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.  The country 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. The country is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional republic.

The state, initially named the Irish Free State, was established in 1922 as a dominion within the British Commonwealth. It gained increasing sovereignty through the Statute of Westminster and the abdication crisis of 1936.  A new constitution was introduced in 1937 which declared it an entirely sovereign state and simply named it as "Ireland".  The last formal link with the United Kingdom was severed in 1949 when Ireland declared itself a republic, and formally ceased to be a dominion. Consequently Ireland left the then British Commonwealth, having already ceased to attend Commonwealth meetings since 1937.