Facts about Wales

General Facts

• Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom
• It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west
• England borders it to the east
• The Bristol Channel is to the south
• The Celtic Sea is to the southwest
• The capital and largest city is Cardiff
• Welsh and English are the official languages
• In 2021, the population was 3.2 million
• The total area is 21,218 square kilometers (8,192 sq mi)
• The coastline is over 2,700 kilometers (1,680 mi)
• The landscape is largely mountainous with higher peaks in the north and central areas
• Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) is the highest summit
• The country is in the north temperate zone and has a changeable, maritime climate

Etymology

• The English words "Wales" and "Welsh" come from the Old English root Wealh, from Proto-Germanic *Walhaz
• This term referred to inhabitants of the Western Roman Empire
• Anglo-Saxons used it for the Britons
• The plural form Wēalas became the name for their territory, Wales
• The modern Welsh name for themselves is Cymry, and Cymru is the Welsh name for Wales
• These words come from the Brythonic word combrogi, meaning "fellow-countrymen"
• They came into use before the 7th century
• Latinised forms of these names, Cambrian, Cambric and Cambria, are used in names such as the Cambrian Mountains and the Cambrian geological period

History

• The territory of Wales was permanently settled from the end of the last ice age onwards
• The Great Orme in North Wales became Britain's premier producer of copper during the bronze age
• The wealth of mineral resources attracted the Roman invasion
• By this time the island had become distinctively Celtic in culture
• With the departure of the Romans, Britain fractured into various kingdoms
• The Roman withdrawal of 383 created a post Roman nation of Britons
• Encroachment by Germanic Anglo-Saxon settlers gradually displaced the indigenous culture and language of the Britons
• One group of these Britons became isolated by the geography of the western peninsula
• These English neighbours named the land Wallia, and the people Welsh
• Medieval Wales remained divided into separate kingdoms
• Communities were not homogenously Welsh
• In the 10th century, Hywel ap Cadell, later Hywel Dda, formed the kingdom of Deheubarth
• He gained control of the kingdoms of Gwynedd and Powys in 942
• He codified Welsh law, which became significant in the creation of the nation and the kingdoms of Wales began to see themselves as one people
• A century later the Kingdom of Gwynedd was in ascendency
• Gruffydd ap Llywelyn subdued all opposition by 1057, uniting all of Wales, and parts of England on the border
• The kingdom did not last, and Gruffydd met his death
• The Normans followed their invasion of England with incursions into Wales
• They formed the semi-independent Norman Welsh marches, and divided them from the unconquered Pura Wallia
• Llywelyn ab Iorwerth (Llywelyn the Great) forced all other Welsh princes to submit to him in 1216
• Relations with Henry's successor, Edward I, broke down and led to a war of conquest, concluding in 1283 with English victory
• The following year the statute of Rhuddlan ended Welsh independence
• Wales was divided between principality and the marches
• This persisted, despite the Welsh rebellion under Owain Glyndŵr of 1400–1415, until the rise of the Tudors
• With the Laws in Wales Acts of Henry VIII, the Welsh became full citizens in the Kingdom of England, with parliamentary representation
• The Welsh border was also formally defined and the territory reunited
• In 1707 the act of union created the Kingdom of Great Britain
• The industrial revolution led to the rapid increase in mining and exploitation of Welsh natural materials
• The population of Wales expanded rapidly and Wales moved to the centre of the British economy
• Religious revivals transformed the character of the nation, beginning a tradition of non-conformism
• The rapid industrialisation of parts of Wales gave rise to strong and radical Welsh working class movements
• Since 1922 Wales has voted Labour in every general election
• From the mid 19th century until 1914, Wales experienced a strengthened political culture, religious and cultural revival, renewed interest in Welsh literature, the revival of eisteddfodau and religious and cultural revival
• However the period also saw the publication of a report on education that became known as the Treachery of the Blue Books and fed the rise of the Welsh nationalist movement
• In 1998 the Government of Wales Act created a devolved Welsh assembly, now renamed the Senedd or Welsh Parliament

