Ireland (; Irish: Éire) is the third largest island in Europe. It lies in between the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea. Politically it is divided into the Republic of Ireland (officially named Ireland), a state which covers five-sixths of the island (south, east, west and north-west), and Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom, which covers the northeastern sixth of the island. CIA World Factbook www.cia.gov The name 'Ireland' derives from the Anglo-Saxon mispronunciation of Ériu (Modern Irish:Éire) with the addition of the germanic 'land' suffix, and means 'land of Ériu'.

The population of the island is approximately 5.8 million people (2001); 4.0 million in the Republic of Ireland (1.5 million in Greater Dublin Population of the Greater Dublin Area to reach 2 million by 2021 www.cso.ie) and 1.7 million in Northern Ireland Home Population and Components of Change, 2004 estimates Demography and Methodology Branch, NISRA - Excel file (0.6 million in Greater Belfast).

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