Wales

52.3°N 3.7°W / 52.3; -3.7

This article is about the country. For other uses, see Wales (disambiguation).

Wales [Cymru] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: [Cymru am byth] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)  (Welsh) "Wales forever"
Anthem: ["Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau"] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)  (Welsh) "Land of My Fathers"
Location of Wales (orange) – in Europe (tan & white) – in the United Kingdom (tan)
Capital and largest city	Cardiff
Official languages	Welsh, English
Government	Constitutional monarchy
• Queen (of the UK)	Queen Elizabeth II
• Prime Minister (of the UK)	Gordon Brown MP
• First Minister (of Wales)	Rhodri Morgan AM
• Secretary of State (in the UK government)	Peter Hain MP
Unification
• by Gruffudd ap Llywelyn	1056
Population
• 2005 estimate	2,958,6001
• 2001 census	2,903,085
GDP (PPP)	2002 estimate
• Total	US$48 billion
• Per capita	US$23,741
HDI (2003)	0.939 very high
Currency	Pound sterling (GBP)
Time zone	UTC0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)
Calling code	44
ISO 3166 code	GB-WLS
Internet TLD	.uk2
Office for National Statistics - UK population grows to more than 60 million Also .eu, as part of the European Union. ISO 3166-1 is GB, but .gb is unused.

Wales (Welsh: Cymru; pronounced /ˈkəmrɨ/) is one of the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom. Wales is located in the south-west of Great Britain and is bordered by England to the east, the Bristol Channel (Môr Hafren) to the south and the Irish Sea (Môr Iwerddon) to the west and north, and also by the estuary of the River Dee (Afon Dyfrdwy) in the north-east. Wales is the largest principality in the world.

Welsh cultural identity is represented by elements such as the Welsh language, monastic asceticism, a highly evolved secular legal system (Cyfraith Hywel), and a distinctive literary tradition which emerged after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century. Of the principal polities within Wales, only Gwynedd retained independence until the late 13th century, when it too was conquered by England. However, formal annexation and abolition of Welsh law did not take place until the 16th century. Wales (with all regions united under one government) has never been a sovereign state, although a number of rival principalities remained independent until the Anglo-Norman conquest.

From the 19th century on, parts of Wales became heavily industrialised, exporting vast quantities of coal and steel and establishing a large manufacturing base which has only recently been overtaken by the service sector.

Two thirds of the population of Wales live in the valleys and coastal plain of the south, with a further significant population concentration in the north east. The remaining areas in Mid Wales, the south west and west are predominantly rural and characterised by hilly and mountainous terrain.

From the 20th century a revival in Welsh national consciousness and sentiment has taken place. Wales's largest city, Cardiff (Caerdydd) was established as the capital of Wales in 1955. The National Assembly for Wales (Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru) was formed in 1999, with powers to amend primary legislation from the U.K. Parliament. These powers were widened by the Government of Wales Act 2006, and the Assembly can now propose and pass its own laws but only after the agreement of the UK Parliament.

Etymology

See also: List of meanings of countries' names and History of the term Vlach

The English name for Wales originates from the Germanic word Walha, meaning "stranger" or "foreigner" or "roman", probably derived from the term Volcae. The term also appears in the "-wall" of Cornwall. The Welsh call themselves Cymry in Welsh, which most likely meant "compatriots" in Old Welsh. The name competed for a long time in Welsh literature with the older name Brythoniaid (Brythons). Only after 1100 did the former become as common as the latter; both terms applied originally not only to the inhabitants of what is now called Wales, but in general to speakers of the Brythonic language and its descendants, many of whom lived in "the Old North": the placenames Cymru (Welsh for Wales) and Cumbria are of the same origin. The Angles, Saxons and Jutes were known indiscriminately as Saeson in Welsh (the term is cognate with "Saxon"; compare Gaelic Sassenach); Sais, plural Saeson, is the modern Welsh word for "Englishman".

There is also a medieval legend found in the Historia Regum Britanniae of Sieffre o Fynwy (Geoffrey of Monmouth) that derives it from the name Camber, son of Brutus and, according to the legend, the eponymous King of Cymru (Cambria in Latin); this however is considered largely the fruit of Geoffrey's vivid imagination. Cumberland and Cumbria in the North of England derive their names from the same Old Welsh word.

History

Main article: History of Wales

Colonisation

Bryn Celli Ddu, a late Neolithic chambered tomb on Anglesey

The first documented history was recorded during the Roman occupation of Britain. At that time the area of modern Wales was divided into many tribes, of which the Silures in the south-east and the Ordovices in the central and north-west areas were the largest and most powerful. The Romans established a string of forts across what is now Southern Wales, as far west as Carmarthen (Caerfyrddin; Latin: Maridunum), and mined gold at Dolaucothi in Carmarthenshire. There is evidence that they progressed even farther west. They also built the legionary fortress at Caerleon (Latin: Isca Silurum), whose magnificent amphitheatre is the best preserved in Britain. The Romans were also busy in Northern Wales, and the mediaeval Welsh tale Breuddwyd Macsen Wledig claims that Magnus Maximus (Macsen Wledig), one of the last western Roman emperors, married Elen or Helen, the daughter of a Welsh chieftain from Segontium, present-day Caernarfon. It was in the 4th century during the Roman occupation that Christianity was introduced to Wales.

After the Roman withdrawal from Britain in 410, much of the lowlands were overrun by various Germanic tribes. However, Gwynedd, Powys, Dyfed and Seisyllg, Morgannwg, and Gwent emerged as independent Welsh successor states. They endured, in part because of favourable geographical features such as uplands, mountains, and rivers and a resilient society that did not collapse with the end of the Roman civitas. This tenacious survival by the Romano-Britons and their descendants in the western kingdoms was to become the foundation of what we now know as Wales. With the loss of the lowlands, England's kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria, and later Wessex, wrestled with Powys, Gwent, and Gwynedd to define the frontier between the two peoples.

