Discover Wales: Geography, Climate, and Culture

Study Notes

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom.
Its Welsh name is Cymru.
It is bordered by:
- The Irish Sea to the north and west
- England to the east
- The Bristol Channel to the south
- The Celtic Sea to the south-west
The population as of 2021 was 3.2 million.
Wales has a total area of 21,218 square kilometers (8,192 sq mi).
Wales has over 2,700 kilometers (1,680 mi) of coastline.
The country is largely mountainous, with higher peaks in the north and central areas.
Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) is its highest summit.
Wales lies within the north temperate zone.
It has a changeable, maritime climate.
The de facto anthem is "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" ("Land of My Fathers").
The capital and largest city is Cardiff.
The official languages is Welsh (Cymraeg).
The demonym is Welsh.
The government is a devolved parliamentary legislature within a parliamentary constitutional monarchy.
The monarch is Charles III.
The First Minister is Eluned Morgan.
The Secretary of State is Jo Stevens.
Wales has 32 MPs in the House of Commons.
The legislature is called Senedd.
Wales was unified by Gruffydd ap Llywelyn in 1057.
English law was introduced in Wales on 3 March 1284.
Further laws were introduced in 1543.
A Welsh Office was formed on 27 July 1967.
The National Assembly for Wales was formed on 1 July 1999.
The land area of Wales is 20,737 km2 (8,007 sq mi).
The population density is 151/km2 (391.1/sq mi).
The GVA total for 2022 is estimated at £74.5 billion.
The GVA per capita for 2022 is estimated at £23,804.
The GDP (nominal) total for 2022 is estimated at £85.4 billion.
The GDP (nominal) per capita for 2022 is estimated at £27,274.
The HDI (2022) is 0.910, which is very high.
The currency is the Pound sterling (GBP; £).
The time zone is UTC+0 (GMT).
During the summer (DST), it is UTC+1 (BST).
The date format is dd/mm/yyyy (AD).
The calling code is +44.
The ISO 3166 code is GB-WLS.
The Internet TLD is .wales.cymru.