The West is a strategic planning area within the Northern and Western Region in Ireland. It is a NUTS Level III statistical region of Ireland (coded IE042) under the

Eurostat Eurostat ("European Statistical Office"; also DG ESTAT) is a department of the European Commission ( Directorate-General), located in the Kirchberg quarter of Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. Eurostat's main responsibilities are to provide statist ...

classification. It consists of the

counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

, Mayo and

Roscommon Roscommon (; ; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60 road (Ireland), N60, N61 road (Ireland), N61 and N63 road (Irelan ...

, and the city of

. The West spans 13,801 km² (20% of the total area of the state) and as of the 2022 census has a population of 485,966. The region is located on the western seaboard of Ireland with the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the River Shannon delimiting the region to the east. The West Region is largely rural, with only 30% of its population living in urban areas. It is noted for its continuance of Irish traditions, such as the Irish language in the region's

Gaeltacht A ( , , ) is a district of Ireland, either individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home. The districts were first officially recognised ...

areas.

Regional Assembly

The constituent local authorities are the councils of the counties of

, Mayo and

and the city

, which each send representatives to the Northern and Western Regional Assembly, forming the West Strategic Planning Area Committee.

Former Regional Authority

From 1994 to 2014, the West Region was administered by the West Regional Authority, which consisted of 28 elected representatives including the region's representative on the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

Committee of the Regions. These representatives met once a month and were nominated from the four administrative councils of the region: *

Galway City Council Galway City Council () is the local authority of the city of Galway, Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban planning and ...

(6) * Galway County Council (7) * Mayo County Council (7) * Roscommon County Council (6) In 2014, the Regional Authorities were dissolved and their functions were transferred to the Regional Assemblies.

Demographics

According to the 2022 census, the region had a population of 485,966, which constitutes 9.43% of the national population. Its population density was 35 persons per km². The population of the regional capital, Galway City, was 85,910.

Economy

According to Eurostat figures for 2012, the region has GDP of €13.802 bn and a GDP per capita of €31,500. Tourism in the region is bolstered by its geography, with it attracting tourists from across Ireland and elsewhere, with inland rivers, lakes, mountains and plains, along with off shore islands, a large number of beaches, and its rugged coastline amongst natural attractions.

Transport

The Ireland West Airport is an international airport in the region which is served by flights to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, and

continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous mainland of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by som ...

. Mainline rail services operate from both Galway and Mayo to Dublin. The

M6 motorway The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 motorway, M1 and the western end of t ...

, connecting Galway to Dublin, was completed in 2009. The M18 motorway from Shannon to the M6 opened in 2010 and its short continuation north to

Tuam Tuam (; , meaning 'mound' or 'burial-place') is a town in Ireland and the second-largest settlement in County Galway. It is west of the midland Region, Ireland, midlands of Ireland, about north of Galway city. The town is in a civil parishe ...

(as the M17 motorway) opened in 2017. The Western Railway Corridor re-opened in 2010 as far as Athenry, a junction with the Dublin-Galway line.

Urban areas

A list of the largest urban areas in the West Region. County capitals are shown in bold.

References

External links

Project Ireland 2040: Regional Report: The West
{{coord missing, Ireland NUTS statistical regions of the Republic of Ireland