Ireland (2001) | World (2008) | |
Administrative divisions | 26 counties; Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Donegal, Dublin, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford, Wicklow | 266 nations, dependent areas, and other entities |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
21.57% (male 425,328; female 403,204) 15-64 years: 67.08% (male 1,290,002; female 1,286,312) 65 years and over: 11.35% (male 188,868; female 247,124) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 27.4% (male 931,551,498/female 875,646,416)
15-64 years: 65.1% (male 2,174,605,518/female 2,124,494,703) 65 years and over: 7.5% (male 217,451,123/female 278,474,917) (2007 est.) |
Agriculture - products | turnips, barley, potatoes, sugar beets, wheat; beef, dairy products | - |
Airports | 44 (2000 est.) | total airports - 49,024
top ten by passengers: Atlanta - 84,846,639; Chicago - 77,028,134; London - 67,530,197; Tokyo - 65,810,672; Los Angeles - 61,041,066; Dallas/Fort Worth - 60,226,138; Paris - 56,849,567; Frankfurt - 52,810,683; Beijing - 48,654,770; Denver - 47,325,016 top ten by cargo (metric tons): Memphis - 3,692,081; Hong Kong - 3,609,780; Anchorage - 2,691,395; Seoul - 2,336,572; Tokyo - 2,280,830; Shanghai - 2,168,122; Paris - 2,130,724; Frankfurt - 2,127,646; Louisville (US) - 1,983,032; Singapore - 1,931,881 (2006) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
17 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 5 under 914 m: 7 (2000 est.) |
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Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
27 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 25 (2000 est.) |
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Area | total:
70,280 sq km land: 68,890 sq km water: 1,390 sq km |
total: 510.072 million sq km
land: 148.94 million sq km water: 361.132 million sq km note: 70.8% of the world's surface is water, 29.2% is land |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than West Virginia | land area about 16 times the size of the US |
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, was implemented the following year. | Globally, the 20th century was marked by: (a) two devastating world wars; (b) the Great Depression of the 1930s; (c) the end of vast colonial empires; (d) rapid advances in science and technology, from the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (US) to the landing on the moon; (e) the Cold War between the Western alliance and the Warsaw Pact nations; (f) a sharp rise in living standards in North America, Europe, and Japan; (g) increased concerns about the environment, including loss of forests, shortages of energy and water, the decline in biological diversity, and air pollution; (h) the onset of the AIDS epidemic; and (i) the ultimate emergence of the US as the only world superpower. The planet's population continues to explode: from 1 billion in 1820, to 2 billion in 1930, 3 billion in 1960, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1988, and 6 billion in 2000. For the 21st century, the continued exponential growth in science and technology raises both hopes (e.g., advances in medicine) and fears (e.g., development of even more lethal weapons of war). |
Birth rate | 14.57 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 20.09 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$25.7 billion expenditures: $19.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $2 billion (2000) |
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Capital | Dublin | - |
Climate | temperate maritime; modified by North Atlantic Current; mild winters, cool summers; consistently humid; overcast about half the time | a wide equatorial band of hot and humid tropical climates - bordered north and south by subtropical temperate zones - that separate two large areas of cold and dry polar climates |
Coastline | 1,448 km | 356,000 km
note: 94 nations and other entities are islands that border no other countries, they include: American Samoa, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Ashmore and Cartier Islands, The Bahamas, Bahrain, Baker Island, Barbados, Bermuda, Bouvet Island, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Christmas Island, Clipperton Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Comoros, Cook Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Cuba, Cyprus, Dominica, Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), Faroe Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Greenland, Grenada, Guam, Guernsey, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Howland Island, Iceland, Isle of Man, Jamaica, Jan Mayen, Japan, Jarvis Island, Jersey, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Kiribati, Madagascar, Maldives, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritius, Mayotte, Federated States of Micronesia, Midway Islands, Montserrat, Nauru, Navassa Island, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Palmyra Atoll, Paracel Islands, Philippines, Pitcairn Islands, Puerto Rico, Reunion, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Spratly Islands, Sri Lanka, Svalbard, Tokelau, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Virgin Islands, Wake Island, Wallis and Futuna, Taiwan |
