Geography of Wales

General Facts

• Wales is a country within the United Kingdom, bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic Sea to the southwest.
• The capital and largest city is Cardiff.
• The official languages are Welsh (Cymraeg) and English.
• The population was approximately 3.2 million as of 2021.
• The total area measures 21,218 square kilometers (8,192 sq mi).
• The coastline stretches over 2,700 kilometers (1,680 mi).
• Wales is largely mountainous, with Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) as its highest peak.
• The climate is temperate maritime, characterized by changeable weather.

Etymology

• The English names "Wales" and "Welsh" originate from the Old English word "Wealh," derived from Proto-Germanic "*Walhaz".
• Originally, "*Walhaz" referred to the Gauls but later was used for inhabitants of the Western Roman Empire.
• Anglo-Saxons used the term to refer to the Britons, and "Wēalas" evolved into the name for their territory, Wales.
• The Welsh refer to themselves as "Cymry," and their homeland as "Cymru," derived from the Brythonic word "combrogi," meaning "fellow-countrymen".
• These terms likely came into use before the 7th century.
• Latinized forms of these names, such as Cambrian, Cambric, and Cambria, are still used today like the Cambrian Mountains.

History

• The territory of Wales was settled after the last ice age.
• During the Bronze Age, the Great Orme in North Wales was Britain's premier copper producer.
• The island became distinctively Celtic in culture, with the population being called the Britons by the Romans.
• The Roman withdrawal in 383 led to Britain fracturing into various kingdoms, but with Magnus Maximus proclaimed Roman emperor in Britannia and Gaul there was a sense of a post Roman nation.
• Germanic Anglo-Saxon settlers gradually displaced the Britons' culture and language.
• The English named their land Wallia, and the people Welsh.
• Medieval Wales was divided into separate kingdoms that frequently fought amongst themselves and against the English.
• In the 10th century, Hywel ap Cadell (Hywel Dda) formed the kingdom of Deheubarth and gained control of most of Wales, codifying Welsh law.
• Gruffydd ap Llywelyn united all of Wales in 1057, but the kingdom was short-lived.
• The Normans invaded Wales after England, creating the Norman Welsh Marches.
• Llywelyn ab Iorwerth (Llywelyn the Great) forced other Welsh princes to submit to him in 1216.
• English King Henry III recognized Llywelyn ap Gruffudd as Prince of Wales in 1267.
• Edward I of England conquered Wales in 1283, and the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284 ended Welsh independence.
• Despite Welsh rebellions, such as Owain Glyndŵr's revolt, Wales was annexed by England in the 16th century under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542.
• The Act of Union in 1707 created the Kingdom of Great Britain.
• The Industrial Revolution led to increased mining and exploitation of Welsh resources.
• Religious revivals brought a tradition of non-conformism.
• Radical Welsh working-class movements emerged, leading to events like the Merthyr Rising of 1831 and the Newport Rising of 1839.
• Calls for devolution grew, and in 1998, the Government of Wales Act created a devolved Welsh assembly, now known as the Senedd.

Government and Politics

• Wales is part of the United Kingdom and defined as a country rather than a principality since 2011.
• Wales is represented by 32 Members of Parliament (MPs) in the UK House of Commons.
• The Wales Office, headed by the Secretary of State for Wales, is responsible for Welsh affairs in the UK government.
• Wales has a devolved, unicameral legislature known as the Senedd (Welsh Parliament).
• For local government, Wales is divided into 22 council areas since 1996, providing local services.
• The Government of Wales Act 1998 established the National Assembly for Wales, with powers to determine how Wales's central government budget is spent and administered.
• The Government of Wales Act 2006 reformed the National Assembly and created the Welsh Government, accountable to the legislature.
• After a successful referendum in 2011, the National Assembly could make laws on devolved matters without UK Parliament approval.
• In May 2020, the National Assembly was renamed "Senedd Cymru" (Welsh Parliament).
• Devolved areas include agriculture, economic development, education, health, housing, local government, social services, tourism, transport, and the Welsh language.

Law

• Welsh Law, codified by Hywel Dda around 930, emphasized compensation to victims rather than punishment by the ruler.
• Welsh Law remained in force until the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284, after which English criminal law was imposed.
• Marcher Law and Welsh Law (for civil cases) remained until the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542, when English law was universally applied.
• The Wales and Berwick Act 1746 extended all English laws to Wales unless explicitly stated otherwise; this was repealed in 1967.
• English law is a common law system where legal precedents are binding.
• The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is the highest court of appeal for criminal and civil cases.
• The Senior Courts of England and Wales includes the Court of Appeal, the High Court of Justice, and the Crown Court.
• Wales became a legal unit in its own right after 2007 but remains part of the single jurisdiction of England and Wales.
• The Senedd has the authority to create laws outside the UK Parliamentary system for specific Welsh needs.
• Following a March 2011 referendum, the Senedd can pass Acts of Senedd Cymru on devolved subjects listed in the Government of Wales Act 2006.
• Wales is served by four regional police forces and has five prisons.

