The Teddybear's Head A good way to remember the geography click here

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 The Teddy Bear's Head 
 Brian Warfield
                                      On the outskirts of Europe in the Atlantic so dear 
                                     There´s a country called old Ireland that looks like a teddy bear 
                                      It´s an island that´s split in two - with a border in her head 
                                     Her face and tail are all her own but her brains are foreign land 

                                        So its here´s up the rebels get back our teddy´s head 
                                     Her face and tail are all her own but her brains are foreign land. 

                                          Her face is o'er in Donegal her brains are in Belfast 
                                     Her arms outstreched in Galway for the friends that do go past 
                                         Her hair is on the North Coast in Derry, Antrim, Down 
                                    I am sure this head would be better off without the bloody crown 

                                       Her Back Bone´s on the East Coast from Dublin to Dundalk 
                                      Her legs and feet in Kerry they have shoes that never walked 
                                    Her backside´s from Cork to Wexford her heart is in the Midlands 
                                       We´re facing towards America with our ***** to England 

                                            So listen proud Brittania to what I say to you 
                                    Would you like it if your head was owned by someone quite untrue 
                                        And they planted foreign fleas to mix in with your breed 
                                     Before another year had passed you´d never know your creed
 

-recorded by the Wolfe Tones

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In A  Nutshell: 

The Republic of Southern Ireland:
(northern Ireland soon...)
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Location: 53 00 N, 8 00 W -- Western Europe, occupying five-sixths of the island of Ireland in the
North Atlantic Ocean, west of Great Britain 

Flag
Description: three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and orange; similar to the flag of
Cote d'Ivoire, which is shorter and has the colors reversed - orange (hoist side), white, and green;
also similar to the flag of Italy, which is shorter and has colors of green (hoist side), white, and red 

Geography

Location: Western Europe, occupying five-sixths 
of the island of Ireland in the North Atlantic
Ocean, west of Great Britain 
Geographic coordinates: 53 00 N, 8 00 W 
Map references: Europe 

Area: 
total area: 70,280 sq km 
land area: 68,890 sq km 
comparative area: slightly larger than West Virginia 

Land boundaries:
total: 360 km 
border country: UK 360 km 
Coastline: 1,448 km 

Maritime claims:
continental shelf: not specified 
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm 
territorial sea: 12 nm 

International disputes: Northern Ireland
question with the UK; Rockall continental shelf dispute
involving Denmark, Iceland, and the UK
(Ireland and the UK have signed a boundary
agreement in
the Rockall area) 

Climate: temperate maritime; modified by North Atlantic Current; mild winters, cool summers;
consistently humid; overcast about half the time 

Terrain: mostly level to rolling interior plain
surrounded by rugged hills and low mountains;
sea cliffs
on west coast 
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m 
highest point: Carrauntoohill 1,041 m 

Natural resources: zinc, lead, natural gas, petroleum, barite, copper, gypsum, limestone, dolomite,
peat, silver 

Land use: 
arable land: 14% 
permanent crops: 0% 
meadows and pastures: 71% 
forest and woodland: 5% 
other: 10% 
Irrigated land: NA sq km 

Environment:
current issues: water pollution, especially of lakes, from agricultural runoff 

international agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Climate Change,
Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer
Protection, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands, Whaling;
signed, but not ratified - Air Pollution-Sulphur
94, Biodiversity, Desertification, Endangered Species, 
Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation 

Geographic note: strategic location on major air and
sea routes between North America and
northern Europe; over 40% of the population resides
within 60 miles of Dublin 

People

Population: 3,566,833 (July 1996 est.) 

Age structure:
0-14 years: 23% (male 424,558; female 402,062) 
15-64 years: 65% (male 1,175,383; female 1,157,960) 
65 years and over: 12% (male 173,150;
female 233,720) (July 1996 est.) 

Population growth rate: -0.22% (1996 est.) 
Birth rate: 13.22 births/1,000 population (1996 est.) 
Death rate: 8.93 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.) 
Net migration rate: -6.46 migrant(s)/1,000 population 
(1996 est.) 
Sex ratio: 
at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female 
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 
65 years and over: 0.74 male(s)/female 
all ages: 0.99 male(s)/female (1996 est.) 
Infant mortality rate: 6.4 deaths/1,000 live births 
(1996 est.) 
Life expectancy at birth: 
total population: 75.58 years 
male: 72.88 years 
female: 78.46 years (1996 est.) 

Total fertility rate: 1.83 children born/woman
(1996 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 

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and 
write (1981 est.) 
total population: 98% 
male: NA% 
female: NA% 

Government

Name of country: Ireland 
Data code: EI 

Type of government: republic 

Capital: Dublin 
Administrative divisions: 26 counties; Carlow, 
Cavan, Clare, Cork, Donegal, Dublin, Galway,
Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, 
Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan,
Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, Waterford,
Westmeath, Wexford, Wicklow 

Independence: 6 December 1921 (from UK) 

National holiday: Saint Patrick's Day, 17 March 

Constitution: 29 December 1937; adopted 1 July 1937 by plebiscite 

Legal system: based on English common law, 
substantially modified by indigenous concepts;
judicial review of legislative acts in Supreme Court;
has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction 

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal 

Executive branch: 
chief of state: President nominated by
the House of Representatives and appointed 
by the president 

cabinet: Cabinet was appointed by president with previous nomination of the prime minister and
approval of the House of Representatives 

Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament (Oireachtas) 

