Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is a <a href="/facts/Countries_of_the_United_Kingdom/4tMbqgXp">part</a> of the <a href="/facts/United_Kingdom/kuPAILt2">United Kingdom</a> in the north-east of the island of <a href="/facts/Ireland/35vYxXdP">Ireland</a>. It has been variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares <a href="/facts/Republic_of_Ireland%25E2%2580%2593United_Kingdom_border/fXuqDstS">an open border</a> to the south and west with the <a href="/facts/Republic_of_Ireland/k8JzXVze">Republic of Ireland</a>. At the <a href="/facts/2021_United_Kingdom_census/Sgth4oz4">2021 census</a>, its population was 1,903,175, making up around 3% of the <a href="/facts/Demographics_of_the_United_Kingdom/N5vReg4B">UK's population</a> and 27% of the population on the island of <a href="/facts/Ireland/35vYxXdP">Ireland</a>. The <a href="/facts/Northern_Ireland_Assembly/VHRNXGsz">Northern Ireland Assembly</a>, established by the <a href="/facts/Northern_Ireland_Act_1998/FVbTxfv3">Northern Ireland Act 1998</a>, holds responsibility for a range of <a href="/facts/Devolution/SB1q2IVU">devolved</a> policy matters, while other areas are reserved for the <a href="/facts/Government_of_the_United_Kingdom/3zLlUWbx">UK Government</a>. The <a href="/facts/Government_of_Northern_Ireland/2pvc0V2W">government of Northern Ireland</a> cooperates with the <a href="/facts/Government_of_Ireland/7sCXlqex">government of Ireland</a> in several areas under the terms of the <a href="/facts/Good_Friday_Agreement/NGphY7YR">Good Friday Agreement</a>. The Republic of Ireland also has a consultative role on non-devolved governmental matters through the British–Irish Governmental Conference (BIIG).
Northern Ireland was created in 1921, when <a href="/facts/Partition_of_Ireland/G7F9k0Ig">Ireland was partitioned</a> by the <a href="/facts/Government_of_Ireland_Act_1920/xt1bVRsd">Government of Ireland Act 1920</a>, creating a devolved government for the <a href="/facts/Counties_of_Northern_Ireland/Qh04B8by">six northeastern counties</a>. As was intended by unionists and their supporters in <a href="/facts/Westminster/fpfm7LnR">Westminster</a>, Northern Ireland had a <a href="/facts/Unionism_in_Ireland/SeTgeeG6">unionist</a> majority, who wanted to remain in the United Kingdom; they were generally the <a href="/facts/Ulster_Protestants/KW6pQMYf">Protestant</a> descendants of <a href="/facts/Plantation_of_Ulster/K7TmCxkN">colonists from Britain</a>. Meanwhile, the majority in <a href="/facts/Southern_Ireland_(1921%25E2%2580%25931922)/7u12oeYg">Southern Ireland</a> (which became the <a href="/facts/Irish_Free_State/rjjaevUC">Irish Free State</a> in 1922), and a significant minority in Northern Ireland, were <a href="/facts/Irish_nationalism/fFyubXhY">Irish nationalists</a> (generally <a href="/facts/Irish_Catholics/v2qNK3sH">Catholics</a>) who wanted a <a href="/facts/United_Ireland/PypGBm3G">united independent Ireland</a>. Today, the former generally see themselves as British and the latter generally see themselves as Irish, while a Northern Irish or <a href="/facts/Ulster/K1cCQJBV">Ulster</a> identity is claimed by a significant minority from all backgrounds.
The creation of Northern Ireland was accompanied by violence both in defence of and against partition. During <a href="/facts/The_Troubles_(1920%25E2%2580%25931922)/j0PdhLJv">the conflict of 1920–22</a>, the capital <a href="/facts/Belfast/GIhSKnIv">Belfast</a> saw major <a href="/facts/Communal_violence/oYbtaBkm">communal violence</a>, mainly between Protestant unionist and Catholic nationalist civilians. More than 500 were killed and more than 10,000 became refugees, mostly Catholics. For the next fifty years, Northern Ireland had an unbroken series of <a href="/facts/Government_of_Northern_Ireland_(1921%25E2%2580%25931972)/lKoq4wlQ">Unionist Party governments</a>. There was informal mutual <a href="/facts/Segregation_in_Northern_Ireland/2qp2mV8B">segregation</a> by both communities, and the Unionist governments were accused of discrimination against the Irish nationalist and Catholic minority. In the late 1960s, a <a href="/facts/Northern_Ireland_Civil_Rights_Association/z90cdKMk">campaign to end discrimination</a> against Catholics and nationalists was opposed by <a href="/facts/Ulster_loyalism/SrtM1aue">loyalists</a>, who saw it as a <a href="/facts/Irish_republicanism/r260ddGy">republican</a> front. This unrest sparked <a href="/facts/The_Troubles/CvxR8ReG">the Troubles</a>, a thirty-year conflict involving republican and loyalist paramilitaries and state forces, which claimed over 3,500 lives and injured 50,000 others. The 1998 <a href="/facts/Good_Friday_Agreement/NGphY7YR">Good Friday Agreement</a> was a major step in the <a href="/facts/Northern_Ireland_peace_process/TKdt1zyD">peace process</a>, including <a href="/facts/Decommissioning_in_Northern_Ireland/6hFFE7kx">paramilitary disarmament</a> and security normalisation, although <a href="/facts/Sectarianism/kkPNdMeQ">sectarianism</a> and segregation remain major social problems, and sporadic violence has continued.
The <a href="/facts/Economy_of_Northern_Ireland/12YYgUxv">economy of Northern Ireland</a> was the most industrialised in Ireland at the time of partition, but soon began to decline, exacerbated by the political and social turmoil of the Troubles. Its economy has grown significantly since the late 1990s. Unemployment in Northern Ireland peaked at 17.2% in 1986, but dropped back down to below 10% in the 2010s, similar to the rate of the rest of the UK. Cultural links between Northern Ireland, the rest of Ireland, and the rest of the UK are complex, with Northern Ireland sharing both the <a href="/facts/Culture_of_Ireland/zts8G0uQ">culture of Ireland</a> and the <a href="/facts/Culture_of_the_United_Kingdom/sD414NCm">culture of the United Kingdom</a>. In many sports, there is an <a href="/facts/All-Ireland/ah9VtQGE">All-Ireland</a> governing body or team for the whole island; the most notable exception is association football. Northern Ireland <a href="/facts/Northern_Ireland_at_the_Commonwealth_Games/Xz7CM1zy">competes separately</a> at the <a href="/facts/Commonwealth_Games/GhNRljEu">Commonwealth Games</a>, and people from Northern Ireland may compete for either <a href="/facts/Great_Britain_at_the_Olympics/bwfTcyPH">Great Britain</a> or <a href="/facts/Ireland_at_the_Olympics/LszX6yuM">Ireland</a> at the <a href="/facts/Olympic_Games/TXbdPIVS">Olympic Games</a>.

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Northern Ireland