Government and Politics

• Wales is a country that is part of the sovereign state of the United Kingdom
• ISO 3166-2:GB defined Wales as a principality, but this definition was raised in the Welsh Assembly in 2010 and the term 'principality' was replaced with 'country' in 2011
• There are 32 members of Parliament (MPs) who represent Welsh constituencies in the House of Commons
• The Wales Office is a department of the UK government responsible for Wales
• Wales has a devolved, unicameral legislature known as the Senedd (Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament) which holds devolved powers from the UK Parliament via a reserved powers model
• For local government, Wales has been divided into 22 council areas since 1996

Devolved Government

• Following devolution in 1997, the Government of Wales Act 1998 created a Welsh devolved assembly, the National Assembly for Wales
• It had the power to determine how Wales's central government budget is spent and administered
• The Government of Wales Act 2006 reformed the National Assembly for Wales and allowed further powers to be granted to it more easily and created a Welsh Government, drawn from and accountable to the legislature, the National Assembly
• Following a successful referendum in 2011, the National Assembly was empowered to make laws on all matters in devolved subject areas
• In May 2020, the National Assembly was renamed "Senedd Cymru" or "the Welsh Parliament", commonly known as the Senedd
• Devolved areas of responsibility include agriculture, economic development, education, health, housing, local government, social services, tourism, transport and the Welsh language
• The Welsh Government also promotes Welsh interests abroad

Law

• Welsh Law was compiled during an assembly held at Whitland around 930 by Hywel Dda
• It codified the previously existing folk laws and legal customs that had evolved in Wales over centuries
• Welsh Law emphasised the payment of compensation for a crime to the victim, or the victim's kin, rather than punishment by the ruler
• Welsh Law remained in force in Wales until the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284
• Edward I of England annexed the Principality of Wales and Welsh Law was replaced for criminal cases under the Statute
• Marcher Law and Welsh Law (for civil cases) remained in force until Henry VIII of England annexed the whole of Wales under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542
• English law applied to the whole of Wales after the acts
• The Wales and Berwick Act 1746 provided that all laws that applied to England would automatically apply to Wales (and the Anglo-Scottish border town of Berwick) unless the law explicitly stated otherwise
• This Act was repealed with regard to Wales in 1967
• English law has been the legal system of England and Wales since 1536
• 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 Supreme Court of the United Kingdom which is the highest court of appeal in the land for criminal and civil cases
• The Senior Courts of England and Wales is the highest court of first instance as well as an appellate court
• Minor cases are heard by magistrates' courts or the County Court
• In 2007 the Wales and Cheshire Region came to an end when Cheshire was attached to the North-Western England Region
• Wales became a legal unit in its own right, although it remains part of the single jurisdiction of England and Wales
• The Senedd has the authority to draft and approve laws outside of the UK Parliamentary system to meet the specific needs of Wales
• It is empowered to pass primary legislation in relation to twenty subjects listed in the Government of Wales Act 2006 such as health and education
• The Welsh Government can then also enact more specific subordinate legislation through this primary legislation
• Wales is served by four regional police forces: Dyfed-Powys Police, Gwent Police, North Wales Police, and South Wales Police
• There are five prisons in Wales: four in the southern half of the country, and one in Wrexham
• Wales has no women's prisons: female inmates are imprisoned in England

