IRELAND
(Republic of Ireland)

Capital: Dublin (Bale of At Kliat)

Flag: national flag represents a tricolor of green, white and orange vertical strips.

ANTHEM: Amhran na bhFiann (Song by the soldier).

MONETARY BLOCK: euro replaced Irish пунт as official currency in 2002. Euro is divided into 100 cents. There are coins of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents and 1 euro and 2 euros. There are notes from 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 euros. €1 = $1.25475 (or $1 = €0.79697) as of 2005.

WEIGHT AND MEASURES: since 1988 Ireland substantially passed from the British system of scales and measures to metric system.

HOLIDAYS: New year, on January 1; St. Patrick's Day, on March 17; Holidays of bank, 1 Monday in June, 1 Monday in August and last Monday of October; Christmas, on December 25; Day of Saint Stephen, on December 26. Moveable religious feasts include Good Friday and Easter Monday.

TIME: GMT.

ARRANGEMENT, SIZE AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The island in east part of Northern Atlantic directly to the west from the United Kingdom, on the continental shelf of Europe, Ireland occupies the space in 70 280 sq.km (27 135 quarter. Miles). Rather, the territory occupied by Ireland is a little more, than in the State of West Virginia. Length of the island is 486 km (302 miles) nanosecond, and its width is 275 km (171 miles). The Irish republic is limited to the northern channel separating it from Scotland; on the North of Northern Ireland; and also across the Irish Sea and Saint Georgy's channel which separate him from England and Wales. In w, from the North on the South, the coast it is washed by the Atlantic Ocean.
The Irish capital, Dublin, is located on the coast of the Irish Sea.

TOPOGRAPHY

Ireland is the calcareous plateau which is planted trees and shrubs by coastal uplands of various geological structure. The central plain which is characterized by many lakes, swamps and the scattered low ridges averages about 90 m above sea level. The main ridges include the Mountains of Wicklow in the east and the Makgillidddi River in the southwest. The highest peaks - Karrantuokhill (1,041 m / 3,414 feet) and the mountain. Brandon (953 m / 3,127 feet), near Killarni and in 64 km (40 miles) to the south from Dublin, Lugnakvilya (926 m / 3,039 feet).

The coastline 1 448 km long (900 miles) strongly contracts along the southern and western coasts where Ridges Donegal, Mayo and Muenster come to an end with fat capes and rocky islands, forming long narrow fyordsky entrances or wide bays. On the southern coast the drowned river channels created deep natural harbors. On east coast few good harbors.

The most important of many rivers is Shannon who rises in mountains along border of Ulster and exhausts the central plain when it flows on 370 km (230 miles) to Atlantic to which it flows down through wide the mouth of nearly 110 km (70 mi) long. Other important rivers - Boyn, Suir, Liffi, Sleyni, Kurgan, Blackwater, Li and Nora.