MOST IRISH PEOPLE don’t feel entirely European.

Our island on the edge of the continent is a little bit different to the mainland.

Some, but not all, of these differences become apparent when you plot census data on a map.

Eurostat’s map-making tool allows you to explore how each culture varies across Europe by tapping into this data.

We’ve taking a quick look at five areas:

Divorce

Ireland has one of the lowest rates of people who have been divorced or widowed, and who have not entered into some form of civil partnership again.

Hospital beds

Compared to the rest of Europe, Ireland and the United Kingdom have strikingly low number of hospital beds for every 100,000 people. Germany is the polar opposite.

Foreign citizens

Areas with a high percentage are clustered together – Ireland is one of those spots. There’s also the east of Spain, Switzerland and its surrounding areas down into Italy, and a band across Norway and Sweden.

Playschool

The map below shows the participation rates of four-year-olds in early childhood and primary education.

There’s a clear east/west divide, of which the north-eastern counties of Ireland buck the trend for Western Europe.

Unemployment

The PIIGS really stand out here.

While most of Europe has around 50% of their unemployed population classed as long-term unemployed, the peripieral countries have higher rates.

Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain have rates higher than 60%.

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