Geography and Natural History

• Wales is a generally mountainous country on the western side of central southern Great Britain
• It is about 170 miles (270 km) north to south
• The oft-quoted "size of Wales" is about 20,779 km2 (8,023 sq mi)
• Wales is bordered by England to the east and by sea in all other directions: the Irish Sea to the north and west, St George's Channel and the Celtic Sea to the southwest and the Bristol Channel to the south
• Wales has about 1,680 miles (2,700 km) of coastline, including the mainland, Anglesey and Holyhead
• Over 50 islands lie off the Welsh mainland, the largest being Anglesey, in the north-west
• Much of Wales's 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), of which five are over 1,000 m (3,300 ft)
• The highest of these is Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa), at 1,085 m (3,560 ft)
• The 14 Welsh mountains (or 15 including Carnedd Gwenllian) over 3,000 feet (910 metres) high are known collectively as the Welsh 3000s and are located in a small area in the north-west
• The highest outside the 3000s is Aran Fawddwy, at 905 metres (2,969 feet), in the south of Snowdonia
• The Brecon Beacons (Bannau Brycheiniog) are in the south (highest point Pen y Fan, at 886 metres (2,907 feet)), and are joined by the Cambrian Mountains in Mid Wales (highest point Pumlumon, at 752 metres (2,467 feet))
• Wales has three national parks: Snowdonia, Brecon Beacons, and Pembrokeshire Coast (Arfordir Penfro)
• It has five Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty: Anglesey, the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley, the Gower Peninsula, the Llŷn Peninsula, and the Wye Valley
• The Gower Peninsula was the first area in the United Kingdom to be designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, in 1956
• As of 2019, the coastline of Wales had 40 Blue Flag beaches, three Blue Flag marinas and one Blue Flag boat operator
• The south and west coasts of Wales, along with the Irish and Cornish coasts, are frequently blasted by Atlantic westerlies/south-westerlies
• The first border between Wales and England was zonal, apart from around the River Wye, which was the first accepted boundary
• The Act of Union 1536 formed a linear border stretching from the mouth of the Dee to the mouth of the Wye
• Even after the Act of Union, many of the borders remained vague and moveable until the Sunday Closing (Wales) Act 1881, which forced local businesses to decide which country they fell within to accept either the Welsh or English law

Geology

• The earliest geological period of the Palaeozoic era, the Cambrian, takes its name from the Cambrian Mountains
• In the mid-19th century, Roderick Murchison and Adam Sedgwick used their studies of Welsh geology to establish certain principles of stratigraphy and palaeontology
• The next two periods of the Palaeozoic era, the Ordovician and Silurian, were named after ancient Celtic tribes from this area

Climate

• Wales lies within the north temperate zone
• It has a changeable, maritime climate and is one of the wettest countries in Europe
• Welsh weather is often cloudy, wet and windy, with warm summers and mild winters
• Highest maximum temperature: 37.1 °C (99 °F) at Hawarden, Flintshire on 18 July 2022
• Lowest minimum temperature: −23.3 °C (−10 °F) at Rhayader, Radnorshire (now Powys) on 21 January 1940
• 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
• Maximum rainfall in a day (0900 UTC – 0900 UTC): 211 millimetres (8.3 in) at Rhondda, Glamorgan, on 11 November 1929
• Wettest spot: an average of 4,473 millimetres (176 in) rain a year at Crib Goch in Snowdonia, Gwynedd

Flora and Fauna

• Wales's wildlife is typical of Britain with several distinctions
• Because of its long coastline, Wales hosts a variety of seabirds
• The coasts and surrounding islands are home to colonies of gannets, Manx shearwater, puffins, kittiwakes, shags and razorbills
• Wales also supports a variety of upland-habitat birds, including raven and ring ouzel
• Birds of prey include the merlin, hen harrier and the red kite, a national symbol of Welsh wildlife
• In total, more than 200 different species of bird have been seen at the RSPB reserve at Conwy, including seasonal visitors
• Larger mammals, including brown bears, wolves and wildcats, died out during the Norman period
• Today, mammals include shrews, voles, badgers, otters, stoats, weasels, hedgehogs and fifteen species of bat
• Two species of small rodent, the yellow-necked mouse and the dormouse, are of special Welsh note being found at the historically undisturbed border area
• The pine marten, which has been sighted occasionally, has been reintroduced in parts of Wales since 2015
• The polecat was nearly driven to extinction in Britain, but hung on in Wales and is now rapidly spreading
• Feral goats can be found in Snowdonia
• In March 2021, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) granted a licence to release up to six beavers in the Dyfi Valley, the first official beaver release in Wales
• Some 2,500 disused coal tips are being studied by the Welsh Government and are home to a wide variety of wildlife and some of Wales's rarest land invertebrates
• The waters of south-west Wales attract marine animals, 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 bottlenose dolphins, and New Quay has the only summer residence of bottlenose dolphins in the whole of the UK
• Freshwater fish of note include char, eel, salmon, shad, sparling and Arctic char, while the gwyniad is unique to Wales (found only in Bala Lake)
• Wales is known for its shellfish, including cockles, limpet, mussels and periwinkles, and herring, mackerel and hake are the more common of the country's marine fish
• Wales has a number of plant species not found elsewhere in the UK, including the spotted rock-rose Tuberaria guttata on Anglesey and Draba aizoides on the Gower
• The north facing high grounds of Snowdonia support a relict pre-glacial flora including the iconic Snowdon lily

