Munster (Irish: an Mhumhain / Cúige Mumhan, ) is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the south of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" Irish: rí ruirech. Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial purposes. In later centuries, local government legislation has seen further sub-division of the historic counties. In modern times, clusters of counties have been attributed to certain provinces but these clusters have no legal status. The province itself, while enjoying common usage and forming a strong part of local identity, has no official function for local government purposes. Apart from County Clare, much of the area lies in the South constituency for elections to the European Parliament. Geographically, Munster covers a total area of 24,675 km2 (9,527 sq mi) and has a population of 1,246,088 with the most populated city being Cork.
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