Having lost much of the West Midlands to Mercia in the 6th and early 7th century, a resurgent late 7th century Powys checked Mercian advancement. Aethelbald of Mercia, looking to defend recently acquired lands, had built Wat's Dyke. According to John Davies, this endeavour may have been with Powys king Elisedd ap Gwylog's own agreement, however, for this boundary, extending north from the Severn valley to the Dee estuary, gave Oswestry (Welsh: Croesoswallt) to Powys. King Offa of Mercia seems to have continued this consultative initiative when he created a larger earth work, now known as Offa's Dyke (Welsh: Clawdd Offa). Davies wrote of Cyril Fox's study of Offa's Dyke:

In the planning of it, there was a degree of consultation with the kings of Powys and Gwent. On the Long Mountain near Trelystan, the dyke veers to the east, leaving the fertile slops in the hands of the Welsh; near Rhiwabod, it was designed to ensure that Cadell ap Brochwel retained possession of the Fortress of Penygadden." And for Gwent Offa had the dyke built "on the eastern crest of the gorge, clearly with the intention of recognizing that the river Wye and its traffic belonged to the kingdom of Gwent.

Offa's Dyke largely remained the frontier between the Welsh and English, though the Welsh would recover by the 12th century the area between the Dee and the Conwy known then as the Perfeddwlad. By the eighth century the eastern borders with the Anglo-Saxons had broadly been set.

Following the successful examples of Cornwall in 722 and Brittany in 865, the Britons of Wales made their peace with the Vikings and asked the Norsemen to help the Britons fight the Anglo-Saxons of Mercia to prevent an Anglo-saxon conquest of Wales. In 878 AD the Britons of Wales unified with the Vikings of Denmark to destroy an Anglo-Saxon army of Mercians. Like Cornwall in 722, this decisive defeating of the Saxons gave Wales some decades of peace from Anglo-saxon attack. In 1063, the Welsh prince Gruffydd ap Llewelyn made an alliance with Norwegian Vikings against Mercia which, as in 878 AD was successful, and the Saxons of Mercia defeated. As with Cornwall and Brittany, Viking aggression towards the Saxons/Franks ended any chance of the Anglo-Saxons/Franks conquering their Celtic neighbours.

Medieval Wales

The southern and eastern lands lost to English settlement became known in Welsh as Lloegyr (Modern Welsh Lloegr), which may have referred to the kingdom of Mercia originally, and which came to refer to England as a whole. The Germanic tribes who now dominated these lands were invariably called Saeson, meaning "Saxons". The Anglo-Saxons, in turn, labelled the Romano-British as Walha, meaning 'foreigner' or 'stranger'. The Welsh continued to call themselves Brythoniaid (Brythons or Britons) well into the Middle Ages, though the first use of Cymru and y Cymry is found as early as 633 in the Gododdin of Aneirin. In Armes Prydain, written in about 930, the words Cymry and Cymro are used as often as 15 times. It was not until about the 12th century however, that Cymry began to overtake Brythoniaid in their writings.

Dolwyddelan Castle, built by Llywelyn ab Iorwerth in the early 13th century to watch over one of the valley routes into Gwynedd

From the year 800 onwards, a series of dynastic marriages led to Rhodri Mawr's (r. 844-877) inheritance of Gwynedd and Powys. His sons in turn would found three principal dynasties (Aberffraw for Gwynedd, Dinefwr for Deheubarth, and Mathrafal for Powys), each competing for hegemony over the others. Rhodri's grandson Hywel Dda (r.900-950) founded Deheubarth out of his maternal and paternal inheritances of Dyfed and Seisyllwg, oust the Aberffraw dynasty from Gwynedd and Powys, and codify Welsh law in 930, finally going on a pilgrimage to Rome (and allegedly having the Law Codes blessed by the pope). Maredudd ab Owain (r.986-999) of Deheubarth (Hywel's grandson) would, (again) temporarily oust the Aberffraw line for control of Gwynedd and Powys. Maredudd's great-grandson (through his daughter Princess Angharad) Gruffydd ap Llywelyn (r.1039-1063) would conquer his cousins' realms from his base in Powys, and even extend his authority into England. Owain Gwynedd (1100-1170) of the Aberffraw line was the first Welsh ruler to use the title princeps Wallensium (prince of the Welsh), a title of substance given his victory on the Berwyn Mountains, according to historianJohn Davies. The Aberffraw dynasty would surge to pre-eminence with Owain Gwynedd's grandson Llywelyn Fawr (the Great) (b.1173-1240), wrestling concessions out of the Magna Carta in 1215 and receiving the fealty of other Welsh lords in 1216 at the council at Aberdyfi, becoming the first Prince of Wales. His grandson Llywelyn II also secured the recognition of the title Prince of Wales from Henry III with the Treaty of Montgomery in 1267. Later however, a succession of disputes, including the imprisonment of Llywelyn's wife Eleanor, daughter of Simon de Montfort, culminated in the first invasion by Edward I. As a result of military defeat, the Treaty of Aberconwy imposed English fealty over Llywelyn in 1277. Peace was short lived and with the 1282 Edwardian conquest the rule of the Welsh princes permanently ended. With Llywelyn's death and his brother prince Dafydd's execution, the few remaining Welsh lords did homage for their lands to Edward. Llywelyn's head was then carried through London on a spear; his baby daughter Gwenllian was locked in the priory at Sempringham, where she remained until her death fifty four years later.

To help maintain his dominance, Edward constructed a series of great stone castles. Beaumaris, Caernarfon, and Conwy were built mainly to overshadow the Welsh royal home and headquarters Garth Celyn, Aber Garth Celyn, on the north coast of Gwynedd.

There was no major uprising except that led by Owain Glyndŵr a century later, against Henry IV of England. In 1404 Owain was reputedly crowned Prince of Wales in the presence of emissaries from France, Spain and Scotland; he went on to hold parliamentary assemblies at several Welsh towns, including Machynlleth. The rebellion was ultimately to founder, however, and Owain went into hiding in 1412, with peace being more or less restored in Wales by 1415.

