County Tipperary Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is a large island situated in the north Atlantic off north west Europe. In fact, at 82,463 km2, it is the 20th largest island in the world. Map if Ireland.

It has a population of 3,537,195 over an area of 68,894 km2, with its capital Dublin having the largest population of 915,115. The flag of Ireland is Green, Orange and White.

Ireland is famous for its unpredictable and wet weather. It can be hot one day and cold the next, wet one hour and sunny the next. This is because Ireland is situated right beneath a convergence zone where cold air from the pole, warm dry air from Asia and the wet air from the Gulf Stream meet.

Although it is so close to mainland Europe, the island of Britain lies in between. This means that two sea journeys can be necessary to get to Ireland, and it is partly for this reason that Ireland was not settled as densely as areas closer to the Continent and why, even today, Ireland is regarded as being on the perimeter of Europe. However, its location is growing in importance as world commerce takes off, since it is one of the closest parts of the European Union to the markets of North America.

The island of Ireland plays host to no less than two independent countries. Most of the island forms the Republic of Ireland, while the northeastern corner ("Northern Ireland") is part of the United Kingdom.