Ireland ; Irish: ire ; Ulster-Scots: Airlann ) is an island in the North Atlantic. Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth.
Politically, Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland , which covers five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom.
The geography of Ireland comprises relatively low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain, with several navigable rivers extending inland. Today, woodland makes up about 10% of the island, compared with a European average of over 33%, and winters are milder than expected for such a northerly area, although summers are cooler than those in continental Europe.
The earliest evidence of human presence in Ireland is dated at 10,500 BCE . Gaelic Ireland had emerged by the 1st century CE. However, English rule did not extend over the whole island until the 16th17th century Tudor conquest, which led to colonisation by settlers from Britain.In the 1690s, a system of Protestant English rule was designed to materially disadvantage the Catholic majority and Protestant dissenters, and was extended during the 18th century.The island’s culture shares many features with that of Great Britain, including the English language, and sports such as association football, rugby, horse racing, and golf.