Although English conquest of Wales took place under the 1284 Statute of Rhuddlan, a formal Union did not occur until 1536, shortly after which Welsh law, which continued to be used in Wales after the conquest, was fully replaced by English law under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535-1542. Wales remains the largest principality in the world.

Nationalist revival

In the 20th century, Wales saw a revival in its national status. Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925, seeking greater autonomy or independence from the rest of the UK. In 1955, the term England and Wales became common for describing the area to which English law applied, and Cardiff was proclaimed as capital. In 1962 the Welsh Language Society (Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg) was formed in response to fears that the language might soon die out. Nationalism grew, particularly following the flooding of the Tryweryn valley in 1965, drowning the village of Capel Celyn to create a reservoir supplying water to Liverpool. In 1966 the Carmarthen Parliamentary seat was won by Plaid Cymru at a by-election, their first Parliamentary seat. A terror campaign was waged for a short period by the Free Wales Army and Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru (MAC - Welsh Defence Movement). In the years leading up to the investiture of Prince Charles as Prince of Wales in 1969, these groups were responsible for a number of bomb blasts destroying water pipes and tax and other offices. In 1967, the Wales and Berwick Act 1746 was repealed for Wales, and a legal definition of Wales, and of the boundary with England was stated.

A referendum on the creation of an assembly for Wales in 1979 (see Wales referendum, 1979) led to a large majority for the "no" vote. However, in 1997 a referendum on the same issue secured a "yes", although by a very narrow majority. The National Assembly for Wales (Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru) was set up in 1999 (as a consequence of the Government of Wales Act 1998) and possesses the power to determine how the central government budget for Wales is spent and administered (although the UK parliament reserves the right to set limits on the powers of the Welsh Assembly). The 1998 Act was amended by the Government of Wales Act 2006 which enhanced the Assembly's powers, giving it legislative powers akin to the Scottish Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly. Following the 2007 Assembly election, the One Wales Government was formed under a coalition agreement between Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Labour Party, under that agreement, a convention is due to be established to discuss further enhancing Wales' legislative and financial autonomy.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Wales

See also: Politics of the United Kingdom

See also: National Assembly for Wales election, 2007

The head of state in Wales, a constituent part of the United Kingdom, is the British monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II (since 1952). Executive power is derived by the Queen, and exercised by the Parliament of the United Kingdom at Westminster, with some powers devolved to the National Assembly for Wales in Cardiff. The United Kingdom Parliament retains responsibility for passing primary legislation in Wales. The National Assembly has regulatory authority over laws passed that are applicable to Wales, and has limited power to vary these by secondary legislation. The National Assembly is not a sovereign authority, and the UK Parliament could, in theory, overrule or even abolish it at any time. However, its powers are set to increase as the Government of Wales Act 2006 will allow it to speed up the passage of 'Assembly Measures'.

The Senedd in the daytime ( The Welsh Assembly Building)

The National Assembly was first established in 1998 under the Government of Wales Act. There are 60 members of the Assembly, known as "Assembly Members (AM)". Forty of the AMs are elected under the First Past the Post system, with the other 20 elected via the Additional Member System via regional lists in 5 different regions. The largest party elects the First Minister of Wales, who acts as the head of government. The Welsh Assembly Government is the executive arm, and the Assembly has delegated most of its powers to the Assembly Government. The new Assembly Building designed by Lord Rogers was opened by The Queen on St David's Day (March 1) 2006.

The current First Minister of Wales is Rhodri Morgan (since 2000), of the Welsh Labour party, with 26 of 60 seats. After the National Assembly for Wales election, 2007 Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru; The Party of Wales, which favour Welsh independence, entered into a coalition partnership to form a stable government with the "historic" One Wales agreement. As the second largest party in the Assembly with 15 out of 60 seats, Plaid Cymru is currently led by Ieuan Wyn Jones, now the Deputy First Minister of Wales. The presiding officer of the Assembly is Plaid Cymru member Lord Elis-Thomas. Other parties include the Conservative Party, currently the loyal opposition with 12 seats, and the Liberal Democrats with 6 seats. The "LibDems" had previously formed part of a coalition government with Labour in the first Assembly. There is one independent member.

In the British House of Commons, Wales is represented by 40 MPs (out of a total of 646) in the Welsh constituencies. Currently, Welsh Labour represents 29 of the 40 seats, the Liberal Democrats hold 4 seats, Plaid Cymru 3 and the Conservatives 3. A Secretary of State for Wales sits in the UK cabinet and is responsible for representing matters that pertain to Wales. The Wales Office is a department of the United Kingdom government, responsible for Wales. The current Secretary of State for Wales is Peter Hain, who is also Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

Law

Main article: English law

See also: Contemporary Welsh Law

England fully annexed Wales under the Laws in Wales Act 1535, in the reign of King Henry VIII. Prior to that Welsh Law had survived de facto after the conquest up to the fifteenth century in areas remote from direct English control. The Wales and Berwick Act 1746 provided that all laws that applied to England would automatically apply to Wales (and Berwick, a town located on the Anglo-Scottish border) unless the law explicitly stated otherwise. This act, with regard to Wales, was repealed in 1967. However, Wales and England, as part of the legal entity England and Wales, share the same legal system —except for a few changes to accommodate the autonomy recently awarded to Wales (but not to England). In this sense, English law is the law of Wales.

English law is regarded as a common law system, with no major codification of the law, and legal precedents are binding as opposed to persuasive. The court system is headed by the House of Lords which is the highest court of appeal in the land for criminal and civil cases (although this is due to be replaced by a Supreme Court of the United Kingdom). The Supreme Court of Judicature of England and Wales is the highest court of first instance as well as an appellate court. The three divisions are the Court of Appeal; the High Court of Justice and the Crown Court. Minor cases are heard by the Magistrates' Courts or the County Court.

Now, however, with the large degree of autonomy caused by the creation of the Welsh Assembly, there is a degree of independence for Wales (but not England) in terms of law-making. Following the Government of Wales Act 2006, which transferred some primary legislation powers to the National Assembly for Wales (although the final authority on such legislation must be passed by the Westminster Parliament), the ancient and historic Wales and Chester court circuit was disbanded and a separate Welsh court circuit was created to allow for any 'Welsh laws' passed by the National Assembly.

