Northern Ireland, province, part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, situated in the north-eastern portion of the island of Ireland. Northern Ireland is bounded on the north and north-east by the North Channel, on the south-east by the Irish Sea; on the south and west it has a 488 km (303 mi) border with the Republic of Ireland. It includes Rathlin Island in the North Channel and several smaller offshore islands.

Northern Ireland is also known as Ulster, because it comprises six of the nine counties that constituted the former Irish province of Ulster. The total land area of Northern Ireland is 14,160 sq km (5,467 sq mi). Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland.


II LAND AND RESOURCES

Northern Ireland is about 135 km (85 mi) long, north to south, and about 175 km (110 mi) wide, west to east. The shoreline is characterized by numerous irregularities and is about 530 km (330 mi) long. The major indentations are Laugh Foyle in the north, and Belfast, Strangford, and Carlingford loughs in the east. The most spectacular feature of the northern coast is the Giant’s Causeway, a volcanic rock formation consisting of thousands of closely placed, polygonal pillars of black basalt.

The country consists mainly of a low, flat plain, at the approximate centre of which lies Lough Neagh (381 sq km/147 sq mi), the largest freshwater lake in the British Isles. Other important lakes are Lower Lough Erne and Upper Lough Erne. Apart from several isolated elevations, three major areas of upland are the Sperrin Mountains in the north-west and the Antrim Mountains along the north-eastern coast, which are extensions of the Scottish Highlands; and the Mourne Mountains in the south-east. The highest point in the province is Slieve Donard (852 m/2,796 ft), a peak in the Mourne Mountains.

A Rivers and Lakes

The chief rivers of Northern Ireland are the Foyle, which forms part of the western boundary with County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland and flows into Lough Foyle at Londonderry (Derry), and the Upper Bann and Lower Bann rivers. The former rises in the Mourne Mountains and empties into Lough Neagh; the latter flows out of Lough Neagh to the North Channel. Among the many other rivers are the Main, the Blackwater, the Lagan, the Erne, and the Bush. Because of the generally flat terrain, drainage is poor, and there are extensive areas of bog and marshland.

B Climate

The climate of Northern Ireland is temperate and damp throughout the year. The prevailing westerly winds from the warm Gulf Stream are largely responsible for the lack of extreme summer heat and winter cold, although there are cold winter winds in the east-coast Belfast area. The average annual temperature is approximately 10° C (50° F); temperatures average about 14.4° C (58° F) in July and about 4.4° C (40° F) in January. Rainfall is distributed evenly throughout the year. The annual precipitation frequently exceeds 1,016 mm (40 in) in the north, and is about 760 mm (30 in) in the south. The level of humidity is high.

C Natural Resources

The most valuable natural resources of Northern Ireland are its fertile soils and rich pasturelands. The chief minerals are basalt, limestone, sand and gravel, granite, chalk, clay, and shale; bauxite, iron ore, and coal also are found in small quantities. Peat is important as a fuel.

D Plants and Animals
In general, the plants and animals of Northern Ireland are similar to those of the British Isles as a whole. The only distinctive plant is a species of wild orchid, Spiranthes stricta, found in the valleys of the Upper and Lower Bann rivers. Distinctive species of animal life include the pollan, a freshwater variety of whitefish found in Lough Neagh and Lough Erne.


III POPULATION

Around two thirds of the people are the descendants of Scots or English settlers who crossed from the British mainland to north-eastern Ireland after 1607 in the Ulster Plantation. The remainder of the population is descended from the original Irish inhabitants, principally those native to the province of Ulster.
A Population Characteristics

Northern Ireland has a population (1999) of about 1,691,800, almost equally divided between urban and rural dwellers. The average population density is about 119 people per sq km (309 per sq mi), but the actual distribution of the population is very uneven; about 50 per cent of people in Northern Ireland are settled on the eastern coastal region, the centre of which is Belfast.

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