IRELAND
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 70,280 km2; land area: 68,890 km2

Comparative area: slightly larger than West Virginia

Land boundary: 360 km with UK

Coastline: 1,448 km

Maritime claims:

Continental shelf: no precise definition;

Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm;

Territorial sea: 12 nm

Disputes: Northern Ireland question with the UK; Rockall
continental shelf dispute involving Denmark, Iceland, and the UK (Ireland
and the UK have signed a boundary agreement in the Rockall area)

Climate: temperate maritime; modified by North Atlantic Current;
mild winters, cool summers; consistently humid; overcast about half the
time

Terrain: mostly level to rolling interior plain surrounded by
rugged hills and low mountains; sea cliffs on west coast

Natural resources: zinc, lead, natural gas, crude oil, barite,
copper, gypsum, limestone, dolomite, peat, silver

Land use: arable land 14%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and
pastures 71%; forest and woodland 5%; other 10%

Environment: deforestation

PEOPLE
Population: 3,489,165 (July 1991), growth rate - 0.3% (1991)

Birth rate: 15 births/1,000 population (1991)

Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

Net migration rate: - 9 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

Infant mortality rate: 6 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

Life expectancy at birth: 73 years male, 79 years female (1991)

Total fertility rate: 2.1 children born/woman (1991)

Nationality: noun--Irishman(men), Irish (collective pl.);
adjective--Irish

Ethnic divisions: Celtic, with English minority

Religion: Roman Catholic 93%, Anglican 3%, none 1%, unknown 2%,
other 1% (1981)

Language: Irish (Gaelic) and English; English is the language
generally used, with Gaelic spoken in a few areas, mostly along the
western seaboard

Literacy: 98% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1981 est.)

Labor force: 1,293,000; services 57.0%, manufacturing and
construction 26.1%, agriculture, forestry, and fishing 15.0%,
energy and mining 1.9% (1988)

Organized labor: 36% of labor force

GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: none

Type: republic

Capital: Dublin

Administrative divisions: 26 counties; Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork,
Donegal, Dublin, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim,
Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon,
Sligo, Tipperary, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford, Wicklow

Independence: 6 December 1921 (from UK)

Constitution: 29 December 1937; adopted 1937

Legal system: based on English common law, substantially modified
by indigenous concepts; judicial review of legislative acts in Supreme
Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

National holiday: Saint Patrick's Day, 17 March

Executive branch: president, prime minister, deputy prime minister,
Cabinet
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament (Oireachtas) consists of
an upper house or Senate (Seanad Eireann) and a lower house or House of
Representatives (Dail Eireann)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court

Leaders:

Chief of State--President Mary Bourke ROBINSON (since 9 November
1990);

Head of Government--Prime Minister Charles J. HAUGHEY (since
12 July 1989, the fourth time elected as Prime Minister)

Political parties and leaders:
Fianna Fail, Charles HAUGHEY;
Labor Party, Richard SPRING;
Fine Gael, John BRUTON;
Communist Party of Ireland, Michael O'RIORDAN;
Workers' Party, Proinsias DEROSSA;
Sinn Fein, Gerry ADAMS;
Progressive Democrats, Desmond O'MALLEY;
note--Prime Minister HAUGHEY heads a coalition consisting of the
Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats

Suffrage: universal at age 18

Elections:

President--last held 9 November 1990 (next to be held November
1997); results--Mary Bourke ROBINSON 52.8%, Brian LENIHAN 47.2%;

Senate--last held on 17 February 1987 (next to be held February
1992);
results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(60 total, 49 elected) Fianna Fail 30, Fine Gael 16, Labor 3,
Independents 11;

House of Representatives--last held on 12 July 1989 (next to be
held NA June 1994);
results--Fianna Fail 44.0%, Fine Gael 29.4%, Labor Party 9.3%,
Progressive Democrats 5.4%, Workers' Party 4.9%, Sinn Fein 1.1%,
independents 5.9%;
seats--(166 total) Fianna Fail 77, Fine Gael 55, Labor Party 15,
Workers' Party 7, Progressive Democrats 6, independents 6