Subdivisions

Clock tower of Cardiff City Hall

Main article: Subdivisions of Wales

For the purposes of local government, Wales was divided into 22 council areas in 1996. These are unitary authorities responsible for the provision of all local government services, including education, social work, environment and roads services. Below these in some areas there are community councils — that cover specific areas within a council area.

The Queen appoints a Lord Lieutenant to represent her in the eight Preserved counties of Wales — which are combinations of council areas. The 13 traditional counties of Wales are also used as geographical areas. However other subdivisions occur when dividing Wales into separate regions in the provisions of fire, and police services. For example there is a South Wales police force, rather than the Glamorgan Police Force.

City status in the United Kingdom is determined by Letters patent. There are five cities in Wales:

• Bangor
• Cardiff (Caerdydd)
• Newport (Casnewydd)
• St David's (Tyddewi)
• Swansea (Abertawe)

(St. Asaph historically had city status. The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica refers to it as a city, but it is no longer considered as such. Applications for restoration of city status in the 2000 and 2002 competitions were unsuccessful).

Geography

Map of Wales

Main article: Geography of Wales

Wales is located on a peninsula in central-west Great Britain. Its area, the size of Wales, is about 20,779 km² (8,023 square miles - about the same size as Massachusetts, Slovenia or El Salvador). It is about 274 km (170 miles) north-south and 97 km (60 miles) east-west. Wales is bordered by England to the east and by sea in the other three directions: the Môr Hafren (Bristol Channel) to the south, St. George's Channel to the west, and the Irish Sea to the north. Altogether, Wales has over 1,200km (750 miles) of coastline. There are several islands off the Welsh mainland, the largest being Ynys Môn (Anglesey) in the northwest.

The main population and industrial areas are in South Wales, consisting of the cities of Cardiff (Caerdydd), Swansea (Abertawe) and Newport (Casnewydd) and surrounding areas. With another significant population in the north-east around Wrexham(Wrecsam).

The summit of Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa), Gwynedd, highest mountain in Wales

Much of Wales' diverse landscape is mountainous, particularly in the north and central regions. The mountains were shaped during the last ice age, the Devensian glaciation. The highest mountains in Wales are in Snowdonia (Eryri), and include Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa), which, at 1085 m (3,560 ft) is the highest peak in Wales. The 14 (or possibly 15) Welsh mountains over 3,000 feet (914 m) high are known collectively as the Welsh 3000s. The Brecon Beacons (Bannau Brycheiniog) are in the south (Highest point Pen-y-Fan 886m (2,907ft)). and are joined by the Cambrian Mountains in mid-Wales, the latter name being given to the earliest geological period of the Paleozoic era, the Cambrian.

In the mid-nineteenth century, two prominent geologists, Roderick Murchison and Adam Sedgwick, used their studies of the geology of Wales to establish certain principles of stratigraphy and palaeontology. After much dispute, the next two periods of the Paleozoic era, the Ordovician and Silurian, were named after ancient Celtic tribes from this area. The older rocks underlying the Cambrian rocks were referred to as Pre-cambrian.

Wales has three National Parks: Snowdonia, Brecon Beacons and Pembrokeshire Coast. It also has four Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. These areas include Anglesey, the Clwydian Range, the Gower Peninsula and the Wye Valley. The Gower Peninsula was the first area in the whole of the United Kingdom to be designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, in 1956.

Tor Bay and Three Cliffs Bay, Gower (Gŵyr), Glamorgan.

Along with its Celtic cousins in Cornwall, the coastline of South and West Wales has more miles of Heritage Coast than anywhere else. The coastline of the Glamorgan Heritage Coast, the Gower Peninsula, Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, and Ceredigion is particularly wild and impressive. Gower, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and Cardigan Bay all have clean blue water, white sand beaches and impressive marine life. Despite this scenic splendour the coast of Wales has a dark side; the south and west coasts of Wales, along with the Irish and Cornish coasts, are frequently blasted by huge Atlantic westerlies/south westerlies that, over the years, have sunk and wrecked many vessels. On the night of October 25, 1859, 114 ships were destroyed off the coast of Wales when a hurricane blew in from the Atlantic; Cornwall and Ireland also had a huge number of fatalities on its coastline from shipwrecks that night. Wales has the somewhat unenviable reputation, along with Cornwall, Ireland and Brittany, of having per square mile, some of the highest shipwreck rates in Europe. The shipwreck situation was particularly bad during the industrial era when ships bound for Cardiff got caught up in Atlantic gales and were decimated by "the cruel sea".

Like Cornwall, Brittany and Ireland, the clean, clear waters of South-west Wales of Gower, Pembrokeshire and Cardigan Bay attract visitors including basking sharks, Atlantic grey seals, leatherback turtles, dolphins, porpoises, jellyfish, crabs and lobsters. Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion in particular are recognised as an area of international importance for bottle nosed dolphins, and New Quay in the middle of Cardigan Bay has the only summer residence of bottle nosed dolphins in the whole of the U.K.

The modern border between Wales and England was largely defined in the 16th century, based on medieval feudal boundaries. The boundary line (which very roughly follows Offa's Dyke up to 40 miles (64 km) of the northern coast) separates Knighton from its railway station, virtually cuts off Church Stoke from the rest of Wales, and slices straight through the village of Llanymynech (where a pub actually straddles the line).

The Seven Wonders of Wales is a list in doggerel verse of seven geographic and cultural landmarks in Wales probably composed in the late eighteenth century under the influence of tourism from England. All the "wonders" are in north Wales: Snowdon (the highest mountain), the Gresford bells (the peal of bells in the medieval church of All Saints at Gresford), the Llangollen bridge (built in 1347 over the River Dee, Afon Dyfrdwy), St Winefride's Well (a pilgrimage site at Holywell, Treffynnon) in Flintshire) the Wrexham (Wrecsam) steeple (16th century tower of St. Giles Church in Wrexham), the Overton yew trees (ancient yew trees in the churchyard of St Mary's at Overton-on-Dee) and Pistyll Rhaeadr (Wales' tallest waterfall, at 240 ft or 75 m). The wonders are part of the rhyme:

Pistyll Rhaeadr and Wrexham steeple,

Snowdon's mountain without its people,

Overton yew trees, St Winefride wells,

Llangollen bridge and Gresford bells.

