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Dr. Trócsányi András - Az angolszász világ földrajza
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ÍRORSZÁG
Területe: 70283 km2
Lakossága : 3,6 millió
Népsűrűsége : 51/km2
Fővárosa: Dublin
Az Ír-sziget nagyobb részét az Ír Köztársaság foglalja el. Nyugat-Európa legritkábban lakott és
gazdaságilag legfejletlenebb állama. A XIX. század elején a mai népességnek közel kétszerese lakott itt,
de a nemzeti és vallási elnyomással párosuló angol uralom, valamint a burgonyavész következtében
megismétlődő katasztrofális éhínségek a kereső korú népesség tekintélyes hányadát kivándorlásra
kényszerítették. A nemzeti ellenállás hatására Nagy-Britannia előbb domíniumi rangot (1921), majd teljes
önállóságot (1937) adott Írországnak, mely később még a Nemzetközösségből is kilépett (1949). A
kivándorlás napjainkra lecsökkent, s a népesség a magas természetes szaporodás következtében nő.
Gazdasági életében a mezőgazdaság vezet, bár az ipar is fejlődik.
Mezőgazdaságában döntő súlya van az állattenyésztésnek. Az ország területének közel 60%-a rét és
legelő, mely viszonylag nagyszámú (6 milliós) szarvasmarha-állományt tart el. A kedvező éghajlati
adottságok és a termelési tapasztalatok segítségével maga hús és tejhozamokat érnek el. A sertés- és a
juhtenyésztésnek lényegesen kisebb a szerepe. A közepes nagyságú és közepes színvonalú
növénytermelő farmok elsősorban takarmánynövényeket termelnek, kisebb szerepe van a burgonya-,
búza-, árpa-, zab- és cukorrépa-termelésnek. Fejlődik a városok körüli zöldség- és gyümölcskertészet.
Az ipar fejlődését elsősorban az angol gyarmati uralom gátolta, de a természeti feltételek sem kedvezőek.
Írország energiahordozókban igen szegény. A villamos energia egy részét tőzegből nyerik, de az import
szénnel és kőolajjal tüzelő hőerőművek részesedése nagyobb. Az újabban feltárt réz-, és az európai
viszonylatban is jelentős ólom- és cinkércet teljes egészében exportálják. A hagyományos és jelentős
élelmiszeripar (hús-, tej-, sör-, szesz- és cukoripar), valamint a textilipar vezetnek egyelőre a külföldi tőke
segítségével erősödő gépipar előtt. Az ipari termelés a kedvező közlekedésföldrajzi adottságokkal
rendelkező Dublin és Cork városokban összpontosul.
Külkereskedelmének szerkezete és iránya egyoldalú. Exportjának többsége tejtermék és hús.
Importjában viszont a gépek, közszükségleti cikkek, kész ipari termékek vezetnek. Legfontosabb
külkereskedelmi partnere Nagy-Britannia.
Environment
Small-beaked and wing-clipped, Ireland is an island in the Atlantic Ocean which appears about to
alight on the coast of Britain 80km (50mi) to the west across the Irish Sea. It stretches 500km (310mi)
north to south and 300km (186mi) east to west, and contains only two fully fledged cities of any size,
so it's never far to isolated sweeps of mountain or bogland.
Much of Ireland's elevated ground is close to the coast, and almost the entire Atlantic seaboard, from
Cork to Donegal, is a bulwark of cliffs, hills and mountains, with few safe anchorages. Most of the
centre of the island is composed of flat farmland or raised bogs. This area is drained by the 260km
(161mi) long Shannon, which enters the sea west of Limerick.
The Irish landscape and predominant flora that you see today are almost wholly the result of human
influence. Before the famine, the pressure on the land was enormous and even the most inaccessible
of places were farmed. On the hillsides, above today's fields, you can still occasionally see the faint
regular lines of pre-famine potato ridges called lazy beds.
