Northern Ireland is a province of the United Kingdom located in the northern sixth of Ireland. Northern Ireland was created on 3 May 1921 when Ireland was partitioned between the United Kingdom and Ireland. Although Ireland formed the Irish Free State in 1922, Northern Ireland decided to remain in union with Britain, with most of the unionists being descended from Protestant Ulster Scots and other non-Irish colonists that had arrived in the 17th century after the Plantation of Ulster was declared. The Protestant majority saw themselves as distinct from the rest of the Irish population, and Northern Ireland was the location of violence and terrorism from 1969 to 1998 in "The Troubles", which saw the Real IRA fight against the Ulster Volunteer Force and the British Army in a campaign to "free" Northern Ireland from British rule. The 1998 Good Friday Agreement ended the violence, although sporadic violence continued for several more years. Today, Northern Ireland has a population of 1,861,200 people, with 98.28% being whites, 1.06% Asians, .20% blacks, and .46% others; 42% are Protestant, 41% Catholic, 17% nonreligious, and 1% other religions.
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