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County Carlow is one of the Republic of Ireland's 12 inland counties with a population of 41,600. Its main town is Carlow with other larger towns located at Tullow, Borris and Hacketstown. County Carlow shares borders with counties Kilkenny, Wexford, Wicklow, Kildare and Laois. County Carlow is in a convenient location for reaching many parts of Ireland. The main river flowing through its borders is the River Slaney in its eastern parts. Diverse types of landscape can be viewed while in County Carlow with fertile agriculture land, hills and rugged terrain inter-dispersed to provide great interest to the eye when travelling around or through the county.
County Carlow has a rich history with many castles, ruins and monastic sites for the visitor to see. The main tourist attractions and places to visit include Brownshill Dolman, Carlow Museum, Carlow Mini Brewery, Altamont Gardens, Myshall Memorial Church and Killeshin Romanesque Doorway.
Ireland is a large island situated in the north Atlantic off northwest Europe. In fact, at 82,463 km2, it is the 20th largest island in the world. It is the second largest member of the British Isles archipelago (Britain being the largest at 218,041 km2), which is also home to the Isle of Man, Shetlands, Orkneys, Scilly Isles, Western Isles and numerous other offshore islands.
Although it is on the same latitude as Canada's Hudson Bay, Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula and southern Alaska, Ireland enjoys a temperate maritime climate. This is caused by the so-called "Gulf Stream" - a current of warm water and air that flows from the Gulf of Mexico towards Europe. It is this that allows people in Europe to live more easily in northern latitudes. Without the Gulf Stream, Ireland's average January temperature would be around 15ºC cooler than today - between -10ºC and -15ºC.
Ireland lies between 50º and 60º north of the Equator and around 15º south of the Arctic circle. At this latitude, the difference in length between a winter day and a summer day is quite pronounced. A typical June day in Ireland is over 18 hours long while a December day can be less than 7 hours long. During some summer nights, the level of light never falls below twilight.
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