Ireland, described as the Republic of Ireland, is a country in north-western Europe. The modern sovereign state occupies approximately five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned into two jurisdictions in 1921. It is bordered to the north-east by Northern Ireland, which is a part of the United Kingdom, and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the Irish Sea to the east, St George's Channel to the south-east, and the Celtic Sea to the south. It is a constitutional republic and parliamentary democracy.
Ireland is ranked as the 38th economic power in the world by the IMF and is one of the most developed countries. In 2006 Ireland had the sixth highest nominal gross domestic product per capita. Ireland is also a member of the OECD, the WTO and the United Nations.