Climate

• Highest maximum temperature: 35.2°C (95.4°F) at Hawarden Bridge, Flintshire on 2 August 1990.
• Lowest minimum temperature: -23.3°C (-10°F) at Rhayader, Radnorshire on 21 January 1940. [1]
• Maximum number of hours of sunshine in a month: 354.3 hours at Dale Fort, Pembrokeshire in July 1955.
• Minimum number of hours of sunshine in a month: 2.7 hours at Llwynon, Brecknockshire in January 1962. [2]
• Maximum rainfall in a day (0900 UTC - 0900 UTC): 211 mm (8.30 inches) at Rhondda, Glamorgan, on 11 November 1929. [3]

See also: List of towns in Wales

Economy

Main article: Economy of Wales

Parts of Wales have been heavily industrialised since the 18th century. Coal, copper, iron, silver, lead, and gold have been mined in Wales, and slate has been quarried. By the second half of the 19th century, mining and metallurgy had come to dominate the Welsh economy, transforming the landscape and society in the industrial districts of south and north-east Wales.

From the early 1970s, the Welsh economy faced massive restructuring with large numbers of jobs in traditional heavy industry disappearing and being replaced by new ones in light industry and in services. Over this period Wales was successful in attracting an above average share of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the UK. However, much of the new industry has essentially been of a 'branch factory' type, often routine assembly employing low skilled workers.

The main building of Cardiff University

Wales has struggled to develop or attract high value-added employment in sectors such as finance and research and development, attributable in part to a comparative lack of economic mass (i.e. population), with Cardiff being the only large city in the country. The lack of high value-added employment is reflected in lower economic output per head relative to other regions of the UK - in 2002 it stood at 90% of the EU25 average and around 80% of the UK average. However, care is needed in interpreting these data, which do not take account of regional differences in the cost of living. The gap in real living standards between Wales and more prosperous parts of the UK is not pronounced.

In 2002, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Wales was just over £26 billion ($48 billion), giving a per capita GDP of £12,651 ($19,546). As of 2006, the unemployment rate in Wales stood at 5.7% - above the UK average, but lower than in the majority of EU countries.

Due to poor-quality soil, much of Wales is unsuitable for crop-growing, and livestock farming has traditionally been the focus of agriculture. The Welsh landscape (protected by three National Parks), as well as the unique culture of Wales, attract large numbers of tourists, who play an especially vital role in the economy of rural areas.

Demographics

Main articles: Demographics of Wales and Demographics of the United Kingdom

The population of Wales in the 2001 census was 2,903,085, which has risen to 2,958,876 according to 2005 estimates. This would make Wales the 132nd largest country by population if it were a sovereign state.

According to the 2001 census, 96% of the population was White British, and 2.1% non-white (mainly of Asian origin).[4] Most non-white groups were concentrated in the southern cities of Cardiff, Newport and Swansea.

Roald Dahl Plass, Cardiff

Wales has large ethnically Asian communities mainly in Cardiff, Newport and Swansea due to immigration since World War II and more recently, since the European Union enlarged to include many Eastern European nations. Much of Wales has seen an increased number of immigrants settle from countries such as Poland - although considerable numbers of Poles also settled in Wales in the immediate aftermath of World War II.

In the 2001 Labour Force Survey, 72% of adults in Wales considered their national identity as wholly Welsh and another 7% considered themselves to be partly Welsh (Welsh and British were the most common combination). [5] A recent study estimated that 35% of the Welsh population have surnames of Welsh origin.[6] However, some names identified as English (such as 'Greenaway') may be corruptions of Welsh ('Goronwy'). Other names common in Wales, such as 'Richards', may have originated simultaneously in other parts of Britain. Equally, Welsh surnames such as 'Jones' are amongst the most common names in England.

In 2001 a quarter of the Welsh population were born outside Wales, mainly in England; about 3% were born outside the UK. The proportion of people who were born in Wales differs across the country, with the highest percentages in the South Wales Valleys, and the lowest in Mid Wales and parts of the north-east. In both Blaenau Gwent and Merthyr Tydfil 92% were Welsh-born, compared to only 51% in Flintshire and 56% in Powys.[7] One of the reasons for this is that the locations of the most convenient hospitals in which to give birth are over the border in England.

Languages

Main articles: English language and Welsh language

The official languages in Wales are English and Welsh. English is spoken by almost all people in Wales and is the de facto main language (see Welsh English). However, Wales is officially bilingual, with 21.7% of the population able to speak Welsh and a larger proportion having some knowledge of the Welsh language according to a 2004 language survey. Today there are very few truly monoglot Welsh speakers, other than small children, but individuals still exist who may be considered less than fluent in English and rarely speak it. There were still many monoglots as recently as the middle of the twentieth century. The Welsh Language Act 1993 and the Government of Wales Act 1998 provide that the Welsh and English languages should be treated on a basis of equality. Public bodies are required to prepare and implement a Welsh Language Scheme. Thus the Welsh Assembly, local councils, police forces, fire services and the health sector use Welsh as an official language, issuing official literature and publicity in Welsh versions (e.g. letters to parents from schools, library information, and council information). All road signs in Wales should be in English and Welsh, including both versions of place names where names or versions exist in both languages e.g. "Cardiff" and "Caerdydd".

During the 20th century a number of small communities of speakers of languages other than English or Welsh, such as Bengali or Cantonese, have established themselves in Wales as a result of immigration. This phenomenon is almost exclusive to urban Wales. The Italian Government funds the teaching of Italian to Welsh residents of Italian ancestry. These other languages however have no official status, although public services may produce information leaflets in minority ethnic languages where there is a specific need, as happens elsewhere in the United Kingdom.

