Approximately two-thirds of Irish people live in cities or large towns, with 1.2 million living in the wider Dublin area.

Overall, the population is quite young with 41 per cent under the age of 25 and 24 per cent under 15.

The population growth rate has been estimated at 1.16 per cent (2000) with a birth rate of 14.51 births per 1,000 population. The death rate is 8.14 deaths per 1,000 population and net migration rate was estimated in 2000 at 5.27 migrants per 1,000 population.

Population: 3,797,257 (July 2000 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 21.85% (male 425,795; female 403,777)
15-64 years: 66.83% (male 1,271,367; female 1,266,150)
65 years and over: 11.33% (male 185,913; female 244,255)

Population growth rate: 1.16% (2000 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 5.62 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 76.81 years
male: 74.06 years
female: 79.74 years (2000 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.91 children born/woman (2000 est.)

Nationality: noun: Irishman(men), Irishwoman(women), Irish (collective plural) adjective: Irish

Ethnic groups: Celtic, English

Religions: Roman Catholic 91.6%, Church of Ireland 2.5%, other 5.9% (1998)

Languages: English is the language generally used, Irish (Gaelic) spoken mainly in areas located along the western seaboard.