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Ireland is the third largest islandin Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to thenorth-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets.To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of GreatBritain. Politically, the state Ireland (described as the Republic ofIreland in cases of ambiguity) coversfive-sixths of the island, with Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom,covering the remainder in the north-east. The population of the island isslightly over 6 million (2007), with 4.4 million in the Republic of Ireland(1.7 million in Greater Dublin) and an estimated 1.75 million in NorthernIreland (800,000 in Greater Belfast). A ring of coastal mountains surrounds lowcentral plains. The highest peak is Carrauntoohil in County Kerry, which is1,038 m (3,406 ft). The River Shannon, at 386 km(240 miles) is the longest river in Ireland. The island's lush vegetation,a product of its mild climate and frequent but soft rainfall, earns it the sobriquet"Emerald Isle". The island's area is 84,412 km²(32,591 square miles). Overall, Ireland has a mild,but changeable, Oceanic climate with few extremes. The climate is typicallyinsular, and as a result of the moderating moist winds which ordinarily prevailfrom the South-Western Atlantic, it is temperate, avoiding the extremes intemperature of many other areas in the world at similar latitudes.

Ireland has for centuries been aplace of emigration, particularly to England, Scotland, the United States, Canada,and Australia, see Irish Diaspora. With growing prosperity, Ireland has becomea place of immigration instead. Since joining the EU in 2004, Polish peoplehave been the largest source of immigrants (over 150,000) from Central Europe,followed by other immigrants from Lithuania, the Czech Republic and Latvia.Ireland's high standard of living, high wage economy and EU membership attractmany migrants from the newest of the European Union countries. Ireland ismultilingual but predominantly English-speaking, with Irish, the first officiallanguage of the Republic, the second most commonly spoken language.

Ireland is a small, modern,trade-dependent economy with growth averaging 6% in 1995-2007. Agriculture,once the most important sector, is now dwarfed by industry and services.Although the exports sector, dominated by foreign multinationals, remains a keycomponent of Ireland's economy, construction has most recently fueled economicgrowth along with strong consumer spending and business investment. Though thereare no restrictions for foreigners purchasing real property in Ireland and theinvestment climate is favorable for foreign businesses, property prices haverisen more rapidly in Ireland in the decade up to 2006 than in any otherdeveloped world economy.

In 2005, Ireland was ranked thebest place to live in the world, according to a "quality of life"assessment by Economist magazine. The country's combination of increasingwealth and traditional values gives it the conditions most likely to make itspeople happy, the survey found. These conditions include health, freedom,unemployment, family life, climate, political stability and security, genderequality and family and community life.