The island of Ireland is 300 miles/450 km long and 190 miles/300 km wide and covers approximately 32,600 sq. miles/84,500 sq. km. Ireland is divided into four provinces - Ulster, Munster, Leinster and Connaught and into 32 counties. The Republic of Ireland consists of 26 counties and Northern Ireland consists of 6 counties.
Ireland is on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and in accordance with daylight saving, clocks are put forward one hour mid-March and back one hour at the end of October. During summer it stays light until as late as 11.00pm but by mid-December it can be dark by 4.00pm.
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Full Name: Republic of Ireland
Area: 70,280 sq km (land: 68,890 sq km, water: 1,390 sq km)
Population: 4,203,200 (July 2010 est.)
Capital City: Dublin
People: Irish 87.4%, other white 7.5%, Asian 1.3%, black 1.1%, mixed 1.1%, unspecified 1.6% (2006 census)
Language: English (official) is the language generally used, Irish (Gaelic or Gaeilge) (official) spoken mainly in areas along the western coast
Religion: Roman Catholic 87.4%, Church of Ireland 2.9%, other Christian 1.9%, other 2.1%, unspecified 1.5%, none 4.2% (2006 census)
Government Type: Republic
Chief of State President Mary MCALEESE (since 11 November 1997)
Head of Government: Prime Minister Brian COWEN (since 7 May 2008)
GDP: $US 172.5 billion (2009 est.)
GDP per Capita: $US 41,000 (2009 est.)
Inflation: -4.5% (2009 est.)
Unemployment: 11.8% (2009 est.)
Industries: Steel, lead, zinc, silver, aluminum, barite, and gypsum mining processing; food products, brewing, textiles, clothing; chemicals, pharmaceuticals; machinery, rail transportation equipment, passenger and commercial vehicles, ship construction and refurbishment; glass and crystal; software, tourism
Currency: Euro (€ - EUR)
Member of EU: Yes
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