Northern Ireland, United Kingdom — Towns & Travel Guide

What is Northern Ireland known for?

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom, set on the island of Ireland. It takes up the north-east of that island. What sets it apart is its land border, the United Kingdom's only one, shared with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west.

Its main city is Belfast. The Good Friday Agreement of 1998 shapes how it is governed, giving it a Northern Ireland Assembly of its own and cross-border cooperation with Ireland.

Where is Northern Ireland?

Northern Ireland occupies the north-east of the island of Ireland. It is the one part of the United Kingdom that does not lie on the larger British island, sitting instead on the same island as the Republic of Ireland. That shared island gives it a land frontier.

The border runs to the south and west, open along its whole length, dividing Northern Ireland from the Republic of Ireland. It is the only land border of the whole United Kingdom. Water and the border are the two facts that fix its outline.

Sea closes the other sides. To the north and east the coast gives onto open water, and across that water lies the rest of the United Kingdom on the larger island. Belfast, the main city, sits toward the east.

The Republic of Ireland lies over that open frontier, the country Northern Ireland touches by land. Inland, the country is small and quickly crossed. No part of Northern Ireland lies far from either the coast or the border.

Its whole shape is set by the one island it shares and the open line drawn across it.

What is Northern Ireland like?

Northern Ireland is hard to sum up in one word, and it has been called a country, though a province or region suits it just as well. That uncertainty is part of the character of the place. It belongs to the United Kingdom, yet it shares the island of Ireland with the Republic of Ireland next door.

Both connections are real, and both are lived. Two currents run through it. The common working language is English, shared with the rest of the United Kingdom and with Ireland alike.

Its modern life has been shaped as much by how it is governed as by anything else. The Good Friday Agreement of 1998 set the terms. It gave Northern Ireland its own Assembly and built in cooperation with the government of Ireland, so that the two sides of the border work together on shared concerns.

Belfast, the main city, is the centre of much of that public life. Daily life here carries the mark of both neighbours. It is a place that has learned to hold more than one identity at once.

What is the history of Northern Ireland?

Northern Ireland dates as a distinct place to 1921, when it was formed within the United Kingdom on the north-east of the island of Ireland. Its modern framework was set much later. The Good Friday Agreement of 1998, together with the Northern Ireland Act of the same year, created the Northern Ireland Assembly and set up cooperation with the government of Ireland.

A British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference gives Ireland a consultative role on matters not devolved. That settlement still shapes how the place is run.

What is the climate of Northern Ireland?

Northern Ireland has a mild, temperate climate, wet and changeable, much like the rest of the island of Ireland. Its island setting keeps the weather soft rather than extreme, with cool winters and moderate summers. Rain is frequent and can come in any season.

Cloud and shifting skies are the normal state across the United Kingdom's western edge, and long spells of heat or hard frost are rare. Green country is the result.

How do you get to Northern Ireland?

Northern Ireland can be reached three ways. Most arrivals come by air into Belfast, the main city. Ferries cross the sea between the island of Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom, linking Northern Ireland to the larger island by water.

The open border with the Republic of Ireland lets travellers arrive overland from the south and west, with no barrier along the way. Inside, the country is small and quick to cross by road.