The population of Ireland: history, features, composition and strength

Ireland is a country with a rich historical past. The Irish are considered to be the direct descendants of the Celts, who settled down and settled on the northern lands with the beginning of the second millennium BC. Their established proto-state, however, did not occupy the whole territory of the island, but in parallel with the growth of the population of Ireland, the boundaries of its possessions also expanded.

It is established that the Irish are the heirs of the customs, traditions, features of the culture of the Celtic people. And with this role they have been successfully coping so far, because, despite centuries of pressure and attempts at intervention by the British, they managed to maintain their identity, uniqueness, language and devotion to Catholicism.

Goals and objectives

The objectives of this article - to analyze how the population of Ireland in the course of history has changed in quantitative and qualitative terms, to trace the dependence of its changes on historical processes. In addition, it is worth considering the demographic situation, which is currently observed in this country, to draw certain conclusions.

Let's turn to history

Celts, considered descendants of modern Irish, in fact, not quite indigenous people of Ireland: they came from the Mediterranean and permanently settled on new lands. And originally people who lived on the island were expelled by them from there.

Large-scale external threats and cataclysms in Ireland were not noted until the twelfth century, except for the rare viking raids. However, soon its territory evokes the interest of the English, who need new lands. It is pointless to list all the clashes between these two warring nations from century to century. In 1801, England conquered and finally subjugated the Irish lands, including them in the British kingdom. The consequences of this event are sad: by the middle of the 19th century, due to a crop failure and, as a result, famine, mass emigration, Reformation with its persecution of Catholics, almost a third of the population died or was killed.

Moreover, British influence led to the territorial division of the island: in 1919 the northern part, Ulster, where Protestants prevailed, recognized Britain. And the Catholic population of Ireland remained to live in a sovereign separate state with the same name and capital in the city of Dublin. Naturally, this division was reflected in demographic indicators, in fact Northern Ireland was lost . The population (whose number was considerable due to the greater degree of development of this territory) it received British citizenship.

The dynamics of the population of Ireland since 1801

Let's go directly to statistics and figures. It is known that the maximum population of the country was recorded during the years of Ireland's entry into the British Kingdom and amounted to approximately 8.2 million. Literally after a decade, it underwent a rapid contraction and further recession until the sixties of the twentieth century.

In figures it looks as follows: 1850s - 6.7 million; 1910s - 4.4 million; 1960s - 2.81 million (minimum); 1980s - 3.5 million. In the 2000s, the most active population growth was observed, due to both increasing natural growth and stable immigration. Therefore, in the first decade of the 21st century, the number of people increased from 3.8 to 4.5 million people. The actual population for this year is 4,706,000. Specialists have calculated that the daily figure is increased by 40 people, taking into account migrants and deceased. Of all European countries, Ireland boasts the highest birth rate.

Age and Sexual Characteristics

During the last census of the inhabitants of the country in April 2016, information appeared about the internal structure of the population. The following percentages were calculated:

• Firstly, it turned out that approximately equal number of men and women live in the country, the first more literally by 5 thousand.
• Secondly, the actual age ratio was deduced: from 0 to 15 years, about 993 thousand people were registered, from the age of 16 to the retirement age (65 years), 3.2 million people were registered, and people over 66 were only 544 Thousands. Interestingly, the inhabitants of the male and female sex in each age category are approximately equal. And the weak sex in Ireland lives on average 3 years more than the strong (82 years and 78 years respectively). This high life expectancy is explained by the government's considerable expenditure on health.

National composition, language factor

In the course of the census already mentioned, it was determined which people of the nationalities inhabit the island. It is logical that the majority of citizens are Irish (88% of them). The second in the ranking are the British (3%). By the way, the influence of the British has not weakened over the past century, and Ireland still has pressure in all spheres of life. This is understandable, because the great historical past of England and its ambitions are known to all. And the population of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is ten times more Irish (64.7 million), so assimilation can be traced to the naked eye.

There are also significant diasporas of immigrants from the EU countries: Germans, Poles, Latvians, Lithuanians, Romanians. A lot of citizens of the Chinese nation, natives of Russia, Ukraine, Nigeria, the Philippines. In general, all the people, in addition to the Irish and English, are considered as national minorities and together they constitute 9% of the total population.

Despite the dominance of the Irish nation in the country, not all its representatives speak their own language. Now a lot of work is being done to spread it, and the Irish state is granted state status along with English. But still the last is still the most common on the island.

Religious question

Initially, the Celts professed Catholicism. However, the Reformation, which pursued the mission of spreading Protestantism, affected them as well. That is why there was a split in Northern Ireland with the Protestant population and a southern state devoted to Catholicism (they are now about 91% of the population). Nevertheless, there is now a growing number of Protestant families in Ireland, which is alarming to the government.

Additional indicators

It is necessary to determine yet another demographic feature, which Ireland has - the density of the population. Due to the fact that the western regions of the country are less developed and developed than the northern lands, people unevenly populate the territory of the island. But the average population density is about 66-67 people per square kilometer. It should be noted that in megacities (Dublin, Cork, Limerick), it is much larger. For example, in Dublin, on one square kilometer, up to 4,000 people are concentrated.

Irish almost literally literate (about 97%), and young people are really interested in higher education (75% of the number of young people - students).

In general, the population of Ireland is growing successfully every year, and the country is developing a rather favorable demographic situation, when the birth rate exceeds the death rate. In the forecasts, the indicators will only improve: it is assumed that in a hundred years the population will pass the mark of 6 million, and the life expectancy will be at least 90 years.