Ireland

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**Ireland** (;  ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is about 486&nbsp;kilometres (302&nbsp;miles) long and about 288&nbsp;kilometres (179&nbsp;miles) wide. 

The island is made up of two countries: the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Over 5 million people lived on the island in 2023.

## Countries
### Republic of Ireland 
The Republic of Ireland, a sovereign state, occupies 84% of the island. Its capital and largest city is Dublin.    

The official languages of the Republic are Irish and English. However, only a small part of the population is fluent in Irish or speaks it as their native language. While the Irish language (also called Gaelic) is taught in most schools, most people speak English in their day-to-day lives.

### Northern Ireland 
Northern Ireland makes up the remaining 17% of the island. It is located in the northeast, and is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Its capital and largest city is Belfast.

### Division 
From 1801 to 1921, the entire island of Ireland was one country, called the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1919 the Irish War of Independence began, and on December 6, 1921, the Irish Free State became independent. 

After a new constitution came into effect in 1937, the state became a republic. Northern Ireland remained with the United KIngdom. This would lead to The Troubles, which began in the 1960s and ended with the Good Friday Agreement signed in 1998.

## Provinces and counties
Ireland is traditionally divided into four provinces and thirty-two counties. Twenty-six counties are in the Republic, and six are in Northern Ireland. Three of the provinces are entirely within the Republic (Connacht, Leicester and Munster). One province (Ulster) has counties in both the Republic and in Northern Ireland.

The provinces and their counties are:
* Connacht - Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon, Sligo
* Leinster - Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Longford, Louth, County Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Wexford, Wicklow
* Munster - Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford
* Ulster - Cavan, Donegal, Monaghan (Republic of Ireland); Antrim, Armagh, Derry, Down, Fermanagh, Tyrone (Northern Ireland)

## Main cities
### Republic of Ireland 
Dublin is the largest city in the Republic. It was established as a Viking settlement in the 9th century. The population is 525,383 in Dublin City, and 1,270,603 in County Dublin.

Cork is the largest city in Munster. Corkonians often refer to it as 'the Real Capital'. Following a 2019 Cork boundary extension in 2019, the population increased to around 210,000.

### Northern Ireland 
Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland. There are 483,000 people in the Greater Belfast urban area, and 267,000 in the city itself. Shipbuilding used to be a major industry here. The *Titanic* was built in Belfast at the Harland and Wolff shipyard.

Derry (also called Londonderry) is the second largest city in Northern Ireland. Its population is 83,652. Derry is notable for the medieval city walls which still stand there. Because the walls have never been breached, the city is nicknamed "The Maiden City". In 2013 Derry was the UK Capital of Culture, and many cultural events took place throughout the year.

The city of Armagh is often called the 'Ecclesiastic Capital of Ireland' because it is the seat of both the Catholic Church and the (Protestant) Church of Ireland. The population is 14,590.

## History
### Prehistory 
During the last glacial period (the "ice age"), most of Ireland was covered with ice. After the glaciers melted, Ireland became covered with trees, and some trees started becoming bogs -- specifically, raised bogs. 

The first people came to Ireland over 12,500 years ago, in the Palaeolithic period. They were semi-nomadic. If food ran out in the place they lived, they would move to another settlement. The first discovered settlement dates from at least 12,500 years ago.

About 4000&nbsp;BC, in the New Stone Age within the Neolithic period, the first farmers arrived in Ireland. These people cleared openings in the forest and built permanent settlements with houses and farmland. The clearing of these trees started creating another type of bog, called blanket bogs.

### Top 5 warmest days
## Sports
Ireland's main sports are soccer and Gaelic Games (mainly Gaelic football, hurling, and camogie). Other sports that are 

played and followed in Ireland include horse racing, show jumping, greyhound racing, basketball, fishing, handball, motorsport, mixed martial arts, boxing, target shooting, and tennis. 

Hockey, golf, rowing, cricket, rugby union, and Olympic target shooting are organised on an all-island basis, with a single team representing the whole of Ireland in international competitions. Other sports, such as soccer and netball, have separate organizing bodies in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

As Northern Ireland is a constituent nation of the United Kingdom it also sends a Northern Ireland Team to the Commonwealth Games. At the Olympic Games, a person from Northern Ireland can choose to represent either Ireland or Great Britain.

Soccer is the most popular team sport in terms of participation. According to the Irish Sports Monitor 2015 annual report, 4.8% of adults over 15 participate in Soccer. Gaelic football 2%, camogie 1.2, rugby 1.1%. Individual exercise pursuits are most popular with 43% of all sport participated by individuals on their own. Personal exercise 13.7%, running 8.2%, swimming 8%, cycling 5.5%, dancing 3%, golf 2.7%, weights 2.3%, yoga 1.5% and pilates 1.4%.

Soccer is by far the most popular team pursuit for males at 8.8% with Gaelic football attracting 3.4%. Personal exercise 13.4% and running 8.9% are the most popular male activities. Team sports do not figure highly amongst females with dancing at 4.6% and yoga 2.4% are two of the highest shared activities.

Given the variety of sports in Ireland, it is of interest to note how the government's Capital Sports programme 2017 allocated it's €56 million funds. €23.5 million went to the GAA which highlights the strength of the GAA lobby. €7.25 million to soccer, Rugby €3.1 million, tennis €2.64 million, golf €1.97 million, sailing €1.21 million, athletics just under €1 million, diving €451,000 while other sports did not fare so well.

Gaelic Football is one of the most popular sports in Ireland in terms of match attendance, and in 2003 had 34% of total sports attendances at events in the Republic of Ireland, followed by hurling at 23%, soccer at 16% and rugby at 8%. Initiative's ViewerTrack study, which measured 2005 sports audiences, showed the sport's highest-profile match, the All-Ireland Football Final, to be the most watched event of the nation's sporting year. Soccer is the most played team sport in Ireland.

## Facts 
* The flag colours of the Republic of Ireland are green, white and orange.
* Symbols of Ireland include the shamrock and the harp.
* Popular games in Ireland include Gaelic football and hurling.
* The population of the Republic of Ireland is around 4.7 million.
* The president of the Republic of Ireland is Catherine Connolly.
* The two parts of Ireland are the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
* The River Shannon, which runs from north to south, is the longest river on the island. Ireland has many lakes and Lough Neagh, in Northern Ireland, is the largest lake in Ireland. Ireland is known for its landscapes, music, history, and mythology.
* The Great Potato Famine (1845 - 1849) was very bad; about 1 million people died.
* As a result of the Great Potato Famine (G.P.F.), the population of Ireland was cut in half from both death and emigration.
* the population of Ireland is roughly 5 million whilst northern Ireland is almost 2 million
* around 17.5% of Americans have Irish descendants.

## References