Ireland is a country with a rich historical past. The Irish are considered the direct descendants of the Celts, who have mastered and entrenched in the northern lands since the beginning of the second millennium BC. Their existing proto-state did not, however, occupy the entire territory of the island, but along with the population of Ireland, the borders of its possessions expanded.
It is established that the Irish are heirs to the customs, traditions, and cultural characteristics of the Celtic people. And they still successfully cope with this role, since, despite centuries of pressure and attempts at intervention by the British, they managed to maintain their originality, uniqueness, language and devotion to Catholicism.
Goals and objectives
The objectives of this article are 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 that is currently observed in this country and draw certain conclusions.
Let's turn to the history
The Celts, considered the descendants of modern Irish, are not, in fact, the very indigenous population of Ireland: they came from the Mediterranean and settled permanently on new lands. And the people who originally 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 raids of the Vikings. However, soon its territory aroused the interest of the British, in need of new lands. It makes no sense to list all the clashes between these two belligerents from century to century of nations. 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 crop failure and, as a result, famine, mass emigration, the Reformation and its persecution of Catholics, almost a third of the population died or was killed.
Moreover, English influence led to the territorial division of the island: in 1919, the northern part, Ulster, where Protestants prevailed, was recognized by Great 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, because Northern Ireland was lost. The population (the size of which was considerable due to the greater degree of development of this territory) received British citizenship.
The population dynamics of Ireland since 1801
Let's go directly to statistics and numbers. It is known that the country's maximum population was recorded during the years of Ireland's entry into the British kingdom and amounted to approximately 8.2 million. Literally a decade later, it underwent a rapid reduction and further recession until the sixties of the twentieth century.
In numbers, it looks like this: the 1850s - 6.7 million; 1910s - 4.4 million; 1960s - 2.81 million (minimum); The 1980s - 3.5 million. In the 2000s, the most active population growth was observed, associated with 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. The actual population for this year is 4, 706, 000. Experts estimate that daily the figure is increasing by 40 people, taking into account migrants and the dead. Of all European countries, Ireland boasts the highest birth rate.
Age and gender characteristics
During the last census of the country's inhabitants in April 2016, information appeared on the internal structure of the population. The following percentages were calculated:
- Firstly, it turned out that approximately equal numbers of men and women live in the country, the first literally more than 5 thousand.
- Secondly, the current age ratio was deduced: from 0 to 15 years, about 993 thousand people were recorded, starting from 16 years old and ending with the retirement age (65 years), 3.2 million residents were registered, and there were only 544 people over 66 years old thousands. Interestingly, there are approximately equal numbers of male and female residents in each age category. Moreover, the weaker sex in Ireland lives on average 3 years more than the strong (82 years and 78 years, respectively). Such a high life expectancy is explained by considerable government expenditures on health care.
National composition, language factor
In the course of the census already mentioned, it was determined which people of what 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 British influence has not weakened over the past century, and Ireland is still under pressure in all spheres of life. This is understandable, because the great historical past of England and its ambitions are known to everyone. And the population of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is ten times larger than the Irish (64.7 million), therefore, assimilation can be traced to the naked eye.
There are significant diasporas in the country of immigrants from EU countries: Germans, Poles, Latvians, Lithuanians, Romanians. A lot of citizens of the Chinese nation, immigrants from Russia, Ukraine, Nigeria, the Philippines. In general, all peoples, besides the Irish and the British, are considered national minorities and together they make up 9% of the total population.
Despite the dominance of the Irish nation in the country, not every representative speaks their own language. A great deal of work is underway to disseminate it, and the Irish has been given state status along with English. But still, the latter is still the most common on the island.
Religious issue
Initially, the Celts professed Catholicism. However, the Reformation, pursuing the mission to spread Protestantism, affected them. That is why there was a split into Northern Ireland with a Protestant population and a southern state devoted to Catholicism (there are now about 91% of the population). Nevertheless, there is now an increase in the number of Protestant families in Ireland, which worries the government.
