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|
 |
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Northwest of
continental
Europe
with
Great
Britain
to the east |
|
|
Geography |
|
Location |
Western
Europe |
|
Area |
84,412 km²
(32,591 sq mi) |
| Rank |
20th |
|
Highest
point |
Carrauntoohil
1,038 m
(3,406 ft) |
|
Administration |
 Ireland |
|
Largest city |
Dublin |
 United
Kingdom |
|
Constituent
country |
Northern
Ireland |
|
Largest city |
Belfast |
|
|
Demographics |
|
Population |
approximately
6 million
(as
of 2007) |
|
Indigenous
people |
Irish |
|
Ireland (pronounced [ˈaɪələnd]
(help·info) /ˈaɾlənd/; Irish:
Éire; Ulster Scots: Airlann) is
the third largest island in
Europe,[1] and the
twentieth-largest island in the
world.[2] It lies to the
north-west of continental Europe
and is surrounded by hundreds of
islands and islets. To the east
of Ireland, separated by the
Irish Sea, is the island of
Great Britain.
Politically, the state Ireland
(described as the Republic of
Ireland in cases of ambiguity)
covers five-sixths of the
island, with Northern Ireland,
part of the United Kingdom,
covering the remainder in the
north-east.
The population of the island is
slightly over 6 million (2007),
with 4.4 million in the Republic
of Ireland[3] (1.7
million in Greater Dublin[4])
and an estimated 1.75 million in
Northern Ireland[5] (800,000 in
Greater Belfast[6]). This is a
significant increase from a
modern historical low in the
1960s, but still much lower than
the peak population of over 8
million in the early 19th
century, prior to the Great
Hunger (1840s famine).
The name Ireland derives from
the name Ériu (in modern Irish,
Éire) with the addition of the
Germanic word land. Most other
western European names for
Ireland derive from the same
source, such as French Irlande,
Spanish, Italian, Romanian and
Portuguese Irlanda, German
Irland and Dutch Ierland.