Constitution | 29 December 1937; adopted 1 July 1937 by plebiscite | - |
Country name | conventional long form:
none conventional short form: Ireland |
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Currency | Irish pound (IEP); euro (EUR)
note: on 1 January 1999, the EU introduced the euro as a common currency that is now being used by financial institutions in Ireland at a fixed rate of 0.787564 Irish pounds per euro and will replace the local currency for all transactions in 2002 |
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Death rate | 8.07 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 8.37 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | $11 billion (1998) | $54.31 trillion
note: this figure is the sum total of all countries' external debt, both public and private (2004 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Michael J. SULLIVAN embassy: 42 Elgin Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [353] (1) 668-7122/668-8777 FAX: [353] (1) 668-9946 |
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Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Sean O'HUIGINN chancery: 2234 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 462-3939 FAX: [1] (202) 232-5993 consulate(s) general: Boston, Chicago, New York, and San Francisco |
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Disputes - international | Northern Ireland issue with the UK (historic peace agreement signed 10 April 1998); disputes with Iceland, Denmark, and the UK over the Faroe Islands continental shelf boundary outside 200 NM | stretching over 250,000 km, the world's 322 international land boundaries separate 194 independent states and 70 dependencies, areas of special sovereignty, and other miscellaneous entities; ethnicity, culture, race, religion, and language have divided states into separate political entities as much as history, physical terrain, political fiat, or conquest, resulting in sometimes arbitrary and imposed boundaries; most maritime states have claimed limits that include territorial seas and exclusive economic zones; overlapping limits due to adjacent or opposite coasts create the potential for 430 bilateral maritime boundaries of which 209 have agreements that include contiguous and non-contiguous segments; boundary, borderland/resource, and territorial disputes vary in intensity from managed or dormant to violent or militarized; undemarcated, indefinite, porous, and unmanaged boundaries tend to encourage illegal cross-border activities, uncontrolled migration, and confrontation; territorial disputes may evolve from historical and/or cultural claims, or they may be brought on by resource competition; ethnic and cultural clashes continue to be responsible for much of the territorial fragmentation and internal displacement of the estimated 6.6 million people and cross-border displacements of 8.6 million refugees around the world as of early 2006; just over one million refugees were repatriated in the same period; other sources of contention include access to water and mineral (especially hydrocarbon) resources, fisheries, and arable land; armed conflict prevails not so much between the uniformed armed forces of independent states as between stateless armed entities that detract from the sustenance and welfare of local populations, leaving the community of nations to cope with resultant refugees, hunger, disease, impoverishment, and environmental degradation |
Economic aid - donor | ODA, $245 million (2000) | - |
Economic aid - recipient | - | ODA, $106.4 billion (2005) |
Economy - overview | Ireland is a small, modern, trade-dependent economy with growth averaging a robust 9% in 1995-2000. Agriculture, once the most important sector, is now dwarfed by industry, which accounts for 38% of GDP and about 80% of exports and employs 28% of the labor force. Although exports remain the primary engine for Ireland's robust growth, the economy is also benefiting from a rise in consumer spending and recovery in both construction and business investment. Over the past decade, the Irish government has implemented a series of national economic programs designed to curb inflation, reduce government spending, increase labor force skills, and promote foreign investment. Ireland joined in launching the euro currency system in January 1999 along with 10 other EU nations. The Irish economy is in danger of overheating, with the tight labor market driving up wage demands and inflation. | Global output rose by 5.2% in 2007, led by China (11.4%), India (8.5%), and Russia (7.4%). The 14 other successor nations of the USSR and the other old Warsaw Pact nations again experienced widely divergent growth rates; the three Baltic nations continued as strong performers, in the 8%-10% range of growth. From 2006 to 2007 