Outline of Northern Ireland

Location of Northern Ireland (orange)
– in the European continent (camel & white)
– in the United Kingdom (camel)

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland – one of the four countries of the United Kingdom.[1][2] Situated in the northeast of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west. At the time of the 2001 UK census, its population was 1,685,000, constituting about 30% of the island's total population and about 3% of the population of the United Kingdom.

Northern Ireland was created as a distinct division of the United Kingdom on 3 May 1921 under the Government of Ireland Act 1920,[3] although its constitutional roots lie in the 1800 Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland.

Northern Ireland was for many years the site of a violent and bitter ethno-political conflict – the Troubles – which was caused by divisions between Irish nationalists, who are predominantly Roman Catholic, and unionists, who are predominantly Protestant. Unionists want Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom,[4] while nationalists wish it to be politically reunited with the rest of Ireland.[5][6][7][8] Since the signing of the "Good Friday Agreement" in 1998, most of the paramilitary groups involved in the Troubles have ceased their armed campaigns.

The Union Flag is the official Flag of Northern Ireland
Coat of arms of Northern Ireland (obsolete)
  1. ^ "The Countries of the UK". statistics.gov.uk – geography – beginners' guide to UK geography. UK Statistics Authority. 11 November 2005. Archived from the original on 9 December 2009. Retrieved 11 November 2009. The top-level division of administrative geography in the UK is the 4 countries – England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
  2. ^ "countries within a country". Number10.gov.uk. The Office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. 10 January 2003. Archived from the original on 9 September 2008. Retrieved 11 November 2009. The United Kingdom is made up of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Its full name is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland...Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom with a devolved legislative Assembly and a power sharing Executive made up of ministers from four political parties representing different traditions.
  3. ^ Statutory Rules & Orders published by authority, 1921 (No. 533); Additional source for 3 May 1921 date: Alvin Jackson, Home Rule – An Irish History, Oxford University Press, 2004, p198.
  4. ^ Standing up for Northern Ireland Archived 4 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine www.uup.org. Retrieved 2 August 2008.
  5. ^ Richard Jenkin, 1997, Rethinking ethnicity: arguments and explorations, SAGE Publications: London: "In Northern Ireland the objectives of contemporary nationalists are the reunification of Ireland and the removal of British government."
  6. ^ Peter Dorey, 1995, British politics since 1945, Blackwell Publishers: Oxford: "Just as some Nationalists have been prepared to use violence in order to secure Irish reunification, so some Unionists have been prepared to use violence in order to oppose it."
  7. ^ "Strategy Framework Document: Reunification through Planned Integration: Sinn Féin's All Ireland Agenda". Archived from the original on 16 July 2006. Sinn Féin. Retrieved 2 August 2008.
  8. ^ "Our Vision". sdlp.ie. SDLP. Retrieved 8 October 2013.