Economy

• Over the last 250 years, Wales has been transformed from a predominantly agricultural country to an industrial, and then to a post-industrial economy
• Since the Second World War, the service sector has come to account for the majority of jobs
• In 2018, gross domestic product (GDP) in Wales was £75 billion
• GDP per head in Wales in 2018 was £23,866
• In the three months to December 2017, 72.7 per cent of working-age adults were employed
• For the 2018–19 fiscal year, the Welsh fiscal deficit accounts for 19.4 per cent of Wales's estimated GDP
• In 2019, Wales was a net exporter of electricity, producing 27.9 TWh of electricity while only consuming 14.7 TWh
• In 2021, more than half the country's energy needs were being met by renewable sources, 2 per cent of which was from 363 hydropower projects
• Wales contributes to items that do not directly benefit Wales e.g. over £5 billion for HS2 "which will damage the Welsh economy by £200m pa", according to the UK and Welsh Government's transport adviser Mark Barry
• Wales also pays more in military costs than most similar-sized countries e.g. Wales pays twice the amount Ireland spends on the military
• The UK government spends £1.75bn per year on the military in Wales, which is almost as much as Wales spends on education every year (£1.8 billion in 2018/19) and five times as much as the total amount spent on the police in Wales (£365 million)
• From the middle of the 19th century until the post-war era, the mining and export of coal was the dominant industry
• At its peak of production in 1913, nearly 233,000 men and women were employed in the South Wales coalfield, mining 56 million tons of coal
• Cardiff was once the largest coal-exporting port in the world
• In the 1920s, over 40 per cent of the male Welsh population worked in heavy industry
• From the mid-1970s, the Welsh economy faced massive restructuring with large numbers of jobs in heavy industry disappearing and being replaced eventually by new ones in light industry and in services
• In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Wales was successful in attracting an above average share of foreign direct investment in the UK
• Much of the new industry was essentially of a "branch factory" type where a manufacturing plant or call centre is in Wales but the most highly-paid jobs in the company are elsewhere
• Poor-quality soil in much of Wales is unsuitable for crop-growing, so livestock farming has been the focus of farming
• About 78 per cent of the land surface is used for agriculture
• The Welsh landscape attracts large numbers of tourists, who bolster the economy of rural areas
• Wales, lacks high value-added employment in sectors such as finance and research and development and a large metropolitan centre
• In 2002 economic output per head stood at 90 per cent of the EU25 average and around 80 per cent of the UK average
• In June 2008, Wales became the first nation to be awarded Fairtrade status
• The pound sterling is the currency used in Wales
• Numerous Welsh banks issued their own banknotes in the 19th century: the last bank to do so closed in 1908
• The Royal Mint, which issues the coinage circulating through the whole of the UK, has been based at a single site in Llantrisant since 1980
• During 2020, and well into 2021, the restrictions and lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic affected all sectors of the economy and "tourism and hospitality suffered notable losses from the pandemic" across the UK

Transport

• The M4 motorway running from West London to South Wales links Newport, Cardiff and Swansea, which falls under the Welsh Government
• The A55 expressway has a similar role along the North Wales coast, connecting Holyhead and Bangor with Wrexham and Flintshire and also links to northwest England, principally Chester
• The main north-south Wales link is the A470, which runs from Cardiff to Llandudno
• Rail transport in Wales includes the Wales & Borders franchise, which is overseen by the Welsh Government with most passenger services operated by Transport for Wales Rail
• The Cardiff region has its own urban rail network
• Beeching cuts in the 1960s mean that most of the remaining network is geared toward east-west travel connecting with the Irish Sea ports for ferries to Ireland
• Services between north and south Wales operate through the English cities of Chester and Hereford and towns of Shrewsbury, Gobowen for Oswestry and along the Welsh Marches Line, connecting with the Welsh Marches line at Craven Arms
• Trains in Wales are mainly diesel-powered but the South Wales Main Line branch of the Great Western Main Line used by services from London Paddington to Cardiff is undergoing electrification
• Cardiff Airport is the international airport of Wales, it Provides links to European, African and North American destinations
• Wales has four commercial ferry ports and regular ferry services to Ireland operate from Holyhead, Pembroke Dock and Fishguard