growth rates slowed in all the major industrial countries except for the United Kingdom (3.0%). Analysts attribute the slowdown to uncertainties in the financial markets and lowered consumer confidence. Worldwide, nations varied widely in their growth results. Externally, the nation-state, as a bedrock economic-political institution, is steadily losing control over international flows of people, goods, funds, and technology. Internally, the central government often finds its control over resources slipping as separatist regional movements - typically based on ethnicity - gain momentum, e.g., in many of the successor states of the former Soviet Union, in the former Yugoslavia, in India, in Iraq, in Indonesia, and in Canada. Externally, the central government is losing decisionmaking powers to international bodies, notably the EU. In Western Europe, governments face the difficult political problem of channeling resources away from welfare programs in order to increase investment and strengthen incentives to seek employment. The addition of 80 million people each year to an already overcrowded globe is exacerbating the problems of pollution, desertification, underemployment, epidemics, and famine. Because of their own internal problems and priorities, the industrialized countries devote insufficient resources to deal effectively with the poorer areas of the world, which, at least from an economic point of view, are becoming further marginalized. The introduction of the euro as the common currency of much of Western Europe in January 1999, while paving the way for an integrated economic powerhouse, poses economic risks because of varying levels of income and cultural and political differences among the participating nations. The terrorist attacks on the US on 11 September 2001 accentuated a growing risk to global prosperity, illustrated, for example, by the reallocation of resources away from investment to anti-terrorist programs. The opening of war in March 2003 between a US-led coalition and Iraq added new uncertainties to global economic prospects. After the initial coalition victory, the complex political difficulties and the high economic cost of establishing domestic order in Iraq became major global problems that continued through 2007. |
Electricity - consumption | 18.414 billion kWh (1999) | 16.78 trillion kWh (2005 est.) |
Electricity - exports | 50 million kWh (1999) | 635.6 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - imports | 290 million kWh (1999) | 625.7 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production | 19.542 billion kWh (1999) | 18.55 trillion kWh (2005 est.) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
94.42% hydro: 4.23% nuclear: 0% other: 1.35% (1999) |
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Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Carrauntoohil 1,041 m |
lowest point: Bentley Subglacial Trench -2,540 m
note: in the oceanic realm, Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench is the lowest point, lying -10,924 m below the surface of the Pacific Ocean highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m |
Environment - current issues | water pollution, especially of lakes, from agricultural runoff | large areas subject to overpopulation, industrial disasters, pollution (air, water, acid rain, toxic substances), loss of vegetation (overgrazing, deforestation, desertification), loss of wildlife, soil degradation, soil depletion, erosion; global warming becoming a greater concern |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Endangered Species, Marine Life Conservation |
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Ethnic groups | Celtic, English | - |
Exchange rates | Irish pounds per US dollar - 1.0658 (January 2001), 1.0823 (2000), 0.9374 (1999), 0.7014 (1998), 0.6588 (1997), 0.6248 (1996) | - |
Executive branch | chief of state:
President Mary MCALEESE (since 11 November 1997) head of government: Prime Minister Bertie AHERN (since 26 June 1997) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president with previous nomination by the prime minister and approval of the House of Representatives elections: president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term; election last held 31 October 1997 (next to be held NA November 2004); prime minister nominated by the House of Representatives and appointed by the president election results: Mary MCALEESE elected president; percent of vote - Mary MCALEESE 44.8%, Mary BANOTTI 29.6% note: government coalition - Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats |
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Exports | $73.5 billion (f.o.b., 2000) | 63.76 million bbl/day (2004) |
Exports - commodities | machinery and equipment, computers, chemicals, pharmaceuticals; live animals, animal products | the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services
