Ireland is the third largest island in Europe, lying to the west of continental Europe and surrounded by hundreds of little islands. To the east, separated by the Irish Sea is the island of Great Britain. Politically, the state of Ireland (the Republic of Ireland) covers five sixths of the island and Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom, covers the rest in the northeast. Ireland has the fastest growing population in Europe due to falling death rates, rising birth rates but also high immigration rates.
The west coast of Ireland is mostly cliffs, hills and low mountains, the interior is relatively flat, with rivers (such as the River Shannon) and several lakes (called loughs). The centre of the island has several large areas of bogland, used for peat extraction. The local climate is temperate and quite mild, but rain is quite common, with some areas having many days of rain a year.