自学考试英美国家概况191206第十一章.docx

自学考试英美国家概况191206第十一章.docx

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自学考试英美国家概况191206第十一章

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TheRepublicofIreland

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Chapter

11

GeogiraphyandHistory

TheBritishIslesaremadeupoftwolargeislandsandhundredsof

smallones.ThetwolargeislandsareGreatBritainandIreland.

IrelandisalsocalledtheEmeraldIslebecauseofitsrichgreencoun-

tryside.Irelandisdividedintotwopoliticalunits.TheyareNorth-

ernIrelandandtheRepublicofIreland.NorthernIslandispartof

theUnitedKingdom.TheRepublicofIreland（Eire）isaninde-

pendentcountry.

1.GeographicalFeatures

TheRepublicofIrelandcoversanareaof70,282sq.km.Itis

boundedonthenortheastbyNorthernIreland,ontheeastand

southeastbytheIrisbSeaandSt.George'sChannelandonthe

northandwestbytheAtlanticOcean.Thecountry'stotalboundary

is3,603kmlong,ofwhichitslandborderwithNorthernIrelandis

434km.

ThecapitalisDublin.

ItislocatedonDublinBayatthemouthof

theLiffeyRiveratitsconfluence,withtheDodderRiver.Dublinisa

cityofoverImillion.Theothermainurbancentresare:

Cork,

Limerick,GalwayandWaterford.

Irelandhasbeencomparedtoabasininwhichalimestoneplateau

isrimmedbycoastalhighlands.Maritimeinfluencespenetratethe

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land.Thecentralplainareaischaracterizedbymanylakes,bogs

（wetareas）andlowridges.Theprincipalmountainrangesarethe

MourneMountains,theWicklowMountainsintheeastandthe

Macgillicuddy'sReeksinthesouthwest.ThehighestpeaksareCar-

rantuohill（1,041rn）andMountBrandon（953m）nearKillar-

ney,andLugnaquilla（926m）,about64krn.southofDublin.

Varietyisthemainfeatureofthelowlands.TheCentralLowland

istheheartofIreland.Easypassagewaysalongvalleyandlowland

corridorsleadfromittoeveryIrishshore.Aroundthelowlandthere

areseveraltypesoflandscape.ThestretchofcountrybetweenGal-

wayBayandKillarneyhaslittleeconomicvalueoraestheticattrac-

tion.Itliesoffthemaincommercialandtouristroutes.Tothewest

thelimestonegiveswaytoavarietyofrocks.Thegreenfieldsofthe

lowlandarereplacedbybogsortoweringmountainsinWestCon-

nacht-

TheriversofIrelandhavecoursesofconsiderablevarietyandare

amongthemostattractivefeaturesofthescenery.Theycrossthe

CentralLowlandsasslow-movingstrearns.Theyarefrequentlysur-

roundedbybogsandmarshesandinmanycasesreachtheirestuaries

throughvalleys.ThelargestriverinIrelandistheShannonRiver.

ItrisesintheplateaunearSligoBay,flowssluggishlyoverthewest-

ernpartofthelowlandandthenfillsLoughDergbeforebeginning

itsfinalflowthroughrapidstoitsestuary.,TheShannonRiverpro-

videselectricpowerformuchoftheRepublic.

TheIrishcoast,withitsstrikingcliffs,isamongthemostim-

pressiveinEurope.Inthesouthandwest,thecoastisheavilyin-

dentedwheretherangesofDotiegal,MayoandMunsterendinbold

headlandsandrockyislands.Thecoastalprecipices（verysteepsides

ofacliff）ofthewestarealmost610mhighinSlieveLeagueand

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higheronAchillIsland,whereitispossibletolookdown183minto

thewater.

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AsIrelandwascompletelycoveredbyicesheetsduringtheIce

Age,allextantplantsandanimalsaremigrantspeciesfromother

partsofEurope.However,withthesubmergenceofthelandbridge

betweenIrelandandBritaininabout6,000BC,thismigration

ceased.Asaresult,Irelandhasamuchlowervarietyofplantsand

animalsthanBritain.TheplantsofIrelandaresimilartothoseof

Britain-Butthereareonly1,300speciesofplantsinIreland,asa-

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gainst2,300inBritain-ThemostcommontreesinIrelandareoak,

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ash,elmandbirch.Pineisdominantonpoorersoils.Theanimals

ofIrelandarealsosimilartothoseofBritain,withsomenotable

gaps.Amongthespeciesabsentareweasels,wildcats,moles,roe

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deer,snakesandcommontoads.Therearealsofewerbirdandin-

sectspecies.Ontheotherhand,Irelandhassomespeciesnotfound

inBritain,suchasthespottedslugandcertainspeciesofwoodlice.

Amongdomesticanimals,Irelandisnotedforbreedssuchasthe

Connemarapony,theIrishwolfhoundandtheKerryblueterrier.

BogsremainthemostsignificantfeatureofIrishlandscape.They

occuronallthemountainsandcoverlargeareasofthelowlands.

11.ClimateandWeather

TheweatherofIrelandisdescribedas

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mild,

moistandchange-

able.

Extremecold,longfrosts,heavysnowsinwinterand

scorchingdaysinsummerareunconnnon.InsomeyearsDecember

issomildthatmanygardenswillhaveflowersinbloom,whilein

other,-,thereisheavysnowfall.Latefrostshavebeenrecordedeven

forthemonthofMayinexceptionalyears.

