 Ireland
Introduction
Land and Resources
Economy
Population
Goverment
History
Things to see
Ireland in Europe
Dublin
Short
History
Important People
A guided tour
Lifestyle
Art
Music
Sports Heroes
Nightlife
Fashion
Education
General
Information
To school in Ireland
Crumlin College
Introduction
Departments
Meet
the students
Meet
the teachers
Lingua E
The J.E.P.
Diary
of a visit to
Belgium
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Population
Ireland has been inhabited since Stone Age times. For more than five thousand years peoples moving westwards across the European continent have settled in the country and each new group of immigrants, Celts, Vikings, Normans, English, has contributed to its present population. In 1841, shortly before the Great Famine, the area comprising the present Irish State had a population of over 6.5 million. The next census (1851) showed a massive decline to 5.1 million for the same area, due to deaths from starvation and disease and large-scale emigration.
Currently Ireland has a population of 5 million, 3.7 of them live in the Republic of Ireland. Two thirds of Irelands population live in cities or large towns, with 1.2 million living in Dublin. Overall the population of Ireland is quite young with 41% been under the age of 25 and 24% under the age of 15.
The major centres of population are Dublin (1,200,000), Cork (174,000), Limerick (75,000), Galway (51,000), Waterford (42,000), and Dundalk (30,000). 59% of the population live in cities and towns of 1,000 people or more. Overall population density is 51 persons per square kilometre with large variations between the east and south, where densities are highest, and the less populous west of the country.
General Facts and Figures
Population:
5,162,535 (1996 est.)
Population growth rate:
0.26% (1993 est.)
Birth rate:
14.39 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate:
8.71 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Net migration rate:
-3.13 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
7.6 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 75.38 years
male: 72.56 years
female: 78.36 years (1993 est.)
Total fertility rate:
2.02 children born/woman (1993 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Irishman(men), Irishwoman(men), Irish (collective plural)
adjective: Irish
Ethnic divisions:
Celtic, English
Religions:
Roman Catholic 93%, Anglican 3%, none 1%, unknown 2%, other 1% (1981)
Languages:
Irish (Gaelic), spoken mainly in areas located along the western seaboard,
English is the language generally used.
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