Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares an open border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland. At the 2021 census, its population was 1,903,175, making up around 3% of the UK's population and 27% of the population on the island of Ireland. The Northern Ireland Assembly, established by the Northern Ireland Act 1998, holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters, while other areas are reserved for the UK Government. The government of Northern Ireland cooperates with the government of Ireland in several areas under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. The Republic of Ireland also has a consultative role on non-devolved governmental matters through the British–Irish Governmental Conference (BIIG). Northern Ireland was created in 1921, when Ireland was partitioned by the Government of Ireland Act 1920, creating a devolved government for the six northeastern counties. As was intended by unionists and their supporters in Westminster, Northern Ireland had a unionist majority, who wanted to remain in the United Kingdom; they were generally the Protestant descendants of colonists from Britain. Meanwhile, the majority in Southern Ireland (which became the Irish Free State in 1922), and a significant minority in Northern Ireland, were Irish nationalists (generally Catholics) who wanted a united independent Ireland. Today, the former generally see themselves as British and the latter generally see themselves as Irish, while a Northern Irish or Ulster identity is claimed by a significant minority from all backgrounds. The creation of Northern Ireland was accompanied by violence both in defence of and against partition. During The Troubles in Ulster (1920–1922), the capital Belfast saw major communal violence, mainly between Protestant unionist and Catholic nationalist civilians. More than 500 were killed and more than 10,000 became refugees, mostly Catholics. For the next fifty years, Northern Ireland had an unbroken series of Unionist Party governments. There was informal mutual segregation by both communities, and the Unionist governments were accused of discrimination against the Irish nationalist and Catholic minority. In the late 1960s, a campaign to end discrimination against Catholics and nationalists was opposed by loyalists, who saw it as a republican front. This unrest sparked the Troubles, a thirty-year conflict involving republican and loyalist paramilitaries and state forces, which claimed over 3,500 lives and injured 50,000 others. The 1998 Good Friday Agreement was a major step in the peace process, including paramilitary disarmament and security normalisation, although sectarianism and segregation remain major social problems, and sporadic violence has continued. The economy of Northern Ireland was the most industrialised in Ireland at the time of partition, but soon began to decline, exacerbated by the political and social turmoil of the Troubles. Its economy has grown significantly since the late 1990s. Unemployment in Northern Ireland peaked at 17.2% in 1986, but dropped back down to below 10% in the 2010s, similar to the rate of the rest of the UK. Cultural links between Northern Ireland, the rest of Ireland, and the rest of the UK are complex, with Northern Ireland sharing both the culture of Ireland and the culture of the United Kingdom. In many sports, there is an All-Ireland governing body or team for the whole island; the most notable exception is association football. Northern Ireland competes separately at the Commonwealth Games, and people from Northern Ireland may compete for either Great Britain or Ireland at the Olympic Games.

Infobox

Capitaland largest city

Belfast 54°35′46″N 5°55′48″W / 54.596°N 5.93°W / 54.596; -5.93

Official languages

mw- .inline, .inline dl, .inline ol, .inline ul, dl dl, dl ol, dl ul, ol dl, ol ol dd dd dd , dd dt , dd li , dt dd , dt dt , dt li , li dd dd dd , dd dt , dd li , dt dd , dt dt , dt li , li dd dd ol li EnglishIrish

Regional and minority languages

Ulster Scots

Ethnic groups (2021)

96.8% White 1.6% Asian 0.8% Mixed 0.6% Black 0.3% other ethnic groups

Religion (2021)

mw- li 79.7% Christianity 42.3% Catholicism 30.5% Protestantism 6.9% other Christians 17.4% no religion 1.6% religion not stated 1.3% other religions

Sovereign stateLegal jurisdiction

United KingdomNorthern Ireland

Government

Consociational devolved legislature within a parliamentary constitutional monarchy

• Monarch

Charles III

• First Minister

Michelle O'Neill

• Deputy First Minister

Emma Little-Pengelly

• Secretary of State

Hilary Benn

• House of Commons

18 MPs (of 650)

Legislature

Northern Ireland Assembly

• Government of Ireland Act 1920

3 May 1921

• Constitution Act 1973

18 July 1973

• Northern Ireland Act 1974

17 July 1974

• Northern Ireland Act 1998

19 November 1998

• Total[b]

14,330 km2 (5,530 sq mi)

• Land[a]

13,547 km2 (5,231 sq mi)

• 2024 estimate

1,927,855

• 2021 census

1,903,175

• Density

142/km2 (367.8/sq mi)

GVA

2023 estimate

mw- • Total

£56.1 billion

• Per capita

£29,234

GDP (nominal)

2023 estimate

• Total

£63.3 billion

• Per capita

£32,944

HDI (2022)

0.907 } }very high

Currency

Pound sterling (GBP; £)

Time zone

UTC 0 (GMT)

• Summer (DST)

UTC 1 (BST)

Date format

dd/mm/yyyy (AD)

Calling code

44[c]

ISO 3166 code

GB-NIR

Tables

· Demographics › Identity and citizenship

Identity

National identity of Northern Ireland residents

Identity

National identity of Northern Ireland residents

2011

National identity of Northern Ireland residents

2021

British only

National identity of Northern Ireland residents

British only

National identity of Northern Ireland residents

39.9%

National identity of Northern Ireland residents

31.9%

Irish only

National identity of Northern Ireland residents

Irish only

National identity of Northern Ireland residents

25.3%

National identity of Northern Ireland residents

29.1%

Northern Irish only

National identity of Northern Ireland residents

Northern Irish only

National identity of Northern Ireland residents

20.9%

National identity of Northern Ireland residents

19.8%

British & Northern Irish

National identity of Northern Ireland residents

British & Northern Irish

National identity of Northern Ireland residents

6.2%

National identity of Northern Ireland residents

8.0%

Irish & Northern Irish

National identity of Northern Ireland residents

Irish & Northern Irish

National identity of Northern Ireland residents

1.1%

National identity of Northern Ireland residents

1.8%

British, Irish & Northern Irish

National identity of Northern Ireland residents

British, Irish & Northern Irish

National identity of Northern Ireland residents

1.0%

National identity of Northern Ireland residents

1.5%

British & Irish

National identity of Northern Ireland residents

British & Irish

National identity of Northern Ireland residents

0.7%

National identity of Northern Ireland residents

0.6%

English, Scottish, or Welsh

National identity of Northern Ireland residents

English, Scottish, or Welsh

National identity of Northern Ireland residents

1.6%

National identity of Northern Ireland residents

1.5%

All other

National identity of Northern Ireland residents

All other

National identity of Northern Ireland residents

3.4%

National identity of Northern Ireland residents

6.0%

National identity of Northern Ireland residents
Identity	2011	2021
Identity	2011	2021	British only	39.9%	31.9%
Irish only	25.3%	29.1%
Northern Irish only	20.9%	19.8%
British & Northern Irish	6.2%	8.0%
Irish & Northern Irish	1.1%	1.8%
British, Irish & Northern Irish	1.0%	1.5%
British & Irish	0.7%	0.6%
English, Scottish, or Welsh	1.6%	1.5%
All other	3.4%	6.0%

· Demographics › Identity and citizenship

National Identity