Geography and Natural History

• Wales is mountainous, about 170 miles (270 km) north to south.
• The area is about 20,779 km2 (8,023 sq mi).
• It is bordered by England to the east and by the Irish Sea, St George's Channel, Celtic Sea, and Bristol Channel to the north, west, and south.
• The coastline is about 1,680 miles (2,700 km) long, including the mainland, Anglesey, and Holyhead.
• Over 50 islands lie off the Welsh mainland, the largest being Anglesey.
• The highest mountains are in Snowdonia (Eryri), with Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) being the highest at 1,085 m (3,560 ft).
• Wales has three national parks: Snowdonia, Brecon Beacons, and Pembrokeshire Coast.
• There are five Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty: Anglesey, Clwydian Range and Dee Valley, Gower Peninsula, Llŷn Peninsula, and Wye Valley, with Gower being the first designated in 1956.
• Welsh coasts have 40 Blue Flag beaches, three Blue Flag marinas, and one Blue Flag boat operator as of 2019.
• Shipwrecks are common off the coasts of Wales due to Atlantic westerlies and offshore hazards.
• The Act of Union 1536 formed a linear border between Wales and England.

Geology & Climate

• The Cambrian geological period is named after the Cambrian Mountains.
• Roderick Murchison and Adam Sedgwick established principles of stratigraphy and palaeontology based on Welsh geology.
• The Ordovician and Silurian periods are named after ancient Celtic tribes from this area.
• The climate is a changeable, maritime climate and Wales is one of the wettest countries in Europe.
• The climate often includes clouds, rain, and wind, and is one of the wettest countries in Europe, with warm summers and mild winters.
• The highest temperature recorded was 37.1 °C (99 °F) at Hawarden, Flintshire, on 18 July 2022.
• The lowest temperature recorded was −23.3 °C (−10 °F) at Rhayader, Radnorshire, on 21 January 1940.
• The maximum sunshine hours in a month was 354.3 hours at Dale Fort, Pembrokeshire, in July 1955.
• The wettest spot is Crib Goch in Snowdonia, Gwynedd, averaging 4,473 millimetres (176 in) of rain annually.

Flora and Fauna

• Wales has wildlife similar to Britain, with some distinctions.
• Its long coastline supports various seabirds like gannets, Manx shearwaters, and puffins.
• Upland habitats host birds like ravens and ring ouzels.
• Birds of prey include the merlin, hen harrier, and red kite.
• Larger mammals like brown bears and wolves went extinct during the Norman period.
• Mammals include shrews, voles, badgers, otters, stoats, weasels, and bats.
• The pine marten has been reintroduced.
• Feral goats are found in Snowdonia.
• Beavers were officially released in the Dyfi Valley in March 2021.
• Some 2,500 disused coal tips are habitats for rare invertebrates and other wildlife.
• Marine animals like basking sharks, seals, turtles, dolphins, and jellyfish inhabit the waters of south-west Wales.
• Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion are important areas for bottlenose dolphins.
• Freshwater fish include eel, salmon, shad, and Arctic char, with the gwyniad unique to Bala Lake.
• Snowdonia supports pre-glacial flora like the Snowdon lily and alpine species.

Economy

• Wales has shifted from an agricultural economy to industrial and post-industrial economies.
• In 2018, the GDP was £75 billion, with a GDP per head of £23,866.
• In the three months to December 2017, 72.7 per cent of working-age adults were employed, compared to 75.2 per cent across the UK as a whole.
• The Welsh fiscal deficit for the 2018–19 fiscal year was 19.4 per cent of Wales's estimated GDP.
• As of 2019, Wales was a net exporter of electricity.
• According to the Welsh government in 2021, more than half the country meets its energy needs with renewable sources.
• Coal was a dominant industry from the mid-19th century until the post-war era, with Cardiff as a major coal-exporting port.
• The Welsh economy faced restructuring from the mid-1970s, with heavy industry jobs replaced by light industry and services.
• Livestock farming is a primary agricultural focus due to unsuitable soil for crops.
• Tourism is supported due to Parks and beaches.
• Wales became the first Fairtrade nation in June 2008.
• The pound sterling is the currency used in Wales.
• During 2020 and 2021, economic sectors were affected by COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns.

Transport

• The M4 motorway links South Wales with West London
• The A55 expressway connects North Wales coast to northwest England.
• The A470 is the main north-south Wales link, from Cardiff to Llandudno.
• Rail transport includes the Wales & Borders franchise, overseen by the Welsh Government
• Cardiff has its own urban rail network.
• Air and ferries services: Cardiff Airport is the international airport of Wales; ferry services to Ireland operate from Holyhead, Pembroke Dock, and Fishguard.

