Friday, May 15, 2009

Republic Of Ireland




Traditionally, the island of Ireland is subdivided into four provinces: Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster; and, in a system developed between the 13th and 17th centuries, thirty-two counties. Twenty-six of the counties are in the republic, and six counties (six of Ulster's nine counties) are in Northern Ireland. "Ulster" is often used as a synonym for Northern Ireland, although Ulster and Northern Ireland are neither synonymous nor co-extensive, according to boundaries established in the early modern period, as three counties of Ulster (Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan) are part of the republic. Counties Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford and Tipperary have been broken up into smaller administrative areas, but are still considered by Ordnance Survey Ireland to be official counties. The counties in Northern Ireland are no longer used for local government, although their traditional boundaries are still used in sports (such as Gaelic games) and in some other cultural, ceremonial or tourism contexts.

Map of all the traditional counties on the island of Ireland
Province ↓ Population ↓ Area (km²) ↓ Largest city ↓
Connacht 504,121 17,713 Galway
Leinster 2,295,123 19,774 Dublin
Munster 1,173,340 24,608 Cork
Ulster 1,993,918 24,481 Belfast

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