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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.
Quiz by clivey
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Last updated: August 18, 2021
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First submittedAugust 18, 2021
Times taken856
Average score70.6%
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1. Westernmost mainland point
UK
Ireland
Both
2. Government is led by a prime minister
UK
Ireland
Both
Irelands' government is led by their prime minister (Taoiseach), they also have a president, however this is considered more of a ceremonial role.
3. Highest beer consumption per capita (litres per year)
UK
Ireland
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.
4. Has three colours on its flag
UK
Ireland
Both
The UK's flag is made up of red, white and blue; whilst Irelands' is green, white and orange
5. Has the lower population density of the two
UK
Ireland
UKs population density is 281 people per Km squared, Ireland's is 70 people per Km squared.
6. Is the wettest - Has the highest average annual precipitation (mm depth per year)
UK
Ireland
UK gets 1,220mm per year (5th wettest in Europe), whilst Ireland gets 1,118mm per year (7th wettest in Europe)
7. Its second biggest city starts with the letter "B"
UK
Ireland
Both
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.
8. Is divided into counties
UK
Ireland
Both
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.
9. Over 20% of its population lives in its largest city (metro area)
UK
Ireland
Both
13.4% of the UK live in Greater London, whilst 28.3% of Irelands population is in the Greater Dublin area.
10. Highest percentage of Catholics
UK
Ireland
Ireland has 78.3% of the population identifying as Catholics, whilst the UK only 13% do so.
11. Has over 1 million people who speak a Celtic language
UK
Ireland
Both
Ireland has 1,775,000 Gaelic/ Irish speakers; whilst the UK has 1,122,000 speaker of Welsh, Irish, Scottish and Cornish languages collectively.
12. Has the higher average elevation
UK
Ireland
Irelands average elevation is 118m above sea level; UKs is 75m.
13. Has the highest maximum elevation
UK
Ireland
Ben Nevis, Scotland (UK) reaches 1,343m above sea level; Carrauntoohil, Kerry (Ireland) reaches 1,041m.
14. Has had the most official visits from a President of the United States.
UK
Ireland
37 official Presidential visits have been made to the UK, and 11 to Ireland.
15. Has suffered a population decline since the year 1841
UK
Ireland
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.
16. Has the most Eurovision song contest winners
UK
Ireland
Ireland has won 7 Eurovisions, whilst UK has won 5.
17. Is the northernmost point of the island of Ireland
UK
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.
+1
Level 55
Aug 25, 2021
nice quiz! :)
+1
Level 56
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.

+1
Level 64
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.

+1
Level 54
Mar 5, 2022
A lot of people can speak Irish, they just dont use it daily.
+1
Level 88
Aug 27, 2021
Nice quiz, some good questions on here, really made me think. Only got 11 correct but I learned a few things :)
+2
Level 67
Aug 28, 2021
Ireland's winning the EuroVision shows up on like 5,400 different quizzes on this site.
+1
Level 32
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!
+1
Level 67
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.
+1
Level 40
Aug 10, 2022
Ireland does not have a P.M, it has a Taoiseach. (Or tea sock, as Liz Truss calls him.)