As a result of the pressure on the land, only 1% of the native oak forests which once covered Ireland
remain, much of it now replaced by dull columns of plantation pine. Foxes and badgers are the most
common native land mammals, but you might also spot hares, hedgehogs, squirrels, shrews, bats and
red deer. Otters, stoats and pine martens are also found in remote areas. Many migrating birds roost
in Ireland, and there are still a couple of native species lurking about: corncrakes can be found in the
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flooded grasslands of the Shannon Callows and parts of Donegal. Choughs, unusual crows with bright
red feet and beaks, can be seen in the dunes along the western coastline.
Despite its northern latitude, Ireland's climate is moderated by the Gulf Stream, bringing the dregs of
Caribbean balminess, as well as turtles and triggerfish. The temperature only drops below freezing
intermittently during the winter and snow is scarce. Summers aren't stinking hot, rarely hitting 30° C
(86° F), but they're comfortable and it stays light until around 11 pm. Whatever the time of year, be
prepared for rain because Ireland is wet. The heaviest rain usually falls where the scenery is best,
such as around Kerry, which can be drizzle-bound on as many as 270 days of the year. If you do find
the rain getting you down you might find some comfort in the Irish saying: 'It doesn't rain in the pub'!
History
The Celts, Iron Age warriors from eastern Europe, reached Ireland around 300 BC. They controlled
the country for 1000 years and left a legacy of language and culture that survives today, especially in
Galway, Cork, Kerry and Waterford. The Romans never reached Ireland, and when the rest of Europe
sank into the decline of the Dark Ages after the fall of the empire, the country became an outpost of
European civilisation, particularly after the arrival of Christianity, between the 3rd and 5th centuries.
During the 8th century Viking raiders began to plunder Ireland's monasteries. The Vikings settled in
Ireland in the 9th century, and formed alliances with native families and chieftains. They founded
Dublin, which in the 10th century was a small Viking kingdom. The English arrived with the Normans in
1169, taking Wexford and Dublin with ease. The English king, Henry II, was recognised by the pope as
Lord of Ireland and he took Waterford in 1171, declaring it a royal city. Anglo-Norman lords also set up
power bases in Ireland, outside the control of England.
English power was consolidated under Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. The last thorn in the English side
was Ulster, final outpost of the Irish chiefs, in particular Hugh O'Neill, earl of Tyrone. In 1607 O'Neill's
ignominious departure, along with 90 other chiefs, left Ulster leaderless and primed for the English
policy of colonisation known as 'plantation' - an organised and ambitious expropriation of land and
introduction of settlers which sowed the seeds for the division of Ulster still in existence today.
The newcomers did not intermarry or mingle with the impoverished and very angry population of native
Irish and Old English Catholics, who rebelled in a bloody conflict in 1641. The native Irish and Old
English Catholics supported the royalists in the English Civil War and, after the execution of Charles I,
Oliver Cromwell - the victorious Protestant parliamentarian - arrived in Ireland to teach his opponents a
lesson. He left a trail of death and destruction which has never been forgotten.
In 1695 harsh penal laws were enforced, known as the 'popery code': Catholics were forbidden from
buying land, bringing their children up as Catholics, and from entering the forces or the law. All Irish
culture, music and education was banned. The religion and culture were kept alive by secret open-air
masses and illegal outdoor schools, known as 'hedge schools', but by 1778, Catholics owned barely
5% of the land. Alarmed by the level of unrest at the end of the 18th century, the Protestant gentry
traded what remained of their independence for British security, and the 1800 Act of Union united
Ireland politically with Britain. The formation of the Catholic Association by the popular leader Daniel
O'Connell led to limited Catholic emancipation but further resistance was temporarily halted by the
tragedy of the Great Famine (1845-51). The almost complete failure of the potato crop during those
years - during which Ireland exported other foodstuffs to England - led to mass starvation and set up a
pattern of emigration that continued well into the 20th century.
