THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

Ireland is one of the islands located at the west of the coasts of the United Kingdom. Its surface is of approximately 70 292 km² and it comprises 4,2 billions of inhabitants, there are more sheep than the human ones! Its capital is Dublin, and the culminating point is the mount Carrantuohill (1032m). The official language of Ireland is Irish, but the most spoken language is, by far, English. Its name gaelic is “Eire”. It probably comes from the name of Eriu, a former Irish goddess.
These is a country which has many lakes. The hottest months of the year are July and August, although the temperatures are included only enters 14°C and 16°C. The most cold months are January and February, nevertheless, the temperatures seldom go down in lower part from 4°C, and snow and freezing are very rare.
During the winter, the country is at the hour of the meridian line of Greenwich, but during the summer, it precedes it for one hour.

HISTORY
The first populations had to arrive to Ireland at the 7th millenium before J.Christ. After the Celts, the vickings attacked and colonized this ground. the Anglo-Normans arrived then, and then colonized this country with a great success, but became finally as Irish as Irish them-even. In 1921, after large demonstrations in 1916, Ireland of the south gained its independence, whereas Northern Ireland remains still part of the United Kingdom.

CULTURE The national flag of Ireland is called An Bhratach Naisitunta by Irish. It was created in 1922, and became the official flag of the constitution of Ireland in 1932. The idea of the Tricolour comes from the French flag and goes back to the French revolution.
It was a long time interdict in the north of the island, which was dominated by English.
The color green is the emblematic color of the catholics, the white is a symbol of peace, and orange represents a victory of the Protestants.

The pubs are very important for Irish, like their most known drink