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Ulster - Geography and demographics

Ulster - Geography and demographics: Encyclopedia II - Ulster - Geography and demographics

Ulster has a population of just under 2 million people and an area of 24,481 square kilometres (8,952 square miles). Its biggest city is Belfast (Béal Feirste). Six of Ulster's nine counties, Antrim (Aontroim), Armagh (Ard Mhacha), Down (An Dún), Fermanagh (Fear Manach), Londonderry (Doire) and Tyrone (Tír Eoghain), form Northern Ireland, and remained in the United Kingdom after the rest of Ireland seceded. Some unionists refer to Northern Ireland as "Ulster", but that usage is contr ...

Ulster: Encyclopedia II - Ulster - Geography and demographics

Ulster - Geography and demographics

Ulster has a population of just under 2 million people and an area of 24,481 square kilometres (8,952 square miles). Its biggest city is Belfast (Béal Feirste).

Six of Ulster's nine counties, Antrim (Aontroim), Armagh (Ard Mhacha), Down (An Dún), Fermanagh (Fear Manach), Londonderry (Doire) and Tyrone (Tír Eoghain), form Northern Ireland, and remained in the United Kingdom after the rest of Ireland seceded. Some unionists refer to Northern Ireland as "Ulster", but that usage is controversial and disputed by many, especially geographers and historians who use the term exclusively to apply to the nine counties. Three counties, Cavan (An Cabhán), Donegal (Dún na nGall) and Monaghan (Muineachán) are part of the Republic of Ireland. About half of Ulster's population live in Antrim and Down.

English is the main language spoken by virtually everyone in Ulster, with the exception of a handful of Irish-speaking monoglots in the Donegal Gaeltacht and some immigrants. Many people in the Gaeltacht speak Irish as their native language, though most speak English from primary school age onwards. Irish is probably the second most widely-spoken language, although this is hard to verify as many claim fluency while only having a basic working knowledge of the language. Cantonese is the third most common mostly due to the considerable Chinese community of Belfast, the province's largest city. Belfast has more Chinese restaurants per capita than any other European city.

The biggest lake in the British Isles, Lough Neagh, is in eastern Ulster. The province's highest point is Slieve Donard, in Down (848 metres). The most northerly point of Ireland, Malin Head, and the second highest sea cliffs in Europe, at Slieve League, are in Donegal. The longest river in the British Isles, the Shannon, rises in Cavan. Volcanic activity in eastern Ulster led to the formation of the Antrim Plateau and the Giant's Causeway, one of Ireland's three UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The geographical centre of Ulster is near the village of Pomeroy, in Tyrone.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Geography and demographics", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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