top ten - share of world trade: electrical machinery, including computers 14.8%; mineral fuels, including oil, coal, gas, and refined products 14.4%; nuclear reactors, boilers, and parts 14.2%; cars, trucks, and buses 8.9%; scientific and precision instruments 3.5%; plastics 3.4%; iron and steel 2.7%; organic chemicals 2.6%; pharmaceutical products 2.6%; diamonds, pearls, and precious stones 1.9% (2006 est.) |
Exports - partners | EU 59% (UK 19%, Germany 9%, France 7%), US 20% (2000) | US 15.1%, Germany 7.4%, China 5.9%, France 4.6%, UK 4.5%, Japan 4.4% (2006) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | - |
Flag description | three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and orange; similar to the flag of Cote d'Ivoire, which is shorter and has the colors reversed - orange (hoist side), white, and green; also similar to the flag of Italy, which is shorter and has colors of green (hoist side), white, and red | - |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $81.9 billion (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
4% industry: 38% services: 58% (1999) |
agriculture: 4%
industry: 32% services: 64% (2007 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $21,600 (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 9.9% (2000 est.) | 5.2% (2007 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 53 00 N, 8 00 W | - |
Geography - note | strategic location on major air and sea routes between North America and northern Europe; over 40% of the population resides within 97 km of Dublin | the world is now thought to be about 4.55 billion years old, just about one-third of the 13.7-billion-year age estimated for the universe |
Heliports | - | 1,359 (2007) |
Highways | total:
92,500 km paved: 87,043 km (including 115 km of expressways) unpaved: 5,457 km (1999 est.) |
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Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
2% highest 10%: 27.3% (1997) |
lowest 10%: 2.5%
highest 10%: 29.8% (2002 est.) |
Illicit drugs | transshipment point for and consumer of hashish from North Africa to the UK and Netherlands and of European-produced synthetic drugs; minor transshipment point for heroin and cocaine destined for Western Europe | cocaine: worldwide coca leaf cultivation in 2005 amounted to 208,500 hectares; Colombia produced slightly more than two-thirds of the worldwide crop, followed by Peru and Bolivia; potential pure cocaine production rose to 900 from 645 metric tons in 2005 - partially due to improved methodologies used to calculate levels of production; Colombia conducts aggressive coca eradication campaign, but both Peruvian and Bolivian Governments are hesitant to eradicate coca in key growing areas; 551 metric tons of export-quality cocaine (85% pure) is documented to have been seized or destroyed in 2005; US consumption of export quality cocaine is estimated to have been in excess of 380 metric tons
opiates: worldwide illicit opium poppy cultivation reached 208,500 hectares in 2005; potential opium production of 4,990 metric tons was only a 9% decrease over 2004's highest total recorded since estimates began in mid-1980s; Afghanistan is world's primary opium producer, accounting for 90% of the global supply; Southeast Asia - responsible for 9% of global opium - saw marginal increases in production; Latin America produced 1% of global opium, but most was refined into heroin destined for the US market; if all potential opium was processed into pure heroin, the potential global production would be 577 metric tons of heroin in 2005 |
Imports | $45.7 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | 63.18 million bbl/day (2004) |
Imports - commodities | data processing equipment, other machinery and equipment, chemicals; petroleum and petroleum products, textiles, clothing | the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services
top ten - share of world trade: see listing for exports |
Imports - partners | EU 54% (UK 29%, Germany 6%, France 5%), US 18%, Japan 5%, Singapore 4% (2000) | China 9.8%, Germany 8.8%, US 8.6%, Japan 5.6% (2006) |
Independence | 6 December 1921 (from UK by treaty) | - |
Industrial production growth rate | 14% (2000 est.) | 5% (2007 est.) |
Industries | food products, brewing, textiles, clothing; chemicals, pharmaceuticals, machinery, transportation equipment, glass and crystal; software | dominated by the onrush of technology, especially in computers, robotics, telecommunications, and medicines and medical equipment; most of these advances take place in OECD nations; only a small portion of non-OECD countries have succeeded in rapidly adjusting to these technological forces; the accelerated development of new industrial (and agricultural) technology is complicating already grim environmental problems |
Infant mortality rate | 5.53 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 43.52 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 46.32 deaths/1,000 live births female: 40.52 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 5.6% (2000) | developed countries 1% to 4% typically; developing countries 5% to 20% typically; national inflation rates vary widely in individual cases, from declining prices in Japan to hyperinflation in one Third World countries (Zimbabwe); inflation rates have declined for most countries for the last several years, held in check by increasing international competition from several low wage countries (2005 est.) |
