Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Politically, the Irish people are split between the Republic of Ireland to the south
(with 4.5 million people and 80 percent of the land) and Northern Ireland (with 1.8
million people). Northern Ireland is a province of the United Kingdom—like Scotland or
Wales—while the Republic is an independent nation with its own seat at the UN...stuck
alphabetically between Iraq and Israel. The island is further quartered into four provinces
(Leinster, Munster, Connaught, and Ulster) and 32 counties (26 in the Republic and six in
the North), each with its own identity and regional pride.