Religion

The largest religion in Wales is Christianity, with 72% of the population describing themselves as Christian in the 2001 census. The Presbyterian Church of Wales is the largest denomination and was born out of the Welsh Methodist revival in the eighteenth century and seceded from the Church of England in 1811. The Church in Wales is the next largest denomination, and forms part of the Anglican Communion. It too was part of the Church of England, and was disestablished by the British Government under the Welsh Church Act 1914 (the act did not take effect until 1920). The Roman Catholic Church makes up the next largest denomination at 3% of the population. Non-Christian religions are small in Wales, making up approximately 1.5% of the population. 18% of people declare no religion.

The patron saint of Wales is Saint David (Welsh: Dewi Sant), with St David's Day (Welsh: Gŵyl Dewi) celebrated annually on March 1.

In 1904, there was a religious revival (known by some as the 1904-1905 Welsh Revival or simply The 1904 Revival) which started through the evangelism of Evan Roberts and took many parts of Wales by storm with massive amounts of people voluntarily converting to Christianity, sometimes whole communities. During the few months of the revival, public houses became almost empty, people stopped using obscene language and even made every effort to pay up on outstanding bills. There are even anecdotal accounts (including newspaper articles from the time) of white gloves being presented to judges in some parts of Wales (indicating no cases to be tried). Many of the present-day pentecostal churches in Wales claim to have originated in this revival.

Islam is the largest non-Christian religion in Wales, with over 30,000 reported in the 2001 census. There are also communities of Hindus and Sikhs mainly in the South Wales cities of Newport, Cardiff and Swansea, while curiously the largest concentration of Buddhists is in the western rural county of Ceredigion. Judaism was the first non-Christian faith (excluding pre-Roman animism) to be established in Wales, however, due to a history of antisemitic attacks, as of the year 2001 the community has declined to approximately 2,000.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Wales

Sport

Main article: Sport in Wales

Millennium Stadium

The most popular sports in Wales are football and Rugby union football. Wales, like other constituent nations, enjoys independent representation in major world sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup, Rugby World Cup and in the Commonwealth Games (however as Great Britain in the Olympics). As in New Zealand, rugby is a core part of the national identity, although football is normally the number one sport in north Wales due to the close proximity to England's north-west. Wales has its own governing bodies in rugby, the Welsh Rugby Union and in football, the Football Association of Wales (the third oldest in the world).

The Welsh national rugby union team takes part in the annual Six Nations Championship, and the Rugby World Cup. Welsh teams also play in the Magners League (rugby union) alongside teams from Ireland and Scotland, the EDF Energy Cup and the European Heineken Cup. Wales hosted the 1999 Rugby World Cup. Wales most recognised club teams include Llanelli, Swansea, Neath, Newport and Cardiff. Wales has produced ten members of the International Rugby Hall of Fame including Gareth Edwards, JPR Williams and Gerald Davies. Newport Rugby Club also achieved an historic win over the 'invincible' New Zealand Rugby team of 1963.A similar feat was achieved by Llanelli Rugby Club in October 1972, although the 1972 New Zealand squad is often seen as an inferior touring team to the 1963 squad.

Wales has had its own football league since 1992 although, for historical reasons, the three major Welsh clubs (Swansea City, Cardiff City, and Wrexham A.F.C.) play in the English Football League and another three Welsh clubs in its feeder leagues.

Rugby league is now developing in Wales. There has been a national league since 2003 and the admission of the Bridgend-based Celtic Crusaders to National League Two in 2006 brought the semi-professional game to Wales.

In international cricket, England and Wales field a single representative team which is administered by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). There is a separate Wales team that occasionally participates in limited-overs domestic competition. Glamorgan County Cricket Club is the only Welsh participant in the England and Wales County Championship. A Wales team also plays in the English Minor Counties competition.

Wales' other bat-and-ball sport is British Baseball, which is chiefly confined to Cardiff and Newport. The sport is governed by the Welsh Baseball Union.

The Isle of Anglesey/Ynys Môn is a member island of the International Island Games Association. The next Island Games will be held in 2007 on Rhodes (Greece). In the 2005 Games, held on the Shetland Islands, the Isle of Anglesey/Ynys Môn came 11th on the medal table with 4 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals.

Wales has produced some great world class snooker players such as Ray Reardon, Terry Griffiths, Mark Williams and Matthew Stevens. Amateur participation in the sport is very high. The rugged terrain of the country also gives plenty of opportunities for rally driving and Wales currently hosts the finale of the World Rally Championship. Glamorgan compete in county cricket competitions and the Cardiff Devils were once a strong force in British ice hockey. There is also some success in boxing. Joe Calzaghe the half-Welsh, half-Italian boxer has been WBO World Super-Middleweight Champion since 1997. Swansea born Enzo Maccarinelli is the current WBO World Cruiserweight Champion and Gavin Rees the current WBA World Light-Welterweight Champion. Wales has also produced a number of athletes who have made a mark on the world stage, including the 110m hurdler Colin Jackson who is a former world record holder and the winner of numerous Olympic, World and European medals.

Two Welsh drivers have competed in the Formula One championship: the first was Alan Rees at the 1967 British Grand Prix, who finished in ninth position, four laps behind the winner, Jim Clark. Tom Pryce was the more notable of the two drivers, as he finished on the podium twice and, at the 1975 British Grand Prix, qualified in pole position. Pryce's career was cut short after he collided with volunteer marshal, Jansen Van Vuuren, killing both instantly. As well as Formula One, Wales have had some notability in the World Rally Championship, producing two championship winning Co-Drivers, those being Nicky Grist, who helped Colin McRae to victory in 1995 and Phil Mills who helped Petter Solberg win the 2003 title.

Freddie Williams was World Motorcycle speedway champion twice - in 1950 and 1953 - and the country has a professional speedway team, Newport Wasps. The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff hosts the annual British Speedway Grand Prix, the United Kingdom's round of the world championship.

