Ireland (Alternatively)

  

United Irish Republic
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "Aontaithe go deo" United Forever
Anthem: Amhrán na bhFiann "The Soldier's Song"
Capital	Dublin
Largest city	Belfast
Official languages	Irish · English
Ethnic groups (2022)	90.0% White Irish 2.8% Asian 1.2% Black 0.3% Arab 1.2% Other (including Mixed race) 4.5% Not stated
Religion	82.1% Christianity 68.8% Catholic 2.6% Anglican 10.7% Other Christian 14.7% Irreligious 7.2% Other 6.7% Unstated
Demonym(s)	Irish
Government	Unitary parliamentary republic under a semi-presidential system
Legislature	Oireachtas
• Upper house	Seanad Éireann
• Lower house	Dáil Éireann
Independence from Great Britain
• Independence	18 September 1935
Area
• Total	84,421 km2 (32,595 sq mi) (20th)
• Water (%)	2.0%
Population
• 2023 estimate	7,185,600 (19th)
• Density	82.2/km2 (212.9/sq mi)
ISO 3166 code	IE

Ireland, officially the United Irish Republic, is a country in north-western Europe located on the island of the same name. As of 2023, Ireland has an estimated population of 7,185,600 people, of which 2.1 million live in the Greater Dublin Area, the wider metropolitan area in the country's capital of Dublin and 1.3 million live in the Belfast metropolitan area. An island nation, Ireland is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and several nearby seas; the Celtic Sea to the south, the St. George's Channel to the south-east, and the Irish Sea to the east where it shares maritime borders with Great Britain. It is a unitary state operating under a parliamentary republican government and a semi-presidential system. The Oireachtas is a bicameral legislature consisting of the upper house Seanad Éireann and the lower house Dáil Éireann. The President (Uachtarán) serves as the country's largely ceremonial head of state with some executive powers while the head of government is the Taoiseach (Prime Minister, literally "Chief"). The Taoiseach is appointed by the president and approved by the the Dáil following a general election while the president appointed in a direct election.

The island of Ireland was originally inhabited by Neolithic settlers as the island's first inhabitants before the emergence of the Celts. By the 1st century AD, Gaelic Ireland had emerged and would later be Christianised by the 5th century AD onwards. After the 12th century Norman invasion of England, territorial claims were made on Ireland by the Kingdom of England, though English rule wouldn't emerge until the Tudor conquests of Ireland in the 16th and 17th centuries, leading to the colonization of the island by Protestant English and Scottish settlers. In the aftermath of the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell would establish the Commonwealth of England and later became The Protectorate, a republican government that controlled the entire British Isles. Tensions rose between the Puritan rulers of the commonwealth in England and the largely Catholic Irish natives, leading to the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland between the Irish Catholics and the Protestant English Commonwealth that ended with Cromwell reasserting English rule over Ireland, however the autonomy of the Irish Catholic Church and faith was observed and protected in exchange for an end to hostilities.

Ireland remained under English and British rule from the 17th century until the 20th century. Following the British Revolution, Ireland became a constituent country within the Republic of Great Britain and Ireland alongside Scotland, England, and Wales. Irish republicanism emerged within he country as many Irishmen became supportive of the new republican state, however a large subsection supported an independent Irish republic and gained traction in the 19th century during the push for home rule.

Etymology

The word "Ireland" comes from the Irish word Éire of which it is derived from Ériu, a goddess in Irish mythology. The term was first recorded in the ninth century. While the etymology of the word Ériu is disputed, it is possible derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h2eur, referring to flowing water.

The names of the various states within Ireland historically used the term Eire when referring to the name of the country, however the English language term "Ireland" was used in official documents by the British government following the conquests of the island. During Ireland's time as a constituent country of Great Britain, the Irish word was rarely used in official documentation, but became more common following the British Revolution and the Irish Gaelic word was used officially by the 1820s as a means of showing tolerance of Ireland's culture and language to ensure its continuity within the British Republic.