Ireland

Geography

Location: Western Europe, occupying five-sixths of the island of Ireland in the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Great Britain. Area: 70,280 sq. km. Principal cities: Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford. Tourist attractions: Blarney Castle, Cliffs of Moher, Clonmacnoise, Giant's Causeway, Kilkenny Castle, Killarney National Park, Leap Castle and Mt Brandon. Time zone: GMT 0 hours.

People

Population: 4,109,086 Quly 2007 est.). Population growth rate: 1.143%
{2007 est.). Sex ratio: 0.989 male(s}/ female (2007 est.). Religions: Roman Catholic, Church of Ireland, others. Languages: English is the language generally used while Irish (Gaelic) is spoken in areas located along the western coast. Literacy rate: 98% (1981 est.). Infant mortality rate: 5.22 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.). Life expectancy: Total 77.9 years, Male 75.27 years, Female 80.7 years (2007 est.).

Government

Capital: Dublin. National anthem:
Amhran nabh Fiann. Government type: Republic and Parliamentary de­mocracy. Independence: 6 December 1921 (from UK). Legal system: Based on English common law, substantially modified by indigenous concepts. Executive branch: Chief of state: President Mary McAleese (since I I November 1997). Head of government: Prime Minister Bertie Ahern (since 26 June 1997). Elections and election results: The president is elected by popular vote for a seven-year term, renewable for a second term. The election was last held on 31 October 2004 and the next election^ is scheduled for November 201 I- Legis­lative branch: Ireland has a bicameral parliament or Oireachtas that consists of the Senate or Seanad Eireann and the House of Representatives or Dail Eireann. Judicial branch: Supreme court.

Economy

Currency: Euro. Currency conver­sion: Euro per Indian rupee—0.GI 82 (June 2007 est.). GDP: Purchasing power parity—$180.7 billion (2007 est ) GDP—real growth rate: 6% (2006 est.). GDP—per capita: Pur­chasing power parity—$44,500 (2006 est.). Inflation rate: 3.9% (2006 est). Population below poverty line; l0% (1997 est.). Unemployment rate: 4.3% (2006 est.). Exports: $1 19-B bil­lion f.o.b. (2006 est.). Imports: $87.36 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.). Exter­nal debt: $1,392 trillion (2006).

Transport and Communications

Railways: 3,312 km. Roads: 96,602 km. Airports: Dublin International Air­port, Ireland West Airport Knock. Telephones: 2.033 million (2005). Mobile cellular: 4.21 million (2005). Internet users: 1.26 million (2003). Internet country code: -ie- ISD code: 353.