Physical geography and major features of Ireland

Geography of Ireland

Ireland is an island situated in the North Atlantic Ocean in northwestern Europe. Ireland is noted for its low central plains, as well the ring of coastal mountains that surrounds the island. Ireland's highest mountain peak is Carrauntoohil, which is elevated 3,414 feet above sea level. The western coast of the Island is particularly rugged; it contains numerous islands, headlands, and peninsulas. Ireland is divided by the River Shannon, which is also the island's longest river. It runs for 161 miles and contains an estuary of 70 miles. The Shannon flows south from County Cavan, meeting the Atlantic Ocean south of Limerick. Ireland also has a number of lakes, the largest of which is Lough Neagh.

Location

Ireland, which consists of two different nations - Ireland and the UK constituent country Northern Ireland - is situated west of Great Britain at approximately 53° N. And 8° W. Ireland encompasses a total area of 32,591 square miles. The island is separated from Great Britain by the Irish Sea. Between Ireland and Continental Europe, one finds the Celtic Sea.

Physical Features

One of the more striking features of Ireland's geography is its stunning and numerous mountain ranges. Some of these include the Macgillycuddy's Reeks, Mournes, Ox Mountains, Bluestack Mountains, Blackstair Mountains, Wicklow Mountains, Sperrin Mountains, Comeragh Mountains, Derryveagh Mountains, Glens of Antrim, and Nephinbeg Mountains. There are also some ranges situated inland in southern Ireland. These include the Slieve Bloom Mountains, the Silvermine, and the Galtee Mountains, which are the highest inland range on the island. Macgillycuddy's Reeks, a series of glacier-carved sandstone mountains, feature the highest peak, Carrauntoohil, which is 3,414 feet high. Ireland's mountains are not very high - it only contains three peaks over a thousand meters. Another 457 mountains exceed five hundred meters.

Physical features of Ireland.

Ireland's main river is the River Shannon. At two hundred forty miles in length, it is the longest river in both Great Britain and Ireland. It separates Ireland's boggy midlands from the western half of the country. Along its course, the Shannon runs in to three lakes - Lough Derg, Lough Allen, and Lough Ree, of which Lough Derg is the largest. Just after Limerick City, the Shannon flows in to the Atlantic Ocean. Besides the Shannon, Ireland's major rivers include the River Liffey, River Boyne, River Lee, River Barrow, River Blackwater, River Nore, and the River Suir.

Climate

Ireland boasts a temperate climate. Countries at similar latitudes, however, tend to be a lot colder than Ireland; obvious examples of this would be Poland and Newfoundland. This is due to the North Atlantic drift, which warms the island up. The island's prevailing wind originates in the southwest. The high mountains on the west coast of Ireland effectively break that wind. For this reason, there is a lot of rain in western Ireland. Valentia Island, situated off the west coast of County Kerry, receives twice as much rainfall as the eastern side of the island. About sixty percent of Ireland's annual rainfall occurs between the months of August and January.

Ireland's coldest months are January and February; during this period, the average daily temperature falls between four and seven degrees Celsius. The warmest months of the year are July and August; during this time, the mean range falls between fourteen and sixteen degrees Celsius. Ireland gets the most sun in the months of May and June, during which the sun shines for as much as seven hours per day. There are very few extreme weather conditions in Ireland, when compared to countries in Continental Europe. Some of these exceptions occur in the winter months - between December and February - when windstorms come to the Western coastal counties. In the summer months, extreme thunderstorms occasionally hit the middle and western parts of Ireland.

Environmental Elements

Ireland's lowland consists largely of limestone, which is covered with glacial deposits of sand and clay. There are numerous lakes and bogs, the largest of which is the Bog of Allen. Ireland's coastal mountains vary a great deal in their geological structures. In the south, they are largely made of old red sandstone with limestone river valleys. The northeast of the country consists mainly of a basalt plateau, while many of the country's other major mountains consist largely of granite. Approximately fifty million years ago, volcanic activity caused the basalt formation known as Giant's Causeway, which is situated in County Antrim. Originally, the basalts formed part of the Thulean Plateau, the formation of which occurred during the Paleogene period.

As Ireland became an island shortly after the last Ice Age, it has fewer animal and plant species than Great Britain and Continental Europe. There are many different habitat types on the island, however, including farmland, open woodland, conifer plantations, peat bogs, temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, and numerous coastal habitats.

