Dublin is the largest and capital city of Ireland. The English name is derived from the Irish name Dubh Linn, meaning “black pool”. It is a primate city with an urban population of over 1 million, containing almost 25% of the country’s population. Dublin is situated near the midpoint of Ireland’s east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey, and at the centre of the Dublin Region. Originally founded as a Viking settlement, it evolved into the Kingdom of Dublin and became the island’s primary city following the Norman invasion. The city expanded rapidly from the 17th century, and for a brief period was the second largest city within the British Empire and the fifth largest in Europe. After the Act of Union in 1800, Dublin entered a period of stagnation, but remained the economic centre for most of the island. Following the partition of Ireland in 1922, the new parliament, the Oireachtas, was located in Leinster House. Dublin became the capital of the Irish Free State and later of the Republic of Ireland.
Similar to the other cities of Cork, Limerick, Galway, and Waterford, Dublin is administered separately from its respective county and has its own city council. The city is currently ranked 29th in the Global Financial Centres Index and is listed by the GaWC as a global city, with a ranking of Alpha, placing Dublin among the top 30 cities in the world. It is a historical and contemporary cultural centre for the country, as well as a modern centre of education, the arts, administration, economy and industry.
Dublin has been at the centre of Ireland’s phenomenal economic growth over the last decade (known as the Celtic Tiger period) and subsequent contraction. In 2009, Dublin was listed as the fourth-richest city in the world, and according to one source, is the world’s 25th most expensive city. It is also listed as the tenth most expensive city in the world in which to live. However, it had the second highest wages for a city in the world, ahead of both New York City and London, though behind Zurich but as of 2009 has dropped to tenth highest. In 2005, around 800,000 people were employed in the Greater Dublin Area, of whom around 600,000 were employed in the services sector and 200,000 in the industrial sector.