Other notable Welsh sports people include 11 times gold medal winning paralympic athlete Tani Grey Thompson, footballer Ryan Giggs who is currently playing for Manchester United in the English Premiership, and formerly for the Welsh national team prior to his retirement from international football, BDO world darts champion Richie Burnett, international champion cyclist Nicole Cooke, Geraint Thomas, who will compete in the 2007 Tour de France and Commonwealth gold and bronze medallist in shooting Dave Phelps.

Since 2006, Wales has had its own professional golf tour, the Dragon Tour. Notable Welsh golfers include Brian Huggett, Ian Woosnam and Phillip Price. The Celtic Manor in Newport will host the 2010 Ryder Cup.

Media

Cardiff is home to the Welsh national media. BBC Wales is based in Llandaff, Cardiff and produces Welsh-oriented output for BBC One and BBC Two channels. BBC 2W is the Welsh digital version of BBC Two, and broadcasts between 8.30pm and 10pm each week night for specific Wales based programming. ITV the UK's main commercial broadcaster has a Welsh-oriented service branded as ITV Wales, whose studios are in Culverhouse Cross, Cardiff. S4C, based in Llanishen, Cardiff, broadcasts mostly Welsh-language programming at peak hours, but shares English-language content with Channel 4 at other times. S4C Digidol (S4C Digital), on the other hand, broadcasts entirely in Welsh. Channel 4 and Channel 5 are now available in most parts of the country via digital television and satellite.

BBC Radio Wales is Wales's only national English-language radio station, while BBC Radio Cymru broadcasts throughout Wales in Welsh. There are also a number of independent radio stations across Wales. Radio stations around the country include Red Dragon FM, Marcher Sound, Coast FM, Swansea Sound, 96.4FM The Wave, Radio Pembrokeshire, Radio Carmarthenshire, Champion 103, Radio Ceredigion and Real Radio. Xfm has announced plans to broadcast in Cardiff from November.

Most of the newspapers sold and read in Wales are national newspapers sold and read throughout Britain, unlike in Scotland where many newspapers have rebranded into Scottish based titles. Wales-based newspapers include: Cardiff's South Wales Echo, South Wales Evening Post, Liverpool Daily Post (Welsh edition) and Y Cymro, a Welsh language publication. The Western Mail is the main all-Wales newspaper which includes the Wales on Sunday paper. The first Welsh language daily, Y Byd, is due to commence on 3 March 2008.

The Western Mail and South Wales Echo have their offices in Thomson House, Cardiff city centre

In addition to English-language magazines, a number of weekly and monthly Welsh-language magazines are published. Wales has some 20 publishing companies, publishing mostly English titles. However, some 500-600 titles are published each year in Welsh[8].

Notably, the recent hit revival of cult classic series 'Doctor Who' was and is conceived in Wales (BBC Wales), with many episodes set in Cardiff. Most of the filming and production takes place in locations all over Wales and attracts staggering audiences worldwide.

Food

Main article: Welsh cuisine

About 80% of the land surface of Wales is given over to agricultural use. However, very little of this is arable land; the vast majority consists of permanent grass or rough grazing for herd animals. Although both beef and dairy cattle are raised widely, especially in Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, Wales is more well-known for its sheep farming, and thus lamb is the meat traditionally associated with Welsh cooking.

Some traditional dishes include laverbread (made from seaweed), bara brith (fruit bread), cawl cennin (leek soup), Welsh cakes, Welsh rarebit (cheese on toast), and Welsh lamb. Cockles are sometimes served with breakfast. [9]

In 2005 the Welsh National Culinary Teams returned from the Culinary World Cup in Luxembourg with eight gold, 15 silver and seven bronze medals, and were placed 7th in the world.

Music

Main article: Welsh music

The principal Welsh festival of music and poetry is the National Eisteddfod. This takes place annually in a different town or city. The Llangollen International Eisteddfod echoes the National Eisteddfod but provides an opportunity for the singers and musicians of the world to perform.

Wales is often referred to as "the land of song", being particularly famous for harpists, male voice choirs, and solo artists including Sir Geraint Evans, Dame Gwyneth Jones, Dame Anne Evans, Ivor Novello, Madam Adelina Patti, John Cale, Tom Jones, Charlotte Church, Bonnie Tyler, Bryn Terfel, Mary Hopkin, Katherine Jenkins, Meic Stevens, Shirley Bassey and Aled Jones.

Indie bands like the Manic Street Preachers, Catatonia, Stereophonics, Feeder, Super Furry Animals, and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, in the 1990s, and later Goldie Lookin' Chain, mclusky, The Automatic, Steveless, Skindred, The Blackout Bullet For My Valentine Funeral For A Friend and were preceded by Man in the 1970s. Another famous Welsh singer includes pop icon Jem who has recorded songs for/performed on TV programmes such as Las Vegas and The OC, and movies such as Eragon. The popular New Wave/synthpop group Scritti Politti was a vehicle for singer/songwriter and Cardiff native Green Gartside. In recent years there has also been an increase in the amount of Metal and Hard Rock Bands coming from Wales including Bullet for My Valentine, Lostprophets and Funeral for a Friend.

The Welsh traditional and folk music scene, long overshadowed by its Irish and Scottish cousins, is in resurgence with performers and bands such as Crasdant, Carreg Lafar, Fernhill, Siân James, Robin Huw Bowen, Llio Rhydderch, KilBride and The Hennessys. Traditional music and dance in Wales is supported by a myriad of societies. Welsh Folk Song Society (Cymdeithas Alawon Gwerin Cymru) has published a number of collections of songs and tunes. The Welsh Folk Dance Society (Cymdeithas Ddawns Werin Cymru) supports a network of national amateur dance teams and publishes support material. Clear (Traditional instruments society) runs workshops to promote the harp, telyn deires (triple harp), fiddle, crwth, pibgorn (hornpipe) and other instruments. The Cerdd Dant Society promotes its specific singing art primarily through an annual one-day festival. The traditional music development agency, trac, runs projects in communities throughout Wales and advocates on behalf of traditional music. There are also societies for Welsh hymnology, oral history, small eisteddfodau, oral history, and poetry.

