Geography
Ireland is one of the British Isles and lies in the Atlantic Ocean to the west of Great Britain. The greater part of Ireland is occupied by the Central Plain. The highest mountains are Macgillicuddy’s Reeks (Carrantuohill, 1 041 m) in the south-west and the Wicklow Mountains in the east.
The main river of Ireland is the Shannon, which is an important source of hydroelectric power. Other rivers are e.g. the Boyne, the Barrow and the Suir. Irish lakes are called loughs - there are Lough Corrib, Lough Mask and Lough Conn.
Climate
The climate is typically insular , mild and wet, similar to that of UK. But Ireland is more exposed to the influence 3 of the Atlantic Ocean and warm Gulf Stream. Frequent rains most of the island earned 4 about beautiful green - consequently 5 Ireland is called ‘the Emerald isle’.
Political system
The head of this state is the President, elected by vote of the people every 7 years. The legislature is two chambers 6 The National Parliament - Oireachtas 7 - consist of two Houses. The executive is headed by the Prime Minister (the Taoiseach 8) and follows the British pattern. The Republic of Ireland is divided in 4 provinces and 26 counties.
The Republic of Ireland is bilingual 9 state - it means that the first official language is Irish (Gaelic) and the second one is English. Irish was in common use till the 17th century but than the country was anglicised by force. The Irish language is used for names of institutions (for example - the Republic of Ireland = Poblacht na hÉireann), political parties (Ourselves Alone - Sinn Féin) and geographical names (Ireland = Érie). English is spoken as a first (or mother) language by a majority of population, but there are some characteristic features 10 of the Irish accent.