Education

• A distinct education system has developed in Wales
• Formal education before the 18th century was the preserve of the elite
• The first grammar schools were established in Welsh towns such as Ruthin, Brecon and Cowbridge
• One of the first successful schooling systems was started by Griffith Jones, who introduced the circulating schools in the 1730s
• In the early 19th century, English became the usual language of instruction at schools in Wales
• Many schools used corporal punishment to stop children from speaking Welsh in the first half of the 19th century; the practice declined in the second half of the century
• The British government never prohibited the use of Welsh at schools but it treated English as the assumed language of instruction
• More Welsh was gradually used at schools in Welsh-speaking areas in the mid to late 19th century and teaching of the language began to receive moderate government support from the late 19th century
• The University College of Wales opened in Aberystwyth in 1872
• Cardiff and Bangor followed, and the three colleges came together in 1893 to form the University of Wales
• The Welsh Intermediate Education Act of 1889 created 95 secondary schools
• The Welsh Department for the Board of Education followed in 1907, which gave Wales its first significant educational devolution
• A resurgence in Welsh-language schools in the latter half of the 20th century at nursery and primary level saw attitudes shift towards teaching in the medium of Welsh
• Welsh is a compulsory subject in all of Wales's state schools for pupils aged 5–16 years old
• Welsh-medium higher education is delivered through the individual universities and has since 2011 been supported by the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol (Welsh-language National College) as a delocalised federal institution

Healthcare

• Public healthcare in Wales is provided by NHS Wales (GIG Cymru)
• It was originally formed as part of the NHS structure for England and Wales by the National Health Service Act 1946
• Responsibility for NHS Wales passed to the Welsh Assembly under devolution in 1999, and is now the responsibility of the Minister for Health and Social Services
• Clinical work has been concentrated in newer, larger district hospitals
• In 2006, there were seventeen district hospitals in Wales
• NHS Wales directly employs over 90,000 staff, making it Wales's biggest employer
• The National Survey for Wales in 2021–22 reported that 72 per cent of adults surveyed had good or very good general health
• The survey recorded that 46 per cent of Welsh adults had a long-standing illness, such as arthritis, asthma, diabetes or heart disease
• The survey also reported that 13 per cent of the adult population were smokers, 16 per cent admitted drinking alcohol above weekly recommended guidelines, while 56 per cent undertook the recommended 150 minutes of physical activity each week

Demography

• The population of Wales doubled from 587,000 in 1801 to 1,163,000 in 1851 and had reached 2,421,000 by 1911
• Most of the increase came in the coal mining districts, especially Glamorganshire, which grew from 71,000 in 1801 to 232,000 in 1851 and 1,122,000 in 1911
• Part of this increase can be attributed to the demographic transition seen in most industrialising countries during the Industrial Revolution, as death rates dropped and birth rates remained steady
• There was also large-scale migration into Wales during the Industrial Revolution
• Wales also received immigration from various parts of the British Commonwealth of Nations in the 20th century, and African-Caribbean and Asian communities add to the ethnocultural mix, particularly in urban Wales
• Since the 1980s, net migration has generally been inward, and has contributed more to population growth than natural change
• The resident population of Wales in 2021 according to the census was 3,107,500
• Wales accounted for 5.2 per cent of the population of England and Wales in 2021
• Wales has seven cities: Cardiff, Newport, Swansea, Wrexham, Bangor, St Asaph and St Davids
• Wrexham, north Wales's largest settlement, became Wales's newest and seventh city in September 2022