Communists: under 500

Member of: BIS, CCC, CE, CSCE, EBRD, EC, ECE, EIB, ESA, FAO, GATT,
IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT,
INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NEA, OECD, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP,
UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNIIMOG, UNTSO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Padraic N. MACKERNAN;
Chancery at 2234 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone
(202) 462-3939; there are Irish Consulates General in Boston, Chicago,
New York, and San Francisco;

US--Ambassador Richard A. MOORE; Embassy at 42 Elgin Road,
Ballsbridge, Dublin; telephone  353  (1) 688777

Flag: three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and
orange; similar to the flag of the Ivory Coast which is shorter and
has the colors reversed--orange (hoist side), white, and green; also
similar to the flag of Italy which is shorter and has colors of green
(hoist side), white, and red

ECONOMY
Overview: The economy is small, open, and trade dependent.
Agriculture, once the most important sector, is now dwarfed by industry,
which accounts for 37% of GDP and about 80% of exports and employs 26%
of the labor force. The government has successfully reduced the rate of
inflation from double-digit figures in the late 1970s to 3.3% in
1990. In 1987, after years of deficits, the balance of payments was
brought into the black. Unemployment, however, is a serious problem. A
1990 unemployment rate of 16.6% placed Ireland along with Spain as the
countries with the worst jobless records in Western Europe.

GDP: $33.9 billion, per capita $9,690; real growth rate 4.1%
(1990)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.3% (1990)

Unemployment rate: 16.6% (1990)

Budget: revenues $11.3 billion; expenditures $11.7 billion,
including capital expenditures of $1.6 billion (1990)

Exports: $24.6 billion (f.o.b., 1990);

commodities--chemicals, data processing equipment, industrial
machinery, live animals, animal products;

partners--EC 74% (UK 34%, FRG 11%, France 10%), US 8%

Imports: $20.7 billion (c.i.f., 1990);

commodities--food, animal feed, chemicals, petroleum and petroleum
products, machinery, textiles, clothing;

partners--EC 66% (UK 41%, FRG 9%, France 4%), US 16%

External debt: $16.0 billion (1990)

Industrial production: growth rate 4.7% (1990); accounts for
37% of GDP

Electricity: 4,957,000 kW capacity; 14,480 million kWh produced,
4,080 kWh per capita (1989)

Industries: food products, brewing, textiles, clothing, chemicals,
pharmaceuticals, machinery, transportation equipment, glass and crystal

Agriculture: accounts for 10% of GNP and 15% of the labor force;
principal crops--turnips, barley, potatoes, sugar beets, wheat;
livestock--meat and dairy products; 85% self-sufficient in food; food
shortages include bread grain, fruits, vegetables

Economic aid: donor--ODA commitments (1980-89), $90 million
Currency: Irish pound (plural--pounds); 1 Irish pound (LIr) =
100 pence

Exchange rates: Irish pounds (LIr) per US$1--0.5656 (January
1991), 0.6030 (1990), 0.7472 (1989), 0.6553 (1988), 0.6720 (1987), 0.7454
(1986), 0.9384 (1985)

Fiscal year: calendar year

COMMUNICATIONS
Railroads: Irish National Railways (CIE) operates 1,947 km
1.602-meter gauge, government owned; 485 km double track; 38 km
electrified

Highways: 92,294 km total; 87,422 km surfaced, 4,872 km gravel or
crushed stone

Inland waterways: limited for commercial traffic

Pipelines: natural gas, 225 km

Ports: Cork, Dublin, Shannon Estuary, Waterford

Merchant marine: 53 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 138,967
GRT/164,628 DWT; includes 4 short-sea passenger, 31 cargo, 2
refrigerated cargo, 3 container, 2 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL)
tanker, 3 specialized tanker, 2 chemical tanker, 6 bulk

Civil air: 23 major transport aircraft

Airports: 40 total, 37 usable; 18 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 6 with
runways 1,220-2,439 m

Telecommunications: small, modern system using cable and radio
relay circuits; 900,000 telephones; stations--45 AM, 16 (29 relays) FM,
18 (68 relays) TV; 5 coaxial submarine cables; 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT
earth stations

DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Army (including Naval Service and Air Corps), National
Police (GARDA)

Manpower availability: males 15-49, 871,578; 705,642 fit for
military service; 33,175 reach military age (17) annually

Defense expenditures: $458 million, 1.6% of GDP (1990 est.)



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