location on major air and sea routes between North America
and northern Europe; over 40% of the population resides within 100
km of Dublin

People
Ireland

Population:

4,156,119 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 20.9% (male 448,333/female 418,476)
15-64 years: 67.3% (male 1,400,222/female 1,398,194)
65 years and over: 11.8% (male 218,459/female 272,435) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 34.6 years
male: 33.9 years
female: 35.4 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

1.133% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

14.33 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

7.77 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:

4.76 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.8 male(s)/female
total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 5.14 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 5.63 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 4.61 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 78.07 years
male: 75.44 years
female: 80.88 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate:

1.85 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

0.1% (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

2,800 (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

fewer than 100 (2003 est.)

Nationality:

noun: Irishman(men), Irishwoman(women), Irish (collective plural)
adjective: Irish

Ethnic groups:

Irish 87.4%, other white 7.5%, Asian 1.3%, black 1.1%, mixed 1.1%,
unspecified 1.6% (2006 census)

Religions:

Roman Catholic 87.4%, Church of Ireland 2.9%, other Christian 1.9%,
other 2.1%, unspecified 1.5%, none 4.2% (2006 census)

Languages:

English (official) is the language generally used, Irish (Gaelic or
Gaeilge) (official) spoken mainly in areas located along the western
seaboard

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99%
male: 99%
female: 99% (2003 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):

total: 18 years
male: 17 years
female: 18 years (2006)

Education expenditures:

4.7% of GDP (2005)

Government
Ireland

Country name:

conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Ireland
local long form: none
local short form: Eire

Government type:

republic, parliamen