Language

• Welsh is an official language in Wales as legislated by the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011
• Both Welsh and English are also official languages of the Senedd
• The proportion of the Welsh population able to speak the Welsh language fell from just under 50 per cent in 1901 to 43.5 per cent in 1911, and continued to fall to a low of 18.9 per cent in 1981
• The results of the 2001 Census showed an increase in the number of Welsh speakers to 21 per cent of the population aged 3 and older, compared with 18.7 per cent in 1991 and 19 per cent in 1981
• In the 2011 census it was recorded that the proportion of people able to speak Welsh had dropped from 20.8 per cent to 19 per cent
• According to the 2021 census, the Welsh-speaking population of Wales aged three or older was 17.8 per cent (538,300 people) and nearly three-quarters of the population in Wales said they had no Welsh language skills
• English is spoken by almost all people in Wales and is the main language in most of the country
• Since Poland joined the European Union, Wales has seen a significant increase in Polish immigrants and Polish is the most common main language in Wales after English and Welsh, at 0.7 per cent of the population

Religion

• Forms of Christianity have dominated religious life in what is now Wales for more than 1,400 years
• The 2021 census recorded that 46.5 per cent had "No religion", more than any single religious affiliation and up from 32.1 per cent in 2011
• The largest religion in Wales is Christianity, with 43.6 per cent of the population describing themselves as Christian in the 2021 census
• The patron saint of Wales is Saint David (Dewi Sant), with Saint David's Day (Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant) celebrated annually on 1 March
• The Church in Wales with 56,000 adherents has the largest attendance of the denominations
• The second largest attending faith in Wales is Roman Catholic, with an estimated 43,000 adherents
• Non-Christian religions are small in Wales, making up approximately 2.7 per cent of the population
• Islam is the largest, with 24,000 (0.8 per cent) reported Muslims in the 2011 census

Ethnicity

• The 2021 census showed that 93.8 per cent of the population of Wales identified as "White", compared to 95.6 per cent in 2011
• 90.6 per cent of the population identified as "White: Welsh, English, Scottish, Northern Irish or British" in 2021
• The second-highest ethnicity in 2021 was "Asian, Asian Welsh or Asian British" at 2.9 per cent of the population, compared to 2.3 per cent in 2011
• The local authorities with the highest proportions of "high-level" ethnic groups other than "White" were mainly urban areas including Cardiff, Newport and Swansea
• 5.3 per cent of households in Wales were multiple ethnic group households, up from 4.2 per cent in 2011
• In 2021, the first statue of a named, non-fictional woman outdoors was raised for Wales's first black headteacher, Betty Campbell
• In 2023, Patti Flynn became the first black Welsh woman to be awarded a purple plaque
• In 2024, Vaughan Gething was elected First Minister of Wales becoming the first black head of government in Europe

National Identity

• The 2021 census showed that 55.2 per cent identified as "Welsh only" and 8.1 per cent identified as "Welsh and British", giving the combined proportion of 63.3 per cent for people identifying as Welsh
• A 2022 YouGov poll found that 21 per cent considered themselves Welsh not British, 15 per cent more Welsh than British, 24 per cent equally Welsh and British, 7 per cent more British than Welsh, 20 per cent British and not Welsh, and 8 per cent other

Culture

• Wales has a distinctive culture including its own language, customers, holidays, and music
• There are four UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Wales: The Castles and Town Walls of King Edward I in Gwynedd, Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal, the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape and The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales

Mythology

• Remnants of native Celtic mythology of the pre-Christian Britons was passed down orally by the cynfeirdd (the early poets)
• Poems such as Cad Goddeu (The Battle of the Trees) and mnemonic list-texts like the Welsh Triads and the Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain, also contain mythological material
• These texts include the earliest forms of the Arthurian legend and the traditional history of post-Roman Britain

Literature

• Wales has one of the oldest unbroken literary traditions in Europe going back to the sixth century
• The earliest body of Welsh verse, by poets Taliesin and Aneirin, survive not in their original form, but in much-changed, medieval versions
• Welsh poetry and native lore and learning survived through the era of the Poets of the Princes (c. 1100–1280) and then the Poets of the Gentry (c. 1350–1650)
• In 1588 William Morgan became the first person to translate the Bible into Welsh
• Lady Charlotte Guest's translation into English of the Mabinogion is one of the most important medieval Welsh prose works of Celtic mythology and 1885 saw the publication of Rhys Lewis by Daniel Owen, credited as the first novel written in the Welsh language
• Major writers in the second half of the 20th century include Emyr Humphreys (1919–2020), who during his long writing career published over twenty novels, and Raymond Williams (1921–1988)

