NORTHERN IRELAND
Geography
Covers just over 5,400 sq. miles (14,000 sq. km) and shares a border with the Republic Of Ireland.
The population is approx. 1.7 million. The major centres of population are Belfast, Ballymena, Coleraine, Craigavon, Derry, Dungannon, Lisburn, Newry, and Omagh.
Belfast is the capital and approx. 590,000 people live in its wider metropolitan area.
The three major mountain areas are Sperrin Mountains in the northwest, the Antrim Plateau in the north east and the Mourne Mountains in the southeast.
Lough Neagh, covering approx. 150 sq. miles (405sq. km) is the largest lake in the UK.
There are no National Parks in Northern Ireland but there are 9 Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). These are Antrim Coast & Glens, Binevenagh, Causeway Coast, Lagan Valley, Lecale Coast, Mourne, Ring of Gullion, Sperrin and Strangford Lough.
Northern Ireland’s most famous natural landmark is probably The Giant’s Causeway, a rock formation of thousands of polygonal pillars of black basalt.
Belfast is served by 2 airports: George Best Belfast City and Belfast International.
Language
English. Approx. 5% of population also speak Gaelic.
Further Information
For more information on Northern Ireland visit these sites:
www.discovernorthernireland.com and news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/default.stm
For more information on Belfast visit www.belfastcity.gov.uk