Senate (Seanad Eireann): 

House of Representatives (Dail Eireann): 
Judicial branch: Supreme Court, judges appointed by the president on the advice of the
government (prime minister and cabinet) 

Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission: Ambassador
chancery: 2234 Massachusetts Avenue NW, 
Washington, DC 20008 
telephone: [1] (202) 462-3939 
consulate(s) general: Boston, Chicago, New York, 
and San Francisco 

US diplomatic representation: 
chief of mission: Ambassador 
embassy: 42 Elgin Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 
mailing address: use embassy street address 
telephone: [353] (1) 6688777 
FAX: [353] (1) 6689946 
\
Economy

Economic overview: The economy is small and trade dependent. Agriculture, once the most
important sector, is now dwarfed by industry, 
which accounts for 38% of GDP, about 80% of
exports, and employs 28% of the labor force.
Although exports remain the primary engine for
Ireland's robust growth, the economy is also
benefiting from a rise in consumer spending and
recovery in both construction and business
investment. Ireland has substantially reduced its external
debt since 1987, to 40% of GDP in 1994. Over the same period, inflation has fallen sharply and
chronic trade deficits have been transformed into annual surpluses. Unemployment remains a serious
problem, however, and job creation is the main focus of government policy. To ease unemployment,
Dublin aggressively courts foreign investors and recently created a new industrial development
agency to aid small indigenous firms. Government 
assistance is constrained by Dublin's continuing
deficit reduction measures. 
GDP: purchasing power parity - $54.6 billion (1995 est.) 
GDP real growth rate: 7% (1995 est.) 
GDP per capita: $15,400 (1995 est.) 
GDP composition by sector: 
agriculture: 6.8% 
industry: 35.3% 
services: 57.9% (1994) 
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.8% (1995 est.) 
Labor force: 1.37 million 
by occupation: services 57.0%, manufacturing 
and construction 28%, agriculture, forestry, and
fishing 13.5%, energy and mining 1.5% (1992) 
Unemployment rate: 13.5% (1995 est.) 
Budget: 
revenues: $19.3 billion 
expenditures: $20.3 billion, including capital
expenditures of $3.6 billion (1994) 
Industries: food products, brewing, textiles, 
clothing, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, machinery,
transportation equipment, glass and crystal 
Industrial production growth rate: 8.9% (1995 est.) 
Electricity: 
capacity: 3,930,000 kW 
production: 14.9 billion kWh 
consumption per capita: 3,938 kWh (1993) 
Agriculture: turnips, barley, potatoes, sugar beets, 
wheat; meat and dairy products 
Illicit drugs: transshipment point for hashish from
North Africa to the UK and Netherlands 
Exports: $29.9 billion (f.o.b., 1994) 
commodities: chemicals, data processing equipment,
industrial machinery, live animals, animal
products 
partners: EU 73% (UK 27%, Germany 14%,
France 9%), US 9% 
Imports: $25.3 billion (c.i.f., 1994) 
commodities: food, animal feed, data processing 
equipment, petroleum and petroleum products,
machinery, textiles, clothing 
partners: EU 58% (UK 36%, Germany 7%, 
France 4%), US 18% 
External debt: $19.5 billion (1994 est.) 
Economic aid: 
donor: ODA, $81 million (1993) 
Currency: 1 Irish pound (£Ir) = 100 pence 
Exchange rates: Irish pounds (£Ir) per US$1 -
0.6315 (January 1996), 0.6235 (1995), 0.6676
(1994), 0.6816 (1993), 0.5864 (1992), 0.6190 (1991) 
Fiscal year: calendar year 

Transportation
Railways: 
total: 1,944 km 
broad gauge: 1,944 km 1.600-m gauge 
(37 km electrified; 485 km double track) (1995) 
Highways: 
total: 92,327 km 
paved: 86,787 km (including 32 km of expressways) 
unpaved: 5,540 km (1992 est.) 
Waterways: limited for commercial traffic 
Pipelines: natural gas 225 km 
Ports: Arklow, Cork, Drogheda, Dublin, Foynes, Galway, Limerick, New Ross, Waterford 
Merchant marine: 
total: 42 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 129,027 GRT/155,371 DWT 
ships by type: bulk 4, cargo 27, chemical tanker 1,
container 3, oil tanker 2, short-sea passenger 3,
specialized tanker 2 (1995 est.) 
Airports: 
total: 40 
with paved runways over 3 047 m: 1 
with paved runways 2 438 to 3 047 m: 1 
with paved runways 1 524 to 2 437 m: 3 
with paved runways 914 to 1 523 m: 3 
with paved runways under 914 m: 29 
with unpaved runways 914 to 1 523 m: 3 (1995 est.) 
Communications

Telephones: 900,000 (1987 est.) 
Telephone system: modern digital system using cable and microwave radio relay 
domestic: microwave radio relay 
international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat 
(Atlantic Ocean) 
Radio broadcast stations: AM 9, FM 45, shortwave 0 
Radios: 2.2 million (1991 est.) 
Television broadcast stations: 86 (1987 est.) 
Televisions: 1.025 million (1990 est.) 

Defense

Branches: Army (includes Naval Service and Air Corps), National Police (Garda Siochana) 
Manpower availability: 
males age 15-49: 939,237 
males fit for military service: 761,048 
males reach military age (17) annually: 35,904
(1996 est.) 

Defense expenditures: exchange rate conversion - 
$618 million, 1.3% of GDP (1994) 

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