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Ireland is an island of 84,288 sq. km (32,544 square miles) on the western side of Europe. It has a population of 3,744,700.

The country enjoys a relatively mild climate with average monthly temperatures ranging from 7 degrees celsius in January to 19 degrees in July. Ireland has an average monthly rainfall of between 2 and 3 inches with average daily hours of sunshine ranging from 2 hours in December to 6 hours in June.

Ireland's highest mountain is Carrantouhill, Co. Kerry at 1,041m, longest river, the Shannon at 340km and largest lake, Lough Neagh at 396km squared.

The free profession of religion is guaranteed to all citizens by the Irish Constitution. The stated religion of the majority of people in Ireland is the Roman Catholic faith.

The Irish language evolved from Celtic immigrants around 600 BC. The language survived the introduction of the linguistic diversity of both the invading Vikings and Normans down through the centuries. The first to bring the English language to Ireland were the Normans. Though English was slow to become established in Ireland it eventually became the language used for all administrative and legal business. Irish became associated with the poorer classes, and gradually English was adopted in general as the vernacular from the latter years of the eighteenth century on.

In 1923 the first government of the Irish Free State was led by William T. Cosgrave of Cumann Na nGael. Their chief aim was to establish infrastructure and administration of the new state.

The name of the state according to article 4 of the constitution is, Ireland in the English language and Éire in the Irish language. Although the origins of the name Éire are uncertain, the name Eiru which is the name of a mythological divine heroine, occurs in the earliest literature in Old Irish. The modern word Ireland derives from a combination of the Gaelic "Éire" with the Germanic word "land". 

The National Flag is a tricolour of green, white and orange. The green represents the older Gaelic and Anglo-Norman element in the population, the orange the Protestant supporters of William of Orange, while the white represents a lasting peace between the two traditions. First flown as an emblem of the Young Ireland movement of 1848, the flag did not come into popular use until after the 1916 Rising.

The National Anthem of Ireland is "Amhrán Na bhFiann" (The Soldier's Song) written in 1907 by Peadar Kearney and Patrick Heeney. It was formally adopted as the national anthem in 1926.

The National Day of Ireland is St. Patrick's Day, celebrated by Irish communities all over the world on 17th March.

The Constitution of Ireland is Bunreacht na hÉireann, the basic law of the State. Adopted by referendum in 1937 it defines Ireland as a sovereign, independent and democratic state. It sets out the administrative structure of the Government and states that all powers of the Government derive under God from the people. It defines the structure and principles of legal and social policy to guide the Oireachtas (Parliament). The rights of every citizen are also enshrined in the constitution.

The President of Ireland is elected by direct vote from the people for a term of seven years. While the president doesn't have any executive powers, the role is more than a ceremonial one. The President has certain powers which make him or her essentially the guardian of the Constitution and may choose to exercise these powers on the advice of the Government or Council of State. The current President is Mary McAleese.

The Irish Government consists of not less than seven and not more than fifteen members. The Head of the Government is the Taoiseach, who is appointed by the President on the nomination of the Dáil. The Taoiseach nominates one member of Government to be Tánaiste, who acts in the place of the Taoiseach if the Taoiseach is absent.

Departments of State are assigned to members of the Government, with a Minister occasionally being responsible for more than one department. Ministers are assisted in the administration of these departments by Ministers of State who are not members of the Government. 

 Ireland is a parliamentary democracy. The national parliament is called the Oireachtas and consists of the President and two houses. These are the Dáil (The House of Representatives) and the Seanad (the Senate). The power of these two bodies derive from the Constitution of Ireland and law.

The Dáil is the primary of the two houses. While government administration and policy may be
criticised in both houses, the government is
responsible to the Dáil only.

The main political parties are Fianna Fáil, which has been in Government more times than any other party, Fine Gael, The Labour Party, The Progressive Democrats, The Green Party, Socialist Party and Sinn Féin.

Civil Servants assist in the running of each of the fifteen Departments of State and are appointed through public competition.

Irish law is based on Common Law and is enshrined in the Constitution of 1937. Statutes passed by the British Parliament before 1921 also have the force of law unless they have subsequently been repealed or have been found to be unconstitutional. Justice is administered in the public courts. Judges are appointed by the president and are usually senior figures in the legal profession.

The police service, an Garda Siochána (Guardians of the Peace) was established in 1922. Today the force has approx. 11,450 members. The Gardaí are headed by a government appointed Commissioner and are answerable to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

Ireland has played an active role in the United Nations since its membership in 1955, chiefly in its contribution to peace-keeping missions around the world and its support for UN agencies concerned with development and human rights.

Ireland joined the European Economic Community in 1973 bringing about regional development funding from Europe and structured trade policies within the community.

The Irish economy is an open, mostly export based economy that has experienced an unprecedented level of growth during the latter half of the 1990's. It is expected that this growth will continue at least for the first decade of this century, as long as a skilled labour force continues to be available.

The Irish economy is heavily dependant on trade, with export of goods and services amounting to over 96.8% of GDP (1999 figure).

Membership of the European Union and access to the Single Market has allowed Ireland to diversify its trade patterns. Although Britain has always been Ireland's largest single trading partner, almost half of all Irish exports now go to the other EU member states.