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
•.
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-
195
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-
ity-
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
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