爱尔兰(Ireland)
爱尔兰语作éire
共和国，占据英国西部岛屿大部分地区，唯一邻邦是北爱尔兰。面积70,285平方公里。人口约3,823,000（2001）。首都︰都柏林。爱尔兰虽然在历史上曾先後受到塞尔特人、北欧人、诺曼人、英格兰人和苏格兰人入侵和殖民，但民族和种族差异在今日的共和国却几乎并不存在。语言：爱尔兰语和英语（均为官方语）。宗教：天主教（95%）、爱尔兰圣公会、长老会、循道宗、犹太教。货币：欧元（euro）。爱尔兰为广阔的低地区，有香农河流经。沿海为山缘。全国人口中几乎有3/5居住在城市。农业雇用了很小百分比的劳动力。采矿、制造业、建筑业、公用事业、高科技业和旅游业是重要的工业。政府形式为共和国，两院制。国家元首是总统，政府首脑为总理。
约西元前6000年，开始有人类在爱尔兰定居。塞尔特人的迁入始於西元前约300年。圣派翠克於5世纪将基督教传布到全国，深受当地人崇敬。795年，挪威人统治爱尔兰，1014年挪威人败於布莱安而告终。1171年当英格兰国王亨利二世自称是整个爱尔兰岛的最高君主时，盖尔人爱尔兰的独立随即告终。16世纪始，爱尔兰天主教地主被英国宗教迫害而逃离，取而代之的是英格兰是苏格兰的新教移民。1840年代的大饥荒导致两百万人移民他国和爱尔兰自治运动的成立动力。复活节起义（1916）其後内战（1919～1921）在天主教多数的南爱尔兰爆发，他们支持完全独立，在新教多数的北爱尔兰支持继续与不列颠联合。南爱尔兰被授予自治地位，1921年成为爱尔兰自由邦，1937年改名为爱尔兰，成为自治独立国家。第二次世界大战中保持中立。1949年不列颠承认了爱尔兰的地位，但是宣称未经北爱尔兰议会的同意，六个郡（参阅Northern Ireland）不得割让。1973年加入欧洲经济共同体（後来的欧洲共同体），现为欧洲联盟的会员。20世纪後期，主要是岛内的天主教与新教教派之间的战斗。
English version：
Ireland
Republic, occupying the greater part of an island west of England. The republic's only neighbor is Northern Ireland, which occupies the northeastern portion of the island. Area: 27,137 sq mi (70,285 sq km). Population (2000 est.): 3,783,000. Capital: Dublin. Although it has been invaded and colonized by Celts, Norsemen, Normans, English, and Scots, racial and ethnic distinctions are nonexistent. Languages: Irish, English (both official). Religions: Roman Catholicism (95%), Church of Ireland Episcopalianism, Presbyterianism, Methodism, Judaism. Monetary unit: euro. Ireland's topography consists largely of broad lowlands drained by rivers that include the Shannon; its coasts are fringed with mountains. Almost three-fifths of the population is urban, and agriculture only employs a small percentage of the workforce. Mining, manufacturing, construction, public utilities, high technology, and tourism are important industries. It is a republic with two legislative houses; its chief of state is the president, and the head of government is the prime minister. Human settlement in Ireland began c. 6000 BC, and Celtic migration dates from c. 300 BC. St. Patrick is credited with Christianizing the country in the 5th century. Norse domination began in 795 and ended in 1014, when the Norse were defeated by Brian Boru. Gaelic Ireland's independence ended in 1171 when English king Henry II proclaimed himself overlord of the island. Beginning in the 16th century, Irish Catholic landowners fled religious persecution by the English and were replaced by English and Scottish Protestant migrants. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was established in 1801. The Great Famine of the 1840s led over 2 million people to emigrate and built momentum for Irish Home Rule. The Easter Rising (1916) was followed by civil war (1919-21) between the Catholic majority in southern Ireland, who favored complete independence, and the Protestant majority in the north, who preferred continued union with Britain. Southern Ireland was granted dominion status and became the Irish Free State in 1921, and in 1937 it adopted the name éire and became a sovereign independent nation. It remained neutral during World War II. Britain recognized the status of Ireland in 1949 but declared that cession of the northern six counties (see Northern Ireland) could not occur without the consent of the Parliament of Northern Ireland. In 1973 it joined the European Economic Community (later the European Community) and is now a member of the European Union. The late 20th century was dominated by sectarian hostilities between the island's Catholics and Protestants.