NORTHERN IRELAND, FLAG OF

unofficial flag of a unit of the United Kingdom, flown subordinate to the Union Jack, that consists of a white field (background) bearing a central red cross with a white six-pointed star, a red hand, and a gold crown. The island of Ireland was historically divided into four provinces, the northernmost of which was Ulster. The Ulster coat of arms, which included a red cross, supposedly was used by earls from the de Burgh family centuries ago. The inescutcheon (small central shield) of the Ulster coat of arms bore a red right hand, the symbol of the O'Neill (U Nill) family since the mid-17th century, although myth attributes the symbol to King Heremon O'Neill in 1015 BC. In 1924 the inescutcheon was redesigned as a six-pointed star, presumably referring to the six Ulster counties (out of nine) that now form Northern Ireland. The imperial crown was placed over the star to show the loyalty of Northern Ireland to the United Kingdom. In January 1922, when the rest of the island became the Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland), Northern Ireland was created, and it was granted a coat of arms on August 2, 1924. The design of the arms was based on that of the Ulster coat of arms, and the shield of the new emblem was the basis for an armorial flag, which was introduced on May 29, 1953, in anticipation of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. According to British tradition, a coat of arms or flag is granted to the government of a territory, not to the people residing there. Therefore, when the government of Northern Ireland was disbanded in March 1972, its arms and flag officially disappeared; however, the flag continues to be used by groups (such as sports teams) representing the territory in an unofficial manner. Whitney Smith History Out of the 19th- and early 20th-century ferment that produced a sovereign state of Ireland to its south, a separate state of Northern Ireland emerged in 192022 as a constituent part of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland's early history is the history of the traditional Irish province of Ulster, six of whose nine counties Northern Ireland embraces. Early Ulster The northernmost of Ireland's provinces has some geographic distinctness. A diagonal line from the northwestern point of Donegal Bay to the southeastern point of Dundalk Bay marks the narrow waist of the island. A belt of hills, lakes, and forests along this line provides a natural border to the north, discouraging access to or from it. In the early Christian times (the 5th and 6th centuries) this region had a distinctive culture, known under the Celtic name Ulaid (Latin: Ultonia; English: Ulster). Its political centre was at Emain Macha, or Navan Fort, near the modern-day town of Armagh. The most successful Christian missionary in Ireland, the 5th-century Patrick, was predominantly based in the north and associated with its rulers. He established his ecclesiastical centre near Emain Macha, at Armagh, which is still the primatial see of both the Roman Catholic church in Ireland and of the Protestant Church of Ireland. The economy The economic life of Northern Ireland is closely bound to that of the rest of the United Kingdom. The region's trade principally involves exports to and imports from England, Scotland, and Wales. The economic links between Northern Ireland and its closest neighbour, the republic of Ireland, are remarkably underdeveloped. It is widely believed, however, that trade across the Irish border will grow substantially in the years to come. Agriculture and fishing While agriculture historically played an important part in the economy of Northern Ireland, its significance has declined greatly over recent decades. As in other developed societies, the introduction of new technologies has accelerated a process of consolidation, and there are now fewer but substantially larger and more productive farms. In the process, agriculture has become a relatively insignificant source of employment. At the turn of the century, only 1 in 25 people in Northern Ireland earned a living from the land. While the frequent rainfall, humidity, and prospect of wet harvests discourage arable farming, local conditions produce good grass and rich pasture. Nearly all grassland is plowed, and there is little rough grazing. Mixed farming was traditionally universal, but there has been a considerable movement toward specialization; nearly half the farms concentrate on sheep and beef, and about one-fifth specialize in dairying. Principal crops include potatoes, barley, wheat, and oats; turnips are grown to feed livestock. The production of grass seed and seed potatoes for export is also important. To the south of Lough Neagh lies a rich orchard country, and apple growing and market gardening are constant features of the landscape. Most of the agricultural land is held by the occupiers in fee simple, but there persists the peculiar feature of conacre, a system of short (11-month) lets, which still accounts for a portion of the agricultural land. About two-thirds of the farmers are working owners. Ocean fishing is more or less confined to the northern Irish Sea and is limited to trawlers that operate primarily from the ports of Kilkeel, Ardglass, and Portavogie. Prawns, cod, whiting, and herring are among the main catches. There has been increasing development of marine farming, particularly for oysters. Inland, salmon and eel fishing is traditional, the latter concentrated where the River Bann leaves Lough Neagh. The land Relief Northern Ireland can be thought of topographically as a saucer centred on Lough (lake) Neagh, the upturned rim of which forms the highlands. Five of the six historic countiesAntrim, Down, Armagh, Tyrone, and Londonderrymeet at the lake, and each has a highland region on the saucer's rim. To the north and east the mountains of Antrim (physiographically a plateau) tilt upward toward the coast. They reach an elevation of 1,817 feet (554 metres) at Trostan, with the plateau terminating in an impressive cliff coastline of basalts and chalk that is broken by a series of the glaciated valleys known as glens, which face Scotland and are rather isolated from the rest of Northern Ireland. The rounded landscape of drumlinssmooth, elongated mounds left by the melting ice of the final Pleistocene glaciationin the southeast is punctuated by Slieve Croob, which rises to 1,745 feet (532 metres), and culminates in the Mourne Mountains, which reach an elevation of 2,789 feet (850 metres) at Slieve Donard (Northern Ireland's highest point) within two miles of the sea. This impressive landscape of granite peaks is bounded by Carlingford Lough to the south. The scenery to the south of Lough Neagh is gentler, but the land rises to 1,886 feet (575 metres) in Slieve Gullion near the border with Ireland. West of Lough Neagh the land rises gently to the more