Ireland (Irish: Éire)  is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world
It lies to the northwest of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets.
To the east of Ireland is Great Britain, separated from it by the Irish Sea.
The island is divided between the Republic of Ireland, which covers just under five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, a part of the

United Kingdom, which covers the remainder and is located in the northeast of the island.
The population of Ireland is approximately 6.2 million people.
Just under 4.5 million live in the Republic of Ireland and just under 1.8 million live in Northern Ireland.

Relatively low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain epitomise Ireland’s geography with several navigable rivers extending inland.
The island has lush vegetation, a product of its mild but changeable oceanic climate, which avoids extremes in temperature.
Thick woodlands covered the island until the 17th century.
Today, it is the most deforested area in Europe.

A Norman invasion in the Middle Ages gave way to a Gaelic Resurgence in the 13th century.
Over sixty years of intermittent warfare in the 1500s led to English dominion after 1603.
In the 1690s, a system of Protestant English rule was designed to materially disadvantage the Catholic majority and Protestant dissenters, and

was extended during the 18th century.

In 1801, Ireland became a part of the United Kingdom.
A war of independence in the early 20th century led to the partition of the island, creating the Irish Free State, which became increasingly

sovereign over the following decades.
Northern Ireland remained a part of the United Kingdom and saw much civil unrest from the late 1960s until the 1990s.
This subsided following a political agreement in 1998. In 1973, both parts of Ireland joined the European Community.

Irish culture has had a significant influence on other cultures, particularly in the fields of literature and, to a lesser degree, science and

education.
A strong Irish culture exists, as expressed for example through Gaelic games, Irish music and the Irish language, alongside a common Western

culture, such as contemporary music and drama, and sports such as soccer, rugby and golf, and the English language.

Most of Ireland was covered with ice until the end of the last ice age over 9,000 years ago. Sea levels were lower and Ireland, like Great

Britain, was part of continental Europe. Mesolithic stone age inhabitants arrived some time after 8,000 BC and agriculture followed with the

Neolithic Age around 4,500 to 4,000 BC when sheep, goats, cattle and cereals were imported from the Iberian peninsula.

In 1921, the Anglo-Irish Treaty was concluded between the British Government and representatives of the First Dáil (Assembly of Ireland).
It gave all of Ireland complete independence in their home affairs and practical independence for foreign policy.
However, an oath of allegiance to the British Crown had to be exercised.

Northern Ireland was to form a home rule state within the new Irish Free State but held an opt-out clause, which it exercised immediately as

expected.
Disagreements over these provisions led to a split in the nationalist movement and a subsequent civil war between the new government of the

Irish Free State and those opposed to the treaty, led by Éamon de Valera.
The civil war officially ended in May 1923 when de Valera issued a cease-fire order.

During its first decade, the newly formed Irish Free State was governed by the victors of the civil war. When de Valera achieved power, he took

advantage of the Statute of Westminster and political circumstances to build upon inroads to greater sovereignty made by the previous

government. The oath was abolished and in 1937 a new constitution was adopted.[48] This completed a process of gradual separation from the

British Empire that governments had pursued since independence.
It was not until 1949 that the state was declared, officially, to be the Republic of Ireland.

City status in Ireland is decided by legislative or royal charter. Dublin, with just over 1 million residents in the Greater Dublin Area, is the

largest city on the island. Other cities are:

* Belfast (urban area: 267,742, metropolitan area: 575,231)
* Cork (urban area: 190,384)
* Derry (urban area: 93,512)
* Limerick (urban area: 90,757)
* Galway (urban area: 72,729)
* Lisburn (urban area: 71,465)
* Waterford (urban area: 49,213)
* Newry (urban area: 29,946)
* Armagh (urban area: 15,020)

Kilkenny (pop. 22,179), while strictly no longer a city, is entitled by law to describe itself as such.
Several towns have larger populations than some of these cities, such as Drogheda (pop. 35,090) and Dundalk (pop. 35,085) but are not recognised

as cities because they lack historic charters or legal status.