Museums and Libraries

• Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales was founded by royal charter in 1907 as the National Museum of Wales and operates at seven sites, all with free entry
• The National Library of Wales, based in Aberystwyth, houses important collections of printed works, as well as art collections including portraits and photographs, ephemera and Ordnance Survey maps

Visual Arts

• Works of Celtic art have been found in Wales
• In the Early Medieval period, the Celtic Christianity of Wales was part of the Insular art of the British Isles
• A number of illuminated manuscripts from Wales survive, including the 8th-century Hereford Gospels and Lichfield Gospels
• By the late 18th century, the popularity of landscape art grew and clients were found in the larger Welsh towns, allowing more Welsh artists to stay in their homeland
• An Act of Parliament in 1857 provided for the establishment of a number of art schools throughout the United Kingdom, and the Cardiff School of Art opened in 1865
• Several artists have moved to Wales, including Eric Gill, the London-Welshman David Jones, and the sculptor Jonah Jones
• The Kardomah Gang was an intellectual circle in Swansea, centred on the poet Dylan Thomas and the poet and artist Vernon Watkins, which also included the painter Alfred Janes
• South Wales had several notable potteries, one of the first important sites being the Ewenny Pottery in Bridgend, which began producing earthenware in the 17th century
• Portmeirion Pottery, founded in 1960 by Susan Williams-Ellis is based in Stoke-on-Trent, England

National Symbols and Identity

• Wales is regarded as a modern Celtic nation which contributes to its national identity, with Welsh artists regularly appearing at Celtic festivals
• The red dragon is the principal symbol of national identity and pride
• The dragon is first referenced in literature as a symbol of the people in the Historia Brittonum
• As an emblem, the red dragon of Wales has been used since the reign of Cadwaladr, King of Gwynedd from around 655 AD, and appears prominently on the national flag of Wales, which became an official flag in 1959
• The banner of Owain Glyndŵr is associated with Welsh nationhood
• The Prince of Wales's feathers is also used in Wales
• On 1 March, Welsh people celebrate Saint David's Day, commemorating the death of the country's patron saint in 589
• "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" (English: Land of My Fathers) is the de facto, national anthem of Wales

Sport

• More than 50 national governing bodies regulate and organise their sports in Wales
• Wales is represented at major world sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup, Rugby World Cup, Rugby League World Cup and the Commonwealth Games
• At the Olympic Games, Welsh athletes compete alongside those of Scotland, England and Northern Ireland as part of a Great Britain team
• Rugby union is seen as a symbol of Welsh identity and an expression of national consciousness
• Wales has had its own football league, the Welsh Premier League, since 1992
• For historical reasons, five Welsh clubs play in the English football league system: Cardiff City, Swansea City, Newport County, Wrexham, and Merthyr Town
• In international cricket, Wales and England field a single representative team, administered by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), called the England cricket team, or simply 'England'
• Glamorgan County Cricket Club is the only Welsh participant in the England and Wales County Championship

Media

• Wales became the UK's first digital television nation in 2010
• BBC Cymru Wales is the national broadcaster, producing both television and radio programmes in Welsh and English and ITV has a Welsh-orientated service branded ITV Cymru Wales
• S4C began broadcasting in 1982 and since the digital switchover the channel has broadcast exclusively in Welsh
• BBC Radio Cymru is the BBC's Welsh-language radio service, which broadcasts throughout Wales
• The Western Mail is Wales's only print national daily newspaper
• Y Cymro is a Welsh-language newspaper, published weekly
• Wales on Sunday is the only Welsh Sunday newspaper that covers the whole of Wales
• The Books Council of Wales is the Welsh-Government-funded body tasked with promoting Welsh literature in Welsh and English

Cuisine

• Traditional Welsh dishes include laverbread, bara brith, cawl