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Republic of Ireland

This article is about the sovereign state. For other uses, see Ireland (disambiguation).

Ireland[a]
Éire (Irish)
Anthem: 
Amhrán na bhFiann
"The Soldiers' Song"
Location of Ireland (dark green)

– in Europe (light green & dark grey)
– in the European Union (light green)

Capital
and largest city
Dublin
53°20.65′N 6°16.05′W / 53.34417°N 6.26750°W / 53.34417; -6.2675053°N 8°W / 53°N 8°W / 53; -8
Official languages
Ethnic groups
(2022[2])
Religion
(2022[3])
Demonym(s)Irish
GovernmentUnitary parliamentary republic
• President
Michael D. Higgins
• Taoiseach
Simon Harris
• Tánaiste
Micheál Martin
Donal O'Donnell
LegislatureOireachtas
• Upper house
Seanad
• Lower house
Dáil
Independence 
from the United Kingdom
24 April 1916
21 January 1919
6 December 1921
6 December 1922
29 December 1937
18 April 1949
Area
• Total
70,273 km2 (27,133 sq mi) (118th)
• Water (%)
2.0%
Population
• April 2024 estimate
Neutral increase 5,380,300[4] (122nd)
• 2022 census
5,149,139[5]
• Density
76.6/km2 (198.4/sq mi) (113th)
GDP (PPP)2024 estimate
• Total
Increase $691.904 billion[6] (40th)
• Per capita
Increase $127,750[6] (3rd)
GDP (nominal)2024 estimate
• Total
Increase $560.566 billion[6] (30th)
• Per capita
Increase $103,500[6] (2nd)
Gini (2022)Negative increase 27.9[7]
low inequality
HDI (2022)Increase 0.950[8]
very high (7th)
CurrencyEuro (€)[c] (EUR)
Time zoneUTC (GMT)
• Summer (DST)
UTC+1 (IST)
Date formatdd/mm/yyyy
Drives onleft
Calling code+353
ISO 3166 codeIE
Internet TLD.ie[d]

Ireland (Irish: Éire [ˈeːɾʲə] ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (Poblacht na hÉireann),[a] is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million.[4] The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island, with a population of about 1.5 million.[4] The sovereign state shares its only land border with Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. It is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the Celtic Sea to the south, St George's Channel to the south-east and the Irish Sea to the east. It is a unitary, parliamentary republic.[9] The legislature, the Oireachtas, consists of a lower house, Dáil Éireann; an upper house, Seanad Éireann; and an elected president (Uachtarán) who serves as the largely ceremonial head of state, but with some important powers and duties. The head of government is the Taoiseach (prime minister, lit. 'chief'), elected by the Dáil and appointed by the president, who appoints other government ministers.

The Irish Free State was created with Dominion status in 1922, following the Anglo-Irish Treaty. In 1937, a new constitution was adopted, in which the state was named "Ireland" and effectively became a republic, with an elected non-executive president. It was officially declared a republic in 1949, following The Republic of Ireland Act 1948. Ireland became a member of the United Nations in 1955. It joined the European Communities (EC), the predecessor of the European Union (EU), in 1973. The state had no formal relations with Northern Ireland for most of the 20th century, but the 1980s and 1990s saw the British and Irish governments working with Northern Irish parties to resolve the conflict that had become known as the Troubles. Since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, the Irish government and Northern Irish government have co-operated on a number of policy areas under the North/South Ministerial Council created by the Agreement.

Ireland is a developed country with a quality of life that ranks amongst the highest in the world; after adjustments for inequality, the 2021 Human Development Index listing ranked it the sixth-highest in the world.[10] It also ranks highly in healthcare, economic freedom and freedom of the press.[11][12] It is a member of the EU and a founding member of the Council of Europe and the OECD. The Irish government has followed a policy of military neutrality through non-alignment since before World War II, and the country is consequently not a member of NATO,[13] although it is a member of Partnership for Peace and certain aspects of PESCO. Ireland's economy is advanced,[14] with one of Europe's major financial hubs being centred on Dublin. It ranks among the top five wealthiest countries in the world in terms of both GDP and GNI per capita.[15][16][17][18] After joining the EC, the country's government enacted a series of liberal economic policies that helped to boost economic growth between 1995 and 2007, a time now often referred to as the Celtic Tiger period. A recession and reversal in growth then followed during the Great Recession, which was exacerbated by the bursting of the Irish property bubble.[19] The Great Recession lasted until 2014, and was followed by a new period of strong economic growth.[20]


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  1. ^ "Article 8, Constitution of Ireland". Irish Statute Book. Archived from the original on 23 April 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  2. ^ "Population Usually Resident and Present in the State". Central Statistics Office. 30 May 2023. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference REL was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b c "Population and Migration Estimates, April 2024". www.cso.ie. Central Statistics Office (Ireland) - CSO. 27 August 2024. Retrieved 27 October 2024.
  5. ^ "Remote work up, Catholic numbers down in Census data". rte.ie. 30 May 2023. Archived from the original on 30 May 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d "World Economic Outlook Database, October 2024 Edition. (Ireland)". www.imf.org. International Monetary Fund. 22 October 2024. Retrieved 27 October 2024.
  7. ^ "Gini coefficient of equivalised disposable income – EU-SILC survey". ec.europa.eu. Eurostat. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
  8. ^ "Human Development Report 2023/24" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 13 March 2024. p. 288. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  9. ^ L. Prakke; C. A. J. M. Kortmann; J. C. E. van den Brandhof (2004), Constitutional Law of 15 EU Member States, Deventer: Kluwer, p. 429, ISBN 9013012558, Since 1937 Ireland has been a parliamentary republic, in which ministers appointed by the president depend on the confidence of parliament
  10. ^ "Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index". Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  11. ^ "Human Development Report 2020" (PDF). HDRO (Human Development Report Office) United Nations Development Programme. p. 343. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 December 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  12. ^ Henry, Mark (2021). In Fact An Optimist's Guide to Ireland at 100. Dublin: Gill Books. ISBN 978-0-7171-9039-3. OCLC 1276861968. Archived from the original on 25 August 2022. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  13. ^ "NATO – Member countries". NATO. Archived from the original on 24 September 2011. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  14. ^ "Ireland is world's eighth-most 'inclusive' advanced economy". The Irish Times. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  15. ^ "Country Comparison: GDP – per capita (PPP)". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original on 19 November 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
  16. ^ "'Leprechaun Economics' Earn Ireland Ridicule, $443 Million Bill". Bloomberg L.P. 13 July 2016. Archived from the original on 14 July 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  17. ^ Gabriel Zucman; Thomas Torslov; Ludvig Wier (June 2018). "The Missing Profits of Nations". National Bureau of Economic Research, Working Papers. p. 31. Archived from the original on 10 June 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2021. Appendix Table 2: Tax Havens
  18. ^ "Ireland is the world's biggest corporate 'tax haven', say academics". The Irish Times. 13 June 2018. Archived from the original on 28 December 2022. Retrieved 1 January 2021. New Gabriel Zucman study claims State shelters more multinational profits than the entire Caribbean
  19. ^ Nicoll, Ruaridh (16 May 2009). "Ireland: As the Celtic Tiger roars its last". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 6 September 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
  20. ^ "Doing the maths: how real is Ireland's economic growth?". Irish Independent. 3 January 2016.

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