With the Acts of Union in 1801, Ireland became a part of the United Kingdom. In the 1690s, a system of Protestant English rule was designed to materially disadvantage the Catholic majority and Protestant dissenters, and was extended during the 18th century.
However, English rule did not extend over the whole island until the 16th–17th century Tudor conquest, which led to colonisation by settlers from Britain. Following the 12th century Anglo-Norman invasion, England claimed sovereignty.
The island was Christianised from the 5th century onwards. Gaelic Ireland had emerged by the 1st century AD. The Irish climate is influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and thus very moderate, and winters are milder than expected for such a northerly area, although summers are cooler than those in continental Europe. Today, woodland makes up about 10% of the island, compared with a European average of over 33%, with most of it being non-native conifer plantations. Much of Ireland was woodland until the end of the Middle Ages. Its lush vegetation is a product of its mild but changeable climate which is free of extremes in temperature. The geography of Ireland comprises relatively low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain, with several navigable rivers extending inland. As of 2022, the population of the entire island is just over 7 million, with 5.1 million living in the Republic of Ireland and 1.9 million in Northern Ireland, ranking it the second-most populous island in Europe after Great Britain. Geopolitically, Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially named Ireland), an independent state covering five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest in the world. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland ( / ˈ aɪər l ə n d/ ( listen) YRE-lənd Irish: Éire ( listen) Ulster-Scots: Airlann ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe.
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