The Republic of Ireland, an island nation located in North Atlantic, is the third-largest in Europe. Gaelic Ireland emerged in the 1st century AD was Christianized in the 5th century. After the Norman invasion in the 12th century, England asked for sovereignty, but English rule does not happen on the whole island until the Tudor conquest in 16th to 17th centuries. These facts led to the colonial formation by settlers from Britain. In order to cause material harm for catholic and protestant opponents, Protestant English rule was established in the 1690s, and it extended up to the 18th century. Ireland became a part of the United Kingdom in the 18th century, but a war of independence (1919-1921) lead to the partition of Ireland. Under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland decided to split the island of Ireland into two separate countries. Northern Ireland was tiny and having proper administration; today, it became one of the parts of the United Kingdom. Southern Ireland, which is larger than Northern Ireland, has home rule Jurisdiction. Then it became independent as Ireland or the Republic of Ireland as a sovereign state. Northern Ireland lost its peace from 1960 to 1990, and then it regained its peace after a political agreement in 1998. The Republic of Ireland joined the European Economic Community in 1973.
Ethnic groups
The Irish Travelers are the indigenous ethnic groups perfectly maintaining the Irish traditional culture. According to the 2016 census, ethnic groups of Ireland are White Irish 82.2%, other White 9.5%, Black Irish of African 1.2%, other Black 0.1%, Irish travelers 0.7%, Asian Irish 2.1%, not stated 2.6%.
Land
The country has a total land area of 70,273 square kilometers with Dublin as capital. The North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St. George’s separate Ireland’s east side from Great Britain. Politically it is divided between Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which was a part of United Kingdom. Country’s geography mostly consists of lowland mountains surrounding central plains. It has 32 counties, of the County Cork, County Galway, County Mayo and County Donegal are the biggest by area.The highest mountain on the island is Carrauntoohil and it stands at a height of 1038 m. About 10% of the island was of woodland. Ireland normally has more mammal species natively. The islands of Ireland, Great Britain and some smaller islands in North Atlantic are referred as British Isles.
Population
According to World Bank report, Ireland population in 2018 was 4.87 million. With annual population growth of 1.2%, estimated to reach 4.94 million in 2019. Dublin its capital city is having the urban area population of 1.17 million. The population density of 70.5 people per square kilometers. The life expectancy at birth of total population was 83 years. The net migration rate (2020) is 3.750 per 1000 population. The Annual urban Population growth of the country is 1.2%.
Migration
In 19th century, It saw rapid population fall of more than 4 million due to immigration of Irish people to United States, England, Canada and Australia. But in 20th century, the country faced large scale immigration from Africa, Europe and Asia. These immigrations were happened, due to open labour market and globalised Irish economy.
Language
Ireland is having English and Irish as their official languages. During the Norman invasion, English was spoken rarely in Ireland, but today it is spoken by 94% of Irish people as their mother tongue. The Gaeltacht regions are having the largest number of Irish speakers. Shelta the native language of Ireland is widely spoken by Irish travelers and Ulster Scots were spoken in the rural areas of Donegal and Inishowen.
Economy
Ireland’s economy is growing fast since 2015. The Celtic Tiger Period (1995- 2007) is most important because Ireland gained huge prosperity during that period. The Republic of Ireland joined in EEC has passed a series of liberal economic policies; it resulted in fast economic growth. Among the top ten wealthiest countries in the world, Ireland took place in terms of GDP per capita. According to the IMF, Ireland ranks 5th out of 187 countries in terms of GDP (Per Capita). Ireland ranks third in the world with a very high Human Development Index value of 0.942.
Health Sector
Private and public sectors companies play a vital role in Ireland Health Care System. Every resident can get health care by the federal health care system by paying a certain subsidized fee. The subsidized cost varies according to income, age, illness, and disability. The health care service for children below six years and maternity services are free of cost. In Health Service Executive and voluntary hospitals, a European Health Insurance Cardholder has the right to get free treatment in public beds. In 2012, the Irish Healthcare system ranked 13th out of 34 European countries. According to the World Bank in 2018, Ireland has the Fertility rate, total (1.8 births per woman), Mortality rate under age 5 (4 per 1000 live births), and birth attended by skilled health staff was 100%.
Tourism
The tourism sector of the Republic of Ireland plays an essential part in its economy. The tourist department of Ireland, out of state (Overseas and Northern Island) was generated €5.6 billion in 2018. It also functions as one of the primary employment sectors, providing more than 3 00,000 jobs. Ireland holds most of the visitors from the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Italy, Austria, and Canada. Brú na Bóinne and Skellig Michael are the two UNESCO World Heritage sites of Ireland. Dublin has the most famous writers in the world and awarded UNESCO City of Literature. Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, and Waterford are notable cities having ancient buildings, cathedral, castles, and museums.
Sports
Gaelic Football and Hurling are Ireland’s national sport. These sports are administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). Soccer is the third most popular sport in Ireland having large number of spectators. Since the 1860s, Horse Racing was one of the oldest games in Ireland. Other popular games of Ireland are Gaelic Handball, rugby, Soccer, Golf, and rounders.