International organization participation | Australia Group, BIS, CCC, CE, EBRD, ECE, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, MINURSO, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNTAET, UNTSO, UPU, WEU (observer), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO, ZC | - |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 22 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 2,770,980 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court (judges appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister and cabinet) | - |
Labor force | 1.82 million (2000 est.) | 3.001 billion (2007 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | services 64%, industry 28%, agriculture 8% (2000 est.) | agriculture: 40%
industry: 20.5% services: 39.4% (2007 est.) |
Land boundaries | total:
360 km border countries: UK 360 km |
the land boundaries in the world total 251,060 km (not counting shared boundaries twice); two nations, China and Russia, each border 14 other countries
note: 45 nations and other areas are landlocked, these include: Afghanistan, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Holy See (Vatican City), Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, West Bank, Zambia, Zimbabwe; two of these, Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan, are doubly landlocked |
Land use | arable land:
13% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 68% forests and woodland: 5% other: 14% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 13.31%
permanent crops: 4.71% other: 81.98% (2005) |
Languages | English is the language generally used, Irish (Gaelic) spoken mainly in areas located along the western seaboard | Mandarin Chinese 13.22%, Spanish 4.88%, English 4.68%, Arabic 3.12%, Hindi 2.74%, Portuguese 2.69%, Bengali 2.59%, Russian 2.2%, Japanese 1.85%, Standard German 1.44%, Wu Chinese 1.17% (2005 est.)
note: percents are for "first language" speakers only |
Legal system | based on English common law, substantially modified by indigenous concepts; judicial review of legislative acts in Supreme Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | all members of the UN are parties to the statute that established the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court |
Legislative branch | bicameral Parliament or Oireachtas consists of the Senate or Seanad Eireann (60 seats - 49 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 House of Representatives or Dail Eireann (166 seats; members are elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional representation to serve five-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held NA August 1997 (next to be held NA 2002); House of Representatives - last held 6 June 1997 (next to be held NA 2002) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Fianna Fail 29, Fine Gael 16, Labor Party 4, Progressive Democrats 4, others 7; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Fianna Fail 76, Fine Gael 53, Labor Party 19, Progressive Democrats 4, Democratic Left 4, Green Alliance 2, Sinn Fein 1, independents 7; note - seats by party in the House of Representatives as of 1 January 2001 were as follows: Fianna Fail 76, Fine Gael 54, Labor Party 21, Progressive Democrats 4, Green Alliance 2, Socialist Party 1, Sinn Fein 1, independents 7 |
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Life expectancy at birth | total population:
76.99 years male: 74.23 years female: 79.93 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 65.82 years
male: 63.89 years female: 67.84 years (2007 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 98% (1981 est.) male: NA% female: NA% |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 82% male: 87% female: 77% note: over two-thirds of the world's 785 million illiterate adults are found in only eight countries (India, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Egypt); of all the illiterate adults in the world, two-thirds are women; extremely low literacy rates are concentrated in three regions, South and West Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Arab states, where around one-third of the men and half of all women are illiterate (2005 est.) |
Location | Western Europe, occupying five-sixths of the island of Ireland in the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Great Britain | - |
Map references | Europe | Physical Map of the World, Political Map of the World, Standard Time Zones of the World |
Maritime claims | continental shelf:
not specified exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