The bloody repercussions of the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin added impetus to the push for Irish
independence and in Britain's 1918 general election the Irish republicans won a large majority of the
Irish seats. They declared Ireland independent and formed the first Dail Eireann (Irish assembly or
lower house), under the leadership of Eamon de Valera, a surviving hero of the Easter Rising. This
provoked the Anglo-Irish war, which lasted from 1919 to the middle of 1921. The Anglo-Irish Treaty of
1921 gave independence to 26 Irish counties, and allowed six, largely Protestant, Ulster counties the
choice of opting out. The Northern Ireland parliament came into being, with James Craig as its first
prime minister. The politics of the North became increasingly divided on religious grounds, and
discrimination against Catholics was rife in politics, housing, employment and social welfare. The
south of Ireland was finally declared a republic in 1948, and left the British Commonwealth in 1949.
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Instability in the North began to reveal itself in the 1960s and when a peaceful civil rights march in
1968 was violently broken up by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), the Troubles were under way.
British troops were sent to Derry and Belfast in August 1969; they were initially welcomed by the
Catholics, but it soon became clear that they were the tool of the Protestant majority. Peaceful
measures had clearly failed and the Irish Republican Army (IRA), which had fought the British during
the Anglo-Irish war, re-surfaced. The upheaval was punctuated by seemingly endless tit-for-tat killings
on both sides, an array of everchanging acronyms, the massacre of civilians by troops, the internment
of IRA sympathisers without trial, the death by hunger strike of the imprisoned and the introduction of
terrorism to mainland Britain.
Northern Ireland lost its vestige of parliamentary independence and has been ruled from London ever
since. The Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985 gave the Dublin government an official consultative role in
Northern Ireland's affairs for the first time. The jubilantly received ceasefire of 1994 was undermined
by further murders, the reoccurrence of terrorism in Britain and the perceived intransigence of the
British government in Whitehall. The mood shifted again with the election of Tony Blair in 1997 with a
huge Labour majority to support him. The two sides resumed discussions and, in 1998, formulated a
peace plan that offered a degree of self-government for Northern Ireland and the formulation of a
North-South Council that would ultimately be able to implement all-Ireland policies if agreed to by the
governments in Belfast and Dublin. As part of the plan, which was fully endorsed by a referendum, the
South gave up its constitutional claim to the North. The whiff of peace is definitely in the air.
By the late 1990s the Republic's economy was booming, mainly thanks to an injection of investment
funds from the EU that have helped renovate the country's infrastructure. It's been said that Ireland
has skipped straight from an agricultural economy to a post-industrial one, as large computer and
telecommunications firms have been moving in, bringing jobs and investment. The century and a half
tradition of emigration has slowed and possibly even stopped, as young people are staying or
returning from abroad for new jobs in new industries. The downside? Try and buy a modest 2 bedroom
house in Dublin now and you're looking at little change from US$1 million.
Geography
Location: Western Europe, occupying five-sixths of the island of Ireland in the North Atlantic Ocean,
west of Great Britain
Geographic coordinates: 53 00 N, 8 00 W
Map references: Europe
Area:
total: 70,280 sq km
land: 68,890 sq km
water: 1,390 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly larger than West Virginia
Land boundaries:
total: 360 km
border countries: UK 360 km
Coastline: 1,448 km
Maritime claims:
continental shelf: not specified
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm
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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
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Carrauntoohil 1,041 m
Natural resources: zinc, lead, natural gas, barite, copper, gypsum, limestone, dolomite, peat, silver
Land use:
arable land: 13%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 68%
forests and woodland: 5%
other: 14% (1993 est.)
Environment - current issues: water pollution, especially of lakes, from agricultural runoff
Geography - note: strategic location on major air and sea routes between North America and
northern Europe; over 40% of the population resides within 97 km of Dublin
People
Population: 3,797,257 (July 2000 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 21.85% (male 425,795; female 403,777)
15-64 years: 66.83% (male 1,271,367; female 1,266,150)
65 years and over: 11.33% (male 185,913; female 244,255) (2000 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.16% (2000 est.)
