United Kingdom or Ireland?

Two neighbouring countries, often mistakenly confused for each other. For each statement, guess whether it applies to the United Kingdom, The Republic of Ireland, or both.

Credit to adrmcm for the "this or that" idea.

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Last updated: August 18, 2021

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First submitted	August 18, 2021
Times taken	1,010
Average score	70.6%
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1. Westernmost mainland point

Ireland

Both

2. Government is led by a prime minister

Irelands' government is led by their prime minister (Taoiseach), they also have a president, however this is considered more of a ceremonial role.

Ireland

Both

3. Highest beer consumption per capita (litres per year)

Ireland consumes 92.9 litres per year per capita - ranking 7th in the world, whilst the UK consumes 70.3 litres - ranking 23rd in the world.

Ireland

4. Has three colours on its flag

The UK's flag is made up of red, white and blue; whilst Irelands' is green, white and orange

Ireland

Both

5. Has the lower population density of the two

UKs population density is 281 people per Km squared, Ireland's is 70 people per Km squared.

Ireland

6. Is the wettest - Has the highest average annual precipitation (mm depth per year)

UK gets 1,220mm per year (5th wettest in Europe), whilst Ireland gets 1,118mm per year (7th wettest in Europe)

Ireland

7. Its second biggest city starts with the letter "B"

Birmingham is UKs second biggest city, Irelands is Cork. The city of Belfast is the island of Irelands' second largest city, but is a part of the UK.

Ireland

Both

8. Is divided into counties

Ireland consists of 26 counties in three provinces - whilst the UK has 27 counties of England; 13 of Wales; 6 in Northern Ireland; and 32 'council areas' of Scotland.

Ireland

Both

9. Over 20% of its population lives in its largest city (metro area)

13.4% of the UK live in Greater London, whilst 28.3% of Irelands population is in the Greater Dublin area.

Ireland

Both

10. Highest percentage of Catholics

Ireland has 78.3% of the population identifying as Catholics, whilst the UK only 13% do so.

Ireland

11. Has over 1 million people who speak a Celtic language

Ireland has 1,775,000 Gaelic/ Irish speakers; whilst the UK has 1,122,000 speaker of Welsh, Irish, Scottish and Cornish languages collectively.

Ireland

Both

12. Has the higher average elevation

Irelands average elevation is 118m above sea level; UKs is 75m.

Ireland

13. Has the highest maximum elevation

Ben Nevis, Scotland (UK) reaches 1,343m above sea level; Carrauntoohil, Kerry (Ireland) reaches 1,041m.

Ireland

14. Has had the most official visits from a President of the United States.

37 official Presidential visits have been made to the UK, and 11 to Ireland.

Ireland

15. Has suffered a population decline since the year 1841

Irelands population was over 8 million in 1841, compared to under 5 million in 2019. Meanwhile the UK has risen from 15.9 million in 1841 to 66.65 million in 2019.

Ireland

16. Has the most Eurovision song contest winners

Ireland has won 7 Eurovisions, whilst UK has won 5.

Ireland

17. Is the northernmost point of the island of Ireland

Malin Head, Inisowen Peninsula is the most northern point on the mainland of the island of Ireland and lies in county Donegal in the Republic of Ireland.

Ireland

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10 Comments

Level 57

Aug 25, 2021

nice quiz! :)

Level 57

Aug 25, 2021

Good quiz! Embarrassed, as an Irishman, to have only gotten 14.

Not a super big deal but I know many in Ireland would consider Belfast our second biggest city. When you refer broadly to Ireland, this can be taken to mean the island of Ireland, not just the Republic. Which has implications for Q7.

Level 65

Aug 25, 2021

Ireland does not have 1,775,000 fluent Gaelic/Irish speakers, irrespective of what national census results claim - the census does not ask about proficiency, ability etc.

The actual numbers using Irish daily in the Republic is estimated at about 80,000 max.

Level 55

Mar 5, 2022

A lot of people can speak Irish, they just dont use it daily.

Level 89

Aug 27, 2021

Nice quiz, some good questions on here, really made me think. Only got 11 correct but I learned a few things :)

Level 67

Aug 28, 2021

Ireland's winning the EuroVision shows up on like 5,400 different quizzes on this site.

Level 38

Jan 30, 2022

"Ireland consists of 26 counties in three provinces" - let me laugh. It should be Ireland consists of 32 counties in four provinces. Four proud provinces of Ireland including Ulster and also Belfast!

Level 68

Jan 31, 2022

Fair comment, it should read it has 26 counties in 4 provinces, as 3 are in Ulster. Obviously the quiz is about the Republic of Ireland, as the note states, not the island.

Level 40

Aug 10, 2022

Ireland does not have a P.M, it has a Taoiseach. (Or tea sock, as Liz Truss calls him.)

Level 46

Sep 10, 2024

The prime minister question was tricky, I expected the answer to be something like "no, Ireland does not have a PM, it has a Taoiseach"

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