rounded Sperrin Mountains; Sawel, at 2,224 feet (678 metres), is the highest of several hills over 2,000 feet (610 metres). The far southwest, the historic county Fermanagh, is focused geographically on the basin of Lough Erne, in a drumlin-strewn area ringed by hills more than 1,000 feet (300 metres) high. Drainage and soils Much of the landscape of Northern Ireland is gentle, and in most low-lying areas it is covered with swarms of drumlins that have played havoc with the local drainage and are interspersed with marshy hollows. Glaciation also gave the land its main valleys: those of the River Bann (which drains Lough Neagh to the Atlantic Ocean) in the north, the River Blackwater in the southwest, and the River Lagan in the east. All these valleys have been important routeways but none more important than the Lagan, penetrating from Belfast Lough to the very heart of Ulster. Soils are varied. Although much glacially transported material covers the areas below 700 feet (215 metres) in elevation, the nature of the soil is predominantly influenced by the underlying parent rock. Brown earth soils, forming arable loams, are extensive and are derived from the ancient Silurian rocks of the southeastsome 420 million years oldand from the more recent basalts of the northeast. There are peaty gleys and podzols in the Sperrins, and the impeded drainage of much of the southwest gives rise to acidic brown soil. Peat soils are common, particularly in the hollows lying between the drumlins, and hill peat is widespread throughout Northern Ireland. Although it is of no great commercial value, peat traditionally has been a source of fuel for the peasant farmer and is still cut extensively. The people The cultural differences that underlie many of Northern Ireland's contemporary social problems have a long and troubled history. The region has had lasting links with parts of western Scotland, strengthened by constant population movements. After the Tudor invasions and particularly after the forced settlements, or plantations, of the early 17th century, English and Scottish elements were further differentiated from the native Irish by their Protestant faith. Two distinct and often antagonistic groupingsthe indigenous Roman Catholic Irish and the immigrant Protestant English and Scotsdate from that period, and they have played a significant role in molding Northern Ireland's development. The settlers dominated County Antrim and northern Down, controlled the Lagan corridor toward Armagh, and also formed powerful minorities elsewhere. This situation contributed to the decline of spoken Gaelic, and it is reflected in the contemporary distribution of religions. The accents with which Northern Irish people speak English are regionally distinctive. The northeastern dialect, dominating the historic counties of Antrim and Londonderry and parts of Down, is an offshoot of central Scottish dialect. The remainder of the area, including the Lagan valley, has accents derived from England, more particularly from Cheshire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, and southern Lancashire, as well as the West Country counties of Gloucestershire, Avon, Somerset, and Devon. The towns show more of a mixture and an overlay of standard English. The demographic balance between Protestants and Roman Catholics in Northern Ireland is becoming increasingly delicate. Catholics now make up more than two-fifths of the population, and their slightly higher birth rate has led to speculation that within a generation or so they will become the larger of the two communities in the region. Although Protestants continue to be a majority, they are perhaps best thought of as a majority of minorities, in that the Protestant community comprises a mosaic of distinct denominations that vary enormously in size. The most substantial Protestant denomination in the region, the Presbyterians, makes up more than one-fifth of the population of Northern Ireland. One in six people belong to the next biggest Protestant denomination, the Anglican Church of Ireland. The remainder of the Protestant population is fragmented among dozens of smaller religious groupings. Protestant and Catholic communities are not distributed evenly throughout the region. During the political violence of the last third of 20th century, many Protestants moved away from western and border regions of Northern Ireland. As a result, the historic counties of Londonderry, Fermanagh, and Tyrone now have marked Catholic majorities, while the traditional concentration of Protestants in the eastern reaches of the region has increased. One important exception to this rule is Belfast on the eastern seaboard, where Catholics have become the majority. During the Troubles many wealthy Protestants from Belfast relocated to the pastoral environs of northern Down while their less privileged counterparts moved to the bleak estates that sprung up in the satellite towns that ring the city. Northern Ireland is also marked by stark patterns of residential segregation. Even when Catholics and Protestants reside in the same part of the region, they tend to live separately from one another. Indeed, about half the Northern Irish live in districts in which nine-tenths or more of residents are drawn from one of the two communities. This segregation, especially evident in Belfast, is even more pronounced in poorer neighborhoods. The hostilities between adjacent working-class districts composed of different ethnoreligious communities have led to the creation of peace lines, essentially permanent structures aimed at keeping the warring factions apart. The complex sectarian geography of Northern Ireland places often severe constraints upon the physical mobility of working-class residents in particular and has an important impact upon the manner in which everyday life is organized and experienced. In the interest of self-preservation, young people learn early to recognize the various cues that indicate ethnoreligious identity. In terms of population, Northern Ireland is the smallest region of the United Kingdom, and its demographic profile differs from that of Great Britain in a number of ways. Although the birth rate in the region declined over the last two decades of the 20th century, it remains relatively high by U.K. standards. Since partition, emigration from Northern Ireland has tended to outpace immigration; however, the net outflow of people from the region has been relatively small, especially when compared with the mass emigration that has typified Ireland in various periods. The combination of relatively high birth rates and negligible out-migration has contributed to a gradual rise in the population of Northern Ireland. During the 1990s the rate of population growth in the region was twice the U.K. average. The population of Northern Ireland is also comparatively young in relation to the rest of the United Kingdom.