There are twenty-six land mammal species native to Ireland. Some of these include the red fox, badger, and hedgehog. Some of the less common ones include the Irish hare, pine marten, and red deer.

Forests cover about nine percent of the island. Ireland boasts many different species of wild flower.

Over the years, intensive agriculture has placed a lot of pressure on Ireland's biodiversity. The government is now making reforms in an effort to reverse the damage.

Demographics

Ireland consists of four provinces and thirty-two counties. The provinces are Ulster, Connacht, Munster, and Leinster. Six of the nine counties that form Ulster form Northern Ireland; the other twenty-six make up the Republic of Ireland.

Twenty of the Republic of Ireland's counties are considered to be units of local government. Northern Ireland had a major administrative re-organization occur in the year 1973, during which time twenty-six single tier districts replaced the country's six traditional counties and two county boroughs.

Ireland has a total population of approximately six million. Most people reside on the east coast, particularly in the main cities of Dublin (Republic of Ireland) and Belfast (Northern Ireland), and the areas surrounding them.

Population density map of Ireland.

In recent years, due to an increase in salaries and quality of living, Ireland has experienced a wave of emigration. Many of the emigrants are coming from the newest European Union countries, such as Poland and Romania. Many Mainland Chinese have begun immigrating to Ireland in recent years, as well. Nigerians form the largest African population in Ireland.

The first official language of Ireland is Irish, however most people there speak English. Ireland's main immigrant languages are Chinese and Polish.

The most populous religion in Ireland is the Roman Catholic Church, which accounts for over seventy three percent of the island. Most of the remaining population belongs to one of the Protestant denominations. The largest of these is the Anglican Church of Ireland. There is a growing Muslim population in Ireland, thanks to a recent influx of emigrants. Ireland has a tiny Jewish population, which has been declining in number in recent years. Approximately four percent of Ireland's denizens describe themselves as having no religion.

Economic Development and Trade

Under the government of W.T. Cosgrave, Ireland pursued a low tax, non-interventionist approach throughout the 1920s and early 1930s. The main area of focus during this period was on agriculture - particularly livestock farming. In the year 1932, the Fianna Fail party, under Eamonn De Valera, defeated Cosgrave's political party. De Valera advocated economic nationalism. He felt that Ireland should be self-sufficient. It was during this period that he attempted to industrialize Ireland. Free trade was abandoned, and protective tariffs were installed on nearly every manufactured product. Fianna Fail would remain in power until the year 1948. At that point, Ireland's first coalition government ousted them. Ever since then, two political parties - Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, have dominated Irish political life. The former of these two parties is noted for being less interventionist when it comes to the economy. In the 1970s and early 1980s, Ireland was hit by major economic problems, including two oil crises, a series of bank strikes, poor relations in the industrial sector, and runaway inflation. Then, in the mid-90s, Ireland experienced an economic boom that would come to be known as the Celtic Tiger. By the year 2005, Ireland was voted by Economist Magazine as the best place to live in the world in terms of quality of life. Whereas Ireland was once a point of emigration, today it is a center of immigration, with thousands of people flocking there from across the EU, attracted by the high salaries and high quality of life.

Major Social and Economic Problems

Throughout the years, poverty and homelessness have been major problems in Ireland. Even today, despite the growing economy and the vast improvements in quality of life, there are still an estimated five thousand homeless people in Ireland, about half of which reside in Dublin.

Poverty first became a major problem during the Great Potato Famine, which lasted from 1845 to 1849. Then, in the twentieth century, the economic recession of 1980 led to many people losing their homes and going hungry. By 1985, over a quarter of Ireland's children lived in impoverished households. That number had dropped to 6.5% by 2001.

It is believed that Ireland's previous problems with poverty could be traced back to its high fertility rate. As a strong Catholic country, contraception was banned for many years. At the same time, women were not allowed to work after getting married. For this reason, families grew larger, yet only had one source of income to rely on.

In the 1980s recession, high unemployment meant that families had a tough time providing for their children's basic needs. In the educational system, a lot of students dropped out during this period.

In the 1990s, the poverty level had dropped to 14.5%. By 2001, however, it had risen to twenty-two percent.