Ireland a popular destination

Location: Western Europe, occupying five-sixths of the island of Ireland in the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Great Britain

Geographic coordinates: 53 00 N, 8 00 W

Map references: Europe

Area:
total: 70,280 sq km
land: 68,890 sq km
water: 1,390 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly larger than West Virginia

Land boundaries:
total: 360 km
border countries: UK 360 km

Coastline: 1,448 km

Maritime claims:
continental shelf: not specified
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: temperate maritime; modified by North Atlantic Current; mild winters, cool summers; consistently humid; overcast about half the time

Terrain: mostly level to rolling interior plain surrounded by rugged hills and low mountains; sea cliffs on west coast

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Carrauntoohil 1,041 m

Natural resources: zinc, lead, natural gas, barite, copper, gypsum, limestone, dolomite, peat, silver

Land use:
arable land: 13%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 68%
forests and woodland: 5%
other: 14% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: NA sq km

Natural hazards: NA

Environment - current issues: water pollution, especially of lakes, from agricultural runoff

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, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Endangered Species, Marine Life Conservation, Tropical Timber 94

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

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Railways:
total: 1,947 km
broad gauge: 1,947 km 1.600-m gauge (38 km electrified; 485 km double track) (1998)

Highways:
total: 92,500 km
paved: 87,043 km (including 115 km of expressways)
unpaved: 5,457 km (1999 est.)

Waterways: 700 km (limited for commercial traffic) (1998)

Pipelines: natural gas 225 km (1998)

Ports and harbors: Arklow, Cork, Drogheda, Dublin, Foynes, Galway, Limerick, New Ross, Waterford

Merchant marine:
total: 31 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 100,639 GRT/115,793 DWT
ships by type: bulk 1, cargo 27, container 2, short-sea passenger 1 (1999 est.)

Airports: 44 (1999 est.)
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 (1999 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 27
914 to 1,523 m: 2
under 914 m: 25 (1999 est.)

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Population: 3,797,257 (July 2000 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 21.85% (male 425,795; female 403,777)
15-64 years: 66.83% (male 1,271,367; female 1,266,150)
65 years and over: 11.33% (male 185,913; female 244,255) (2000 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.16% (2000 est.)

Birth rate: 14.51 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate: 8.14 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Net migration rate: 5.27 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 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 (2000 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 5.62 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 76.81 years
male: 74.06 years
female: 79.74 years (2000 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.91 children born/woman (2000 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Irishman(men), Irishwoman(women), Irish (collective plural)
adjective: Irish

Ethnic groups: Celtic, English

Religions: Roman Catholic 91.6%, Church of Ireland 2.5%, other 5.9% (1998)

Languages: English is the language generally used, Irish (Gaelic) spoken mainly in areas located along the western seaboard

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98% (1981 est.)
male: NA%
female: NA%

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Telephones - main lines in use: 1,642,541 (1999)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 941,775 (1999)

Telephone system: modern digital system using cable and microwave radio relay
domestic: microwave radio relay
international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 9, FM 106, shortwave 0 (1998)

Radios: 2.55 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 10 (plus 36 low-power repeaters) (1997)

Televisions: 1.47 million (1997)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 14 (1999)

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