Dublin is the capital and one of the largest cities of Ireland. It is located at the mouth of the River Liffey near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, and forms the centre of the Dublin Region. Dublin City is administered by Dublin City Council. 'Dublin', also refers to the contiguous suburban areas that run into the adjacent counties of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin. This area is sometimes known as 'Urban Dublin' or the 'Dublin Metropolitan Area'. The population within the city was 505,739 at the census of 2006. Beyond this, at the same census the Dublin Region population was 1,186,159, whilst the Greater Dublin Area had a figure of 1,661,185. A person from Dublin is known as a Dubliner or a Dub.
Dublin has a sizeable number of immigrants especially from Poland, China, the United Kingdom, Nigeria and Romania, despite having a long tradition of emigration that continued up until the early 1990s. There are also considerable numbers from fellow E.U. member states, the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Latvia and Estonia, while over the last decade a large number of Irish who previously emigrated, have returned to settle in the city. In a 2003 survey, Dublin was found to be the best capital city in Europe to live in, and the Republic of Ireland was also the best country to live in.