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Ireland (Irish Éire), country in northwestern Europe occupying most of the island of Ireland, the second largest of the British Isles. The Republic of Ireland lies to the west of Great Britain, the largest island in the archipelago. It is separated from Great Britain to the east by the North Channel and the Irish Sea, and to the southeast by Saint George’s Channel. The western and southern shores of Ireland meet the North Atlantic Ocean. Ireland’s only land border is with Northern Ireland, a province of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, to the northeast. Ireland has an area of 27,133 sq mi. The capital and largest city is Dublin.

Ireland’s vivid green landscapes have earned it the title Emerald Isle. Traditionally, most Irish people made their living farming the land. Since the 1950s, energetic industrialization policies have promoted manufacturing, which, along with services, now dominates Ireland’s economy. In 1973 Ireland was admitted into the European Community (EC), and it is now a member of the European Union (EU). Since the 1960s Ireland has undergone a period of vigorous economic growth and rapid social change.

Between the 12th and 17th centuries, England gradually extended its control over Ireland. Ireland became an integral part of the United Kingdom by the Act of Union of 1800. In the 1840s the Irish potato crop, a staple food, was destroyed by disease, leading to a great famine that killed nearly 1 million people and forced many others to leave their homeland. During the late 19th century a movement for Irish independence gathered momentum, and after a bitter war the United Kingdom agreed to partition the island. In 1921 the northeastern portion of Ireland became Northern Ireland, a province of the United Kingdom. The remainder of Ireland became self-governing in 1922 with the establishment of the Irish Free State, a dominion within the British Commonwealth of Nations.

In 1937 the Free State’s name changed to Éire (pronounced AIR-uh, a Gaelic word for Ireland) after the adoption of a new constitution by popular vote. In 1949, following passage of the Republic of Ireland Act, Ireland severed its links to the British Commonwealth and declared itself a republic. Today, the country is commonly referred to as the Republic of Ireland to set it apart from Northern Ireland. Ireland has sought to promote the eventual reunification of the island of Ireland.

Ireland has a maritime temperate climate with little seasonal or regional variation due to the moderating influence of the Gulf Stream, which brings warm, moist winds from the Atlantic Ocean. The average winter temperature ranges from 40° to 45°F, approximately 25 Fahrenheit degrees higher than that of most other places in the same latitude in the interior of Europe or on the eastern coast of North America. The oceanic influence is also pronounced in the summer; the average summer temperature of Ireland ranges from 59° to 62°F, or about 7 Fahrenheit degrees lower than that of most other places in the same latitudes. Rainfall averages 40 in annually, although regional variation is significant, with more than twice as much rain falling in the west as in the east. The sunniest part of the country is the southeast.