Birth rate: 14.51 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Death rate: 8.14 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Net migration rate: 5.27 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2000 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 5.62 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 76.81 years
male: 74.06 years
female: 79.74 years (2000 est.)
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Total fertility rate: 1.91 children born/woman (2000 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Irishman(men), Irishwoman(women), Irish (collective plural)
adjective: Irish
Ethnic groups: Celtic, English
Religions: Roman Catholic 91.6%, Church of Ireland 2.5%, other 5.9% (1998)
Languages: English is the language generally used, Irish (Gaelic) spoken mainly in areas located
along the western seaboard
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98% (1981 est.)
male: NA%
female: NA%
Government
Country name:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Ireland
Government 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 by treaty)
National holiday: Saint Patrick's Day, 17 March
Constitution: 29 December 1937; adopted 1 July 1937 by plebiscite
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
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Mary MCALEESE (since 11 November 1997)
head of government: Prime Minister Bertie AHERN (since 26 June 1997)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president with previous nomination by the prime minister and
approval of the House of Representatives
elections: president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term; election last held 31 October 1997
(next to be held NA November 2004); prime minister nominated by the House of Representatives and
appointed by the president
election results: Mary MCALEESE elected president; percent of vote - Mary MCALEESE 44.8%, Mary
BANOTTI 29.6%
note: government coalition - Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats
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Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament or Oireachtas consists of the Senate or Seanad Eireann
(60 seats - 49 elected by the universities and from candidates put forward by five vocational panels, 11
are nominated by the prime minister; members serve five-year terms) and the House of
Representatives or Dail Eireann (166 seats; members are elected by popular vote on the basis of
proportional representation to serve five-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held NA August 1997 (next to be held NA 2002); House of Representatives last held 6 June 1997 (next to be held NA 2002)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - Fianna Fail 29, Fine Gael 16, Labor Party 4,
Progressive Democrats 4, others 7; seats by party - NA; House of Representatives - percent of vote by
party - NA; seats by party - Fianna Fail 76, Fine Gael 53, Labor Party 19, Progressive Democrats 4,
Democratic Left 4, Green Alliance 2, Sinn Fein 1, independents 7
Judicial branch: Supreme Court, judges appointed by the president on the advice of the government
(prime minister and cabinet)
International organization participation: Australia Group, BIS, CCC, CE, EBRD, ECE, EIB, EMU,
ESA, EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO,
Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, MINURSO, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OECD, OPCW,
OSCE, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMIBH,
UNMIK, UNMOP, UNTAET, UNTSO, UPU, WEU (observer), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO, ZC
Flag description: three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and orange; similar to the
flag of Cote d'Ivoire, 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
Economy - overview: Ireland is a small, modern, trade-dependent economy with growth averaging a
robust 9% in 1995-99. Agriculture, once the most important sector, is now dwarfed by industry, which
accounts for 39% of GDP and about 80% of exports and employs 28% of the labor force. Although
exports remain the primary engine for Ireland's robust growth, the economy is also benefiting from a
rise in consumer spending and recovery in both construction and business investment. Over the past
decade, the Irish government has implemented a series of national economic programs designed to
curb inflation, reduce government spending, and promote foreign investment. The unemployment rate
has been halved; job creation remains a primary concern of government policy. Recent efforts have
concentrated on improving workers' qualifications and the education system. Ireland joined in
launching the euro currency system in January 1999 along with 10 other EU nations. The construction
and other sectors are beginning to press against capacity, and growth is expected to drop in 2000,
perhaps by 1 percentage point.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $73.7 billion (1999 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 8.4% (1999 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $20,300 (1999 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 5%
industry: 39%
services: 56% (1998)
Population below poverty line: 10% (1997 est.)
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Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2%
highest 10%: 27.3% (1997)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.2% (1999)
Labor force: 1.77 million (1999 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: services 63%, industry 28%, agriculture 9% (1999 est.)
