, there is much they have in common, including their provinces.
The center of the country, or midland area, is dominated by limestone lowland, while the coasts are generally more mountainous. Glaciation has shaped the landscape, with a resultant smoothing of the coastal mountains and the deposit of large volumes of clay and sand in the central plain. |
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Flowing from north to south is the Shannon, the longest river in Ireland and Britain. Nearly half of the Shannon above the estuary is accounted for by three lakes; Lough Allen, Lough Ree and Lough Derg. All Ireland's principal rivers flow from the plain and an interior canal system facilitates transportation.
The highest mountain in Ireland, Carrantuohill in the MacGillicuddy's Reeks range, stands at 1,041 meters (3,419 ft) and is located in the southwestern county of Kerry. Other prominent mountain ranges are the Nephin Beg range in the west with Mount Nephin at 719m (2,359 ft); the Caha Mountains in the south-west with Mount Knockboy, 707m (2,321 ft); the Boggaragh Mountains in the south; rising to 640m (2,100 ft) and the Wicklow Mountains in the east, reaching more than 915m (more than 3,000 ft).
Among the many wonders of the Irish landscape is the Burren, Co Clare, in the mid-west of the country. The Burren, meaning 'great rock', is described by geologists as 'Karst', after a similar Slovenian formation. It is a strange lunar-like region of bare carboniferous limestone, occupying 250 square kilometers (156 square miles) northwest of Lisdoonvarna. The Burren is known for its rare alpine flowers and spectacular caves, streams, potholes and 'turloughs' (seasonal lakes).
Dublin city is located midway between north and south on the east coast of Ireland, in Leinster. As the Dublin metropolitan area increases in density on the approach to the coast, it is split by the River Liffey, which creates a natural north/south division; the subject of much Dublin snobbery from those who perceive the southside to be more affluent. The city centre's perimeter is traced by the Royal Canal to the north and the Grand Canal to the south, while the Liffey, Dodder and Tolka are the rivers of note.
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