Education

• Formal education before the 18th century was for the elite; grammar schools were established in Welsh towns.
• Circulating schools, started by Griffith Jones in the 1730s, are believed to have taught half the population to read.
• In the early 19th century, English became the usual language of instruction, though Welsh public opinion wanted children to learn English.
• The University College of Wales opened in Aberystwyth in 1872, with Cardiff and Bangor following.
• The Welsh Intermediate Education Act of 1889 created 95 secondary schools.
• The Welsh Department for the Board of Education followed gave Wales its first significant educational devolution in 1907.
• Welsh-language schools made a resurgence in the end of of the 20th century
• Welsh is a compulsory subject in all of Wales's state schools for pupils aged 5–16 years old.

Healthcare

• Public healthcare in Wales is provided by NHS Wales (GIG Cymru)
• Responsible passed over to the Welsh Assembly under devolution in 1999
• NHS Wales directly employs over 90,000 staff, making it Wales's biggest employer.
• A survey in 2021–22 reported varying levels of general health among adults and that 46% of Welsh adults had a long-standing illness.

Demography

• The population doubled from 1801 to 1851
• Population reached 2,421,000 by 1911.
• The population mostly increased in coal mining districts
• There was also large-scale migration into Wales, including an increase from English, Irish, African-Caribbean and Asian communities
• The resident population of Wales in 2021 was 3,107,500
• The percentage of the population that is female is 51.05%
• There are seven cities: Cardiff, Newport, Swansea, Wrexham, Bangor, St Asaph and St Davids.

Language

• Welsh is an official language as legislated by the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011.
• Both are official languages of the Senedd.
• According to the 2021 census, the Welsh-speaking population was 17.8 per cent and nearly three-quarters of the population in Wales said they had no Welsh language skills
• Other estimates suggest that 29.7 per cent of people aged three or older in Wales could speak Welsh in June 2022.
• 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 an increase in Polish immigrants making the most common main language in Wales after English and Welsh.

Religion & Ethnicity

• Forms of Christianity have dominated religious life for more than 1,400 years.
• Largest Religion is Christianity, with 43.6% of the population
• Islam is the largest non-Christian religion
• In 2021, 93.8 per cent of the population identified as "White"
• Second-highest ethnicity in 2021 was "Asian, Asian Welsh or Asian British" at 2.9 per cent of the population.
• 5.3 per cent of households in Wales were multiple ethnic group households, up from 4.2 per cent in 2011.

National Identity

• In 2021, 63.3 per cent identified as Welsh
• A YouGov poll showed in 2022 that 67 per cent felt Welsh to some degree.

Culture

• Distinctive culture including language, customs, and music.
• Four UNESCO World Heritage Sites
• Native Celtic mythology passed down by the cynfeirdd (early poets)
• Earliest forms of the Arthurian legend and the traditional history of post-Roman Britain.

Literature, Museums, Art

• One of the oldest unbroken literary traditions in Europe.
• Early medieval period, Celtic Christianity was part of the Insular art of the British Isles.
• An Act of Parliament in 1857 established art schools throughout the United Kingdom, and the Cardiff School of Art opened in 1865.
• Welsh painters gravitating towards the art capitals of Europe

Symbols and Identity

• Wales is regarded as a Celtic nation,.
• Red dragon symbolizes national identity.
• The banner of Owain Glyndŵr is associated with Welsh nationhood.
• Saint David's Day commemorated on 1 March.
• "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" is the de facto national anthem.

Sport

• 50 national governing bodies regulating and organising their sports in Wales.
• Wales represented at major world sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup and the Commonwealth Games.
• Rugby union is a symbol of Welsh identity.
• Wales has had its own football league since 1992.
• Has produced considerable number of footballers at International level.

Media

• Became the UK's first digital television nation in 2010.
• BBC Cymru Wales is the national broadcaster, producing programmes in Welsh and English.
• S4C began broadcasting in 1982, and since the digital switchover the channel has broadcast exclusively in Welsh.
• Most of the newspapers sold and read in Wales are national newspapers available throughout Britain.
• The Western Mail is Wales's only print national daily newspaper.

Cuisine

• Traditional Welsh dishes include laverbread, bara brith, cawl, and Welsh cakes.
• Although Wales has its own traditional food and has absorbed much of the cuisine of England, Welsh diets now owe more to the countries of India, China and the United States.

Performing Arts

• Wales notable for solo artists, male voice choirs and harpists
• The annual National Eisteddfod is the country's main performance festival.
• Traditional instruments include the telyn deires (triple harp), fiddle, crwth (bowed lyre) and the pibgorn (hornpipe).
• The Welsh National Opera is based at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay
• The earliest surviving Welsh plays are two medieval miracle plays
• Traditional Welsh theatre has emerged
• Contemporary dance grew out of Cardiff in the 1970s