a variety of situations exist, but in general, most countries make the following claims measured from the mean low-tide baseline as described in the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea: territorial sea - 12 nm, contiguous zone - 24 nm, and exclusive economic zone - 200 nm; additional zones provide for exploitation of continental shelf resources and an exclusive fishing zone; boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many countries from extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200 nm |
Merchant marine | total:
29 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 115,554 GRT/135,391 DWT ships by type: bulk 4, cargo 22, container 2, short-sea passenger 1 (2000 est.) |
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Military branches | Army (includes Naval Service and Air Corps), National Police (Garda Siochana) | - |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $738 million (2001 est.) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 0.75% (2001 est.) | roughly 2% of gross world product (2005 est.) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
1,004,469 (2001 est.) |
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Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
809,808 (2001 est.) |
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Military manpower - military age | 17 years of age | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
32,287 (2001 est.) |
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National holiday | Saint Patrick's Day, 17 March | - |
Nationality | noun:
Irishman(men), Irishwoman(women), Irish (collective plural) adjective: Irish |
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Natural hazards | NA | large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones), natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions) |
Natural resources | zinc, lead, natural gas, barite, copper, gypsum, limestone, dolomite, peat, silver | the rapid depletion of nonrenewable mineral resources, the depletion of forest areas and wetlands, the extinction of animal and plant species, and the deterioration in air and water quality (especially in Eastern Europe, the former USSR, and China) pose serious long-term problems that governments and peoples are only beginning to address |
Net migration rate | 4.69 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | - |
Pipelines | natural gas 7,592 km (transmission 1,158 km; distribution 6,434 km) (2000) | - |
Political parties and leaders | Democratic Left [Proinsias DE ROSSA]; Fianna Fail [Bertie AHERN]; Fine Gael [Michael NOONAN]; Green Party [Mary BOWERS]; Labor Party [Ruairi QUINN]; Progressive Democrats [Mary HARNEY]; Sinn Fein [Gerry ADAMS]; Socialist Party [Joe HIGGINS]; The Workers' Party [Tom FRENCH] | - |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | - |
Population | 3,840,838 (July 2001 est.) | 6,602,224,175 (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 10% (1997 est.) | - |
Population growth rate | 1.12% (2001 est.) | 1.167% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Arklow, Cork, Drogheda, Dublin, Foynes, Galway, Limerick, New Ross, Waterford | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 9, FM 106, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA |
Radios | 2.55 million (1997) | - |
Railways | total:
1,947 km broad gauge: 1,947 km 1.600-m gauge (38 km electrified; 485 km double track) (1998) |
total: 1,370,782 km (2006) |
Religions | Roman Catholic 91.6%, Church of Ireland 2.5%, other 5.9% (1998) | Christians 33.32% (of which Roman Catholics 16.99%, Protestants 5.78%, Orthodox 3.53%, Anglicans 1.25%), Muslims 21.01%, Hindus 13.26%, Buddhists 5.84%, Sikhs 0.35%, Jews 0.23%, Baha'is 0.12%, other religions 11.78%, non-religious 11.77%, atheists 2.32% (2007 est.) |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.07 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.064 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.024 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.781 male(s)/female total population: 1.014 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | - |
Telephone system | general assessment:
modern digital system using cable and microwave radio relay domestic: microwave radio relay international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
general assessment: NA
domestic: NA international: NA |
Telephones - main lines in use | 1.59 million (2001) | 1,263,367,600 (2005) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 2 million (2001) | 2,168,433,600 (2005) |
Television broadcast stations | 4 (many low-power repeaters) (2001) | NA |
Terrain | mostly level to rolling interior plain surrounded by rugged hills and low mountains; sea cliffs on west coast | the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at 10,924 m in the Pacific Ocean |
Total fertility rate | 1.9 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 2.59 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 4.1% (2000) | 30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4%-12% unemployment (2007 est.) |
Waterways | 700 km (limited facilities for commercial traffic) (1998) | 671,886 km (2004) |