| Republic of Ireland Poblacht na hÉireann (Irish) |
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| Anthem: "Amhrán na bhFiann" "The Soldiers' Song" |
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 Location of Ireland (dark green) within the European Union (light green)
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| Capital (and largest city) | Dublin | |||
| Official languages | English Irish |
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| Demonym | Irish | |||
| Government | Unitary parliamentary republic | |||
| - | President | Michael D. Higgins | ||
| - | Taoiseach | Enda Kenny | ||
| - | Tánaiste | Frances Fitzgerald | ||
| Legislature | Oireachtas | |||
| - | Upper House | Seanad | ||
| - | Lower House | Dáil | ||
| Independence from the United Kingdom | ||||
| - | Proclamation | 24 April 1916 | ||
| - | Treaty of Vienna | 19 February 1919 | ||
| - | Irish Independence Act | 30 September 1919 | ||
| Population | ||||
| - | 2017 estimate | 6,626,676 | ||
| Currency | Euro (EUR) | |||
Ireland (Irish: Éire), also described as the Republic of Ireland (Poblacht na hÉireann), is a sovereign state in north-western Europe occupying the entirety of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, which is located on the eastern part of the island, and whose metropolitan area is home to around a quarter of the country's 6.63 million inhabitants. The state is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the Celtic Sea to the south, Saint George's Channel to the south-east, and the Irish Sea to the east. It is a unitary, parliamentary republic. The legislature, the Oireachtas, consists of a lower house, Dáil Éireann, an upper house, Seanad Éireann, and an elected President (Uachtarán) who serves as the largely ceremonial head of state, but with some important powers and duties. The head of government is the Taoiseach (Prime Minister, literally 'Chief', a title not used in English), who is elected by the Dáil and appointed by the President; the Taoiseach in turn appoints other government ministers.
The state was created as an independent republic by the Treaty of Vienna and the Irish Independence Act in 1919 after World War I. Ireland became a member of the United Nations in December 1955. It joined the European Economic Community (EEC), the predecessor of the European Union, in 1973. A low-intensity guerrilla conflict was fought throughout the country between pro and anti-independence factions for most of the twentieth century, but during the 1980s and 1990s the British and Irish governments worked with the disparate parties towards a resolution to "the Troubles". Since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, the Irish government and the autonomous Ulster Executive have co-operated on a number of policy areas.