Relief:
The greater part of Ireland is occupied by the Central Plain with hills round the coasts. The higgest of the isolated mountain rangers near the coastline are Macgillicuddy´s reeks in the south- west.

Rivers and lakes:
The Shannon is the principal river of Ireland and the longest river in the British Isles.It is an important source of hydroelectric power. Most of the other rivers flow to the esastern and southern coasts: the Boyne to Drogheda, the Liffey into Dublin Bay, the Slaney into Wexford Harbour. Lakes are called loughs. They are the the principal hydrographic feature. The greatest number of lakes is in the north- west, the largest of the being Lough Corrib, Lough Mask and Lough Conn. The largest of the Shannon chain of lakes are Lough Derg, Lough Ree and Lough Allen. The lakes of Killarney in the south west tip of the island are smaller, but they are famous for their suptropical beauty.

Climate:
The climate is typically insular. Ireland is even more exposed to the influence of the Atlantic Ocean.
Ireland has warmer winters and cooler summers, more rain and less sunshine. In February - the lowest monthly average is about 5 C and August- the highest is about 15 C. Temperatures above 20 c in summer are rare. So is snow in winter.
The western coast has the highest rainfall with about 250 rainy days a year.On the east coast there are about 175 rainy days a year. The island is a beatifully green and this has earned Ireland the nick name of ‘‘the emeral isle.‘‘

Natural resources:
Ireland has little coal and iron ore, but there are large reserves of peat. Some other minerals are found in small quantities. There is very little timber because forest covers only 2 to 3 per cent of the surface.

Population and towns:
Population is over 20 milion persons of Irish.
The largest towns in the irish Republic is Dublin, which is the capital of the republic and has a population of more than ½ milion, is on the east coat. Cork on the south coast has 150,000 inhabitans. Other towns have less than 100,000inhabitans: Limerick, Galway, Dundalk...
Most country towns are small market towns with less than 5 thousand inhabitans. Religion still plays an important role in Irish life. More than 90 per cent of population are Catholics, most of the rest are Protestants.

Languages:
The Irish Republic is bilingual: 1) The Irish language ( or Gaelic ), is the first official language of the Republic. 2) English is recognized as a second oficial language.
The Irish language is used for names of Goverment institution. Irish names are used for the Irish bourgeois nationalis political parties. Irish proper names of persons are sometimes used instead of English. Most Irish geographical names are bilingual. F.e.: Eire- Ireland, Mumha- Munster
English, the second official language, is spoken as a first language by a large majority of the population. All the irish daily newspapers are printed in English. Some characteristic features of the ‘‘Irish accent ‘‘. But some phonetic phonema are peculiar to the Irish republic.