The 'Sîn Roc Gymraeg' (Welsh language Rock Scene) in Wales is thriving, with acts ranging from rock to hip-hop which routinely attracts immense crowds and audiences. The Welsh-language Rock Scene presently is stated as 'the best yet,' with more bands, and more audiences than the 'Sin Roc Gymraeg' has ever seen in its existence. Dolgellau, in the heart of Snowdonia has held the annual Sesiwn Fawr (mighty session) festival since 1992. From humble beginnings the festival has grown to be Wales' largest Welsh-Language Music Festivals.

The BBC National Orchestra of Wales performs in Wales and internationally. The world-renowned Welsh National Opera now has a permanent home at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay.

Transport

Main article: Transport in Wales

The main road artery linking cities and other settlements along the south Wales coast is the M4 motorway which also provides a link with England and eventually London. The Welsh section of the motorway, managed by the Welsh Assembly Government, runs from the Second Severn Bridge to Pont Abraham in West Wales, connecting cities such as Cardiff, Newport and Swansea. In north Wales the A55 expressway performs a similar role along the north Wales coast providing connections for places such as Holyhead and Bangor with Wrexham and Flinthsire and also with England, principally Chester. The main north-south Wales link is the A470 which runs from Cardiff to Llandudno. Cardiff International Airport is the only large and international airport in Wales, offering links domestically and to European and North American destinations, located some 12 miles south-west of Cardiff city centre, in the Vale of Glamorgan.

Rail is also extensively developed throughout the country, with Cardiff Central and Cardiff Queen Street stations being the busiest and the major hubs on the national network. The Welsh Assembly Government manages the rail network and has a programme of reopening old railway lines and extending rail usage. Arriva Trains Wales is the major operator of rail services within Wales, while First Great Western provides services to London and elsewhere to England. Virgin Trains provides services from Cardiff and Newport to North East England and Scotland, and from North Wales to Birmingham and London. Additionally, Central Trains links Cardiff and Newport to the English Midlands.

Regular ferry services operate from Holyhead and Fishguard to Ireland.

National symbols

The Flag of Saint David (Baner Dewi Sant)

• The Flag of Wales (Y Ddraig Goch) incorporates the red dragon of Prince Cadwalader along with the Tudor colours of green and white. It was used by Henry VII at the battle of Bosworth in 1485 after which it was carried in state to St. Paul's Cathedral. The red dragon was then included in the Tudor royal arms to signify their Welsh descent. It was officially recognised as the Welsh national flag in 1959. The British Union Flag incorporates the flags of Scotland, Ireland and England but does not have any Welsh representation. Technically, however, it is represented by the flag of England due to the Laws in Wales act of 1535 which annexed Wales following the Thirteenth Century conquest.
• The flag of Owain Glyndŵr, which has 4 squares alternating in red and yellow and then a rampant lion in each square of the opposite colour. Some believe that this is the true flag of Wales arguing that Owain Glyndŵr was the last real Prince of Wales.
• The Dragon, part of the national flag design, is also a popular Welsh symbol. The oldest recorded use of the dragon to symbolise Wales is from the Historia Brittonum, written around 820, but it is popularly supposed to have been the battle standard of King Arthur and other ancient Celtic leaders. This myth is likely to have originated from Merlin's vision of a Red (Wales) and White (England) dragon battling, with the Red dragon being victorious. Following the annexation of Wales by England, the dragon was used as a supporter in the English monarch's coat of arms.
• The leek is also a national emblem of Wales. According to legend, Saint David ordered his Welsh soldiers to identify themselves by wearing the vegetable on their helmets in an ancient battle against the Saxons that took place in a leek field.
• The daffodil is the national flower of Wales, and is worn on St David's Day each March 1. (In Welsh, the daffodil is known as "Peter's Leek", cenhinen Pedr.)
• The Sessile Oak is the national tree of Wales.
• The Flag of Saint David is sometimes used as an alternative to the national flag (and used in part of Cardiff City FC's crest), and is flown on St David's Day.
• The Coat of Arms of the Principality of Wales is used by Charles, Prince of Wales in his personal standard.
• The Prince of Wales's feathers, the heraldic badge of the Prince of Wales is sometimes adapted by Welsh bodies for use in Wales. The symbolism is explained on the article for Edward, the Black Prince, who was the first Prince of Wales to bear the emblem; see also John, King of Bohemia. The Welsh Rugby Union uses such a design for its own badge.

Photos of Wales

• Tredegar House, Newport
  Tredegar House, Newport
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  Hall of the Mountain Kings, Ogof Craig a Ffynnon, a cave in the Brecon Beacons
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  Llanddwyn Island old lighthouse with Gwynedd in background.
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  The University of Wales, Lampeter, the oldest higher education institution in Wales
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  Rhossili down and Rhossili Bay, Gower Peninsula, Swansea
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  Oxwich Bay, Oxwich, Gower Peninsula
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  Penclawdd, Gower Peninsula
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  Vale of Glamorgan, Glamorgan
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  Llyn Cowlyd, Gwynedd
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  Part of the Brecon Beacons, looking from the highest point Pen y Fan.
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  Marloes peninsula, Pembrokeshire coast
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  Sugar Loaf mountain, Monmouthshire

Notable Welsh people

see List of Welsh people

See also

• England and Wales
• Welsh Peers
• Welsh Nationalism
• Welsh language
• Wales Labour Party
• Plaid Cymru
• Wales Council for Voluntary Action
• Visit Wales
• Welsh settlement in Argentina
• Seven Wonders of Wales
• Capital of Wales
• National Eisteddfod

External links

• Wales - World Nation
• Welsh Icons - About Wales and all things Welsh
• Myths of British ancestory
• BBC Wales
• http://www.llywelyn.co.uk
• National Assembly for Wales
• 100 Welsh Heroes
• Wales Council for Voluntary Action
• Wales Tourists Online
• VisitWales