Northern Ireland
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Northern Ireland (Tuaisceart Éireann in Irish or Norlin Airlann in Ulster Scots) is a region of the United Kingdom. It is part of an island in Western Europe called Ireland that it shares with the Republic of Ireland.1.7 million people live in Northern Ireland. The capital is Belfast.
[edit] People
Northern Ireland has had many conflicts between some of the people who live there. Unionists who are mostly Protestants want Northern Ireland to stay part of the United Kingdom. Nationalists who are mostly Catholics want Northern Ireland to leave the United Kingdom and have the whole island reunited as one country.Some people dont want to rejoin the republic of Ireland or remain part of the U.K.Instead they want Northern Ireland to be an independent country There are slightly more Unionists than Nationalists at the moment.
Sometimes people use other names for Northern Ireland. Unionists sometimes call it "Ulster" but this is not really correct as three counties of Ulster are in the Republic of Ireland. Nationalists sometimes call it "the north" or "the six counties" which is to make it sound like a part of a united Ireland, not the United Kingdom.The only correct name for the area at the moment is is Northern Ireland.
[edit] Languages
English is spoken by almost everyone in Northern Ireland. Other important languages include Irish (sometimes called "Irish Gaelic" or "Gaelic") and Ulster Scots which comes from Scotland. These languages are not very common as a first language but are spoken by some people.
Some languages like Chinese, Urdu or Polish are becoming more common in Northern Ireland as people from other countries move to Northern Ireland.
[edit] Belfast Agreement
Since the Belfast Agreement, (sometimes called the Good Friday Agreement) of Friday, 10 April 1998, there has been mainly peace between the two sides of the community. This agreement was agreed by a majority of people in Northern Ireland and also the Republic of Ireland. It allows for self-government and makes clear the right of the people of Northern Ireland to decide their future.