Unemployment rate: 5.5% (1999)
Budget:
revenues: $25.3 billion
expenditures: $20.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $2 billion (1999)
Industries: food products, brewing, textiles, clothing; chemicals, pharmaceuticals, machinery,
transportation equipment, glass and crystal; software
Industrial production growth rate: 10% (1999 est.)
Electricity - production: 19.715 billion kWh (1998)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 94.12%
hydro: 4.63%
nuclear: 0%
other: 1.25% (1998)
Electricity - consumption: 18.415 billion kWh (1998)
Electricity - exports: 100 million kWh (1998)
Electricity - imports: 180 million kWh (1998)
Agriculture - products: turnips, barley, potatoes, sugar beets, wheat; beef, dairy products
Exports: $66 billion (f.o.b., 1999 est.)
Exports - commodities: machinery and equipment, computers, chemicals, pharmaceuticals; live
animals, animal products
Exports - partners: EU 68% (UK 22%, Germany 15%, France 8%), US 15% (1998)
Imports: $44 billion (c.i.f., 1999 est.)
Imports - commodities: data processing equipment, other machinery and equipment, chemicals;
petroleum and petroleum products, textiles, clothing
Imports - partners: EU 54% (UK 31%, Germany 6%, France 5%), US 16%, Japan 7%, Singapore 4%
(1998)
Debt - external: $11 billion (1998)
Economic aid - donor: ODA, $240 million (1999)
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Currency: 1 Irish pound = 100 pence
Exchange rates: Irish pounds per US$1 - 0.9865 (January 2000), 0.9374 (1999), 0.7014 (1998),
0.6588 (1997), 0.6248 (1996), 0.6235 (1995)
note: on 1 January 1999, the European Union introduced a common currency the euro, which is now
being used at a fixed rate of 0.787564 Irish pounds per euro; the euro has replaced the pound in many
financial and business transactions; it will replace the local currency in consenting countries for all
transactions in 2002
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Telephones - main lines in use: 1,642,541 (1999)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 941,775 (1999)
Telephone system: modern digital system using cable and microwave radio relay
domestic: microwave radio relay
international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 9, FM 106, shortwave 0 (1998)
Radios: 2.55 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 10 (plus 36 low-power repeaters) (1997)
Televisions: 1.47 million (1997)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 14 (1999)
Transportation
Railways:
total: 1,947 km
broad gauge: 1,947 km 1.600-m gauge (38 km electrified; 485 km double track) (1998)
Highways:
total: 92,500 km
paved: 87,043 km (including 115 km of expressways)
unpaved: 5,457 km (1999 est.)
Waterways: 700 km (limited for commercial traffic) (1998)
Pipelines: natural gas 225 km (1998)
Ports and harbors: Arklow, Cork, Drogheda, Dublin, Foynes, Galway, Limerick, New Ross, Waterford
Merchant marine:
total: 31 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 100,639 GRT/115,793 DWT
ships by type: bulk 1, cargo 27, container 2, short-sea passenger 1 (1999 est.)
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Airports: 44 (1999 est.)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 17
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 3
914 to 1,523 m: 5
under 914 m: 7 (1999 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 27
914 to 1,523 m: 2
under 914 m: 25 (1999 est.)
Military
Military branches: Army (includes Naval Service and Air Corps), National Police (Garda Siochana)
Military manpower - military age: 17 years of age
Military manpower - availability:
males age 15-49: 994,040 (2000 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service:
males age 15-49: 801,975 (2000 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
males: 33,303 (2000 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $732 million (FY98)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 0.9% (FY98)
Transnational Issues
Disputes - international: Northern Ireland issue with the UK (historic peace agreement signed 10
April 1998); Rockall continental shelf dispute involving Denmark, Iceland, and the UK (Ireland and the
UK have signed a boundary agreement in the Rockall area)
Illicit drugs: transshipment point for and consumer of hashish from North Africa to the UK and
Netherlands and of European-produced synthetic drugs; minor transshipment point for heroin and
cocaine destined for Western Europe