South-West Region, Ireland

The South-West Region was administered by the South-West Regional Authority, which consisted of 24 elected representatives, including the region's representative on the EU Committee of the Regions. These representatives met once a month and were nominated from the three administrative councils of the region:{{cite web |url=http://www.swra.ie/contentFiles/pdfs/swra_members.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2010-09-17 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721131957/http://www.swra.ie/contentFiles/pdfs/swra_members.pdf |archivedate=2011-07-21 }}

• Cork City Council (7)
• Cork County Council (9)
• Kerry County Council (8)

The Regional Authorities were dissolved in 2014 and were replaced by Regional Assemblies.{{Cite Irish legislation|year=2014|type=si|number=228|name=Local Government Act 1991 (Regional Authorities) (Amendment) Order 2014|date=29 May 2014|access-date=19 January 2022}}

File:Towards Ardgroom Bay - geograph.org.uk - 457471.jpg, County Cork. Small rural villages typify the southwest.]]

The South-West region has experienced a steady increase in its population with migration to the region due to its strong educational infrastructure, scenery, mild climate, as well as its quality of life and work.

According to the 2016 census, the South-West region had a population of 689,750, which constitutes 14.5% of the national population. Its population density was 52.5 persons per km². 78.6% of the south-west's population (542,196 people), reside in County Cork. The remaining 21.4% (147,554 people) live in County Kerry.

The southwest is the home of Munster Irish and contains a number of nationally significant Gaeltacht areas, such as Dingle, Cape Clear Island and Muskerry. 14% of Ireland's Gaeltacht population lives in Cork and Kerry. According to the 2016 Census, 43% of Kerry and 45% of Cork are able to speak Irish.

The population of Cork City, including its suburbs, was 208,669.

File:Cork Harbour - panoramio (2).jpg, one of the world's largest natural harbours, serves as an economic gateway to the southwest.]]

{{See also|Economy of Cork}}

The region's economy consists of a range of multi-national companies that specialise in areas such as electronics and pharmaceuticals. The food industry also forms an important sector in the regional economy. Tourism is also a major industry in the region.

Eurostat figures for 2012 gave the region a GDP of €32.4 bn and a GDP per capita of €48,500 (second highest on the island of Ireland, second only to Dublin €57,200).{{cite web |url=http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/submitViewTableAction.do |title=Eurostat - Data Explorer |accessdate=2017-07-21 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006181854/http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/submitViewTableAction.do |archivedate=2014-10-06 }} According to CSO figures for 2014, the region then had a GDP of €33.8 bn and a GDP per capita of €50,544.{{cite web|url =https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/er/cirgdp/countyincomesandregionalgdp2014/ | publisher = CSO | title = CSO statistical release, 22 March 2017 - County Incomes and Regional GDP 2014 | date = 22 March 2017 }} By 2020, this had risen to a contribution of €103.2 billion towards Irish GDP.{{cite web|url = https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-cirgdp/countyincomesandregionalgdp2020/ | title = County Incomes and Regional GDP 2020 | date = 2020 | accessdate = 5 December 2023 | publisher = Central Statistics Office }}

The workforce of the region in 2003 was 255,800, which equated to a 95.58% employment rate with services (59.9%), industrial employment (31.2%), and agriculture (8.9%) forming the key industries. The 2016 unemployment rate for the South-West region, at 5.7%, is the lowest of any other Irish NUTS region.{{cite web|url = https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/er/qnhs/quarterlynationalhouseholdsurveyquarter42016/ | publisher = Central Statistics Office |work = Quarterly National Household Survey | title = Table 9 Persons aged 15 years and over classified by NUTS2 and NUTS3 regions and ILO Economic Status|date = 21 February 2017 |accessdate= }}

The South-West region contains two airports, Cork International Airport and Kerry International Airport, both of which provide a wide range of flights to locations across Europe. The region also has ferry services operating between Cork, the United Kingdom and France.

File:Dingle Bay, Ring of Kerry (506509) (27811503116).jpg, Ireland's most westerly point.]]

Ireland's southernmost and westernmost points are located in the Southwest. Tearaght Island is the westernmost point located 12.5 km west of the Dingle Peninsula in Kerry. The southernmost point is Fastnet Rock, which lies 11.3 km south of mainland County Cork. Including only mainland Ireland, Brow Head, County Cork is the southernmost point and Dunmore Head, County Kerry is the westernmost point. Ireland's twelve highest mountains are located in County Kerry. Killarney National Park in Kerry has Ireland's only native herd of Red Deer and the most extensive covering of native forest remaining in Ireland. The southwest has a total of {{convert|132274|ha}} of forest and woodland area, larger than six different Irish counties. The area of the Southwest is {{convert|12120|km2|abbr=on}}, roughly 16% of Ireland's land area which is large enough to fit the 10 smallest counties inside it and almost as large as Northern Ireland. The combined coastline of Cork and Kerry is {{convert|1778|km|abbr=on}}, including islands.

A list of the ten largest settlements in the southwest County capitals are included and are shown in bold.

File:Ch2crop.jpg, County Cork]]

File:Tralee.JPG, County Kerry]]

• Munster Technological University

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{{Coord missing|Ireland}}

{{Regions of RoI}}

Category:NUTS statistical regions of the Republic of Ireland