Author: M.S. Nickiforova, EL Teacher, School 83, Seversk Tomsk Region, RF

Ireland is a small country in Europe. The area of it is about 70,000 km 2.

The country is situated on the island of the same name, which lies off the west of Great Britain.

Ireland is washed by the Atlantic Ocean.

It is the first land to meet the warm waters of the Gulf Stream.

The climate is temperate and humid here.

There is an old Irish saying that Ireland must be the cleanest place in the world because rain washes it every day.

Ireland is often called the Emerald Isle because of its beautiful green hills and fields. The most part of the country is flat.

The Emerald Isle

The official name of the country is the Republic of Ireland.

The history of the country has not been peaceful. The Irish people had continually to fight for their land against English invaders.

After the long fight the Irish Free State was created by the Anglo-Irish Treaty of Then its name was changed to Eire in 1937 and to the Republic of Ireland in 1949.

But the northern part of the island, called Ulster, is still a part of the United Kingdom.

The major economic activities include agriculture, farming, fishing…

… chemical and textile industries.

Ireland is mainly an English-speaking country. There are two official languages, English and Irish.

The population of Ireland is nearly 3.8 mln people.

About 33% of the population lives in cities. But there are few big cities in the country.

The largest city is the capital of Ireland, Dublin.

Dublin

Some big cities are Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford.

Cork

Limerick

Galway

Waterford

Ireland is a republic. It consists of 26 counties.

The head of the country is the president. Michael D. Higgins