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Monthlywintertemperaturesinthewestare6tto7r,fromDe-

cembertoMarchandintheeast51Zto61CfromNovemberto

March.Thisdifference,thoughslight,meansvegetationismore

winter-hardyinthewestthanintheeast.Thewesternvalleys,such

asthosearoundKillarney,haveluxuriantwoods,andtheevergreens

rarelyexperienceanychecktogrowththroughcold.Themeansum-

mertemperaturesrangefrom151Cto161Cinthesouthandonthe

coastsofDc）negal.Theextremesoutheastandthelowlandsbetween

theLeinsterchainandtheseahaveanaverageofsevenhoursofsun

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dailyinJune,whichdecreasestofivehoursadayinthewest.May

andJuneareusuallythesunniestmonths.September,amonthcru-

cialforfarmers,iswarmerthanMaybutinmanyyearsissowet

thatharvestingisdifficult.

Irelandhasexcessiverainfall.Aboutthree-fifthsofthecountry

hasameanannualrainfallbetween762and1,270mm,compared

to508to1,016mmformostofBritain.Almostallthelowlands

nearthewesternmountainsandthelowlandsintheeastofIreland

receiveadequaterainthroughouttheyear.Theaveragenumberof

raindaysperyearishigh,rangingfrom175intheextremesouth-

easttobetween20and250onthewestcoast.Irelandisnotsomuch

acountryofperpetualrainasoneinwhichfrequentshowersalter-

natewithsunnydays.Forthewholecountrythechance,ofanun-

usuallywetoranunusuallydryyearisestimatedat25%.Overall,

Irelandsuffersfromexcessiveratherthandeficientrainfall.

Geographershavedistin-

Althoughrelativelysmallinarea,Irelandislargeenoughtoshow

distinctregionalvariationsinclimate.

guishedsixclimaticregionsasfollows:

I.TheNorthwest

Theannualtainfallisfrom1,016to1,778mmwiththemaxi-

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muminwinter.ThemeantemperaturesforJanuary,

thecoolest

month,areabout51Cnearthecoastandslightlylessinland,with

thesummermeansabout131Cor14r.Galesarefrequentinwin-

ter.Thecombinationofhighrainfallandmildwinterspermitsluxu-

nantplantgrowthinshelteredplaces.

2.ConnachtandClare

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ThisregionissimilartotheNorthwest,withslightlymilderwin-

tersandwarmersummers.Ithasevenmoreabundantrainwithan-

nualfallsofabout2,540mmintheheartsofthemountainsand

1,016to1,S24mm,perannum,inthelowlands.Strongwindslimit

treegrowth.

3.TheSouthwest

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Excessiveraincombinedwithwinterwarmthinvitecomparison

withMediterraneanresorts,buttherethecomparisonceases,for

theregionhasrainonthreedaysoutoffour,withanaverageoflit-

tlemorethananhour'ssunperdayinDecemberandJanuary.The

summersarewarm,asaresultofwhichthevegetationisluxuriant,

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andMediterraneanspecie-%,evergreensandsubtropicalplantthrive.

4.TheSoutheast

Theannualrainfallis762to1,016mminthelowlandsofthe

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easternandcentralregionsandover1,016nuninmostofCounty

CorkandCountyWaterford.Thewintersaremild,withmeansof

6'Cto71Calongthesoutherncoastandslightlylessontheeastern

coast-ThesummermonthsarecomparativelywarmwithJulymeans

of15rto16r,.Theclimateisfarmorefavourablethanthewest-

ernregionsforfarming.

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5.TheCentralLowland

ThisistheareaofthelightestrainfallinIreland,withtwoareas

thatreceivelessthan762mmperannum.Themeanwintertemper-

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atures.areabout41Cto51C.

6.TheNortheast

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Theclimatehereiscoolerthroughouttheyearthanintherestof

thecountry.Inwinterthemeanmonthlytemperaturesareabout

4'Cbutthecoastiswarmer.Themeansummertemperaturesare

aboutWCto15*C.Therainfallis762to1,016mm.inthelow-

landsbuthigherintheMourrieMountains.Grasslandpredominates

onmostfarms'.-&andtheregionisnotedforitsexcellentcattlepas-

tures.andcrops.

III

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PopulationandReligion

ThepopulationofIrelandin1990wasestimatedat3.5million.It

isexpectedtogrowto4millionby2000.InIrelandthebasicethnic

stockisCeltic,withanadmixtureofNorse,French,Normanand

English.Therearenosignificantethnicminorities.HistoricallyIre-

landhasbeenfreeofethnicconflictsbecauseOfitsracialhomogene-

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Irelandhasfourunusualdemographicfeatures:

（1）alowbirthratecompoundedbyacenturyofemigration,

（2）

alatemarriageage（35formenand29forwomen）,

（3）anexcessofmalesinthepopulationand

（4）ahighproportionofbachelorsandspinstersofallages.

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Some-ofthesefeaturesaregenerallyfoundinother,moread-

vancedcountries,butinIreland'scasetheyhavehadalongerhisto-

ry.TogethertheyhavereducedIreland'spopulationbyone-half

duringthepast100years.

Theyear1845,whentheGreatFaminebegan,markstheendo