Wales: Geography, Etymology, and History

General Facts

• Wales total area is 21,218 square kilometers (8,192 sq mi).
• The estimated population in 2022 was 3,131,640.
• Cardiff is both the capital and largest city.
• Welsh and English share the status of official languages
• "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" ("Land of My Fathers") serves as the de facto anthem.

Etymology

• The names "Wales" and "Welsh" are from the Old English word "Wealh".
• "Wealh" came from Proto-Germanic *Walhaz, which was derived from the Volcae, the name of the Gauls.
• "Wealh" was used by Anglo-Saxons to refer to the Britons.
• Cymry is the modern Welsh term for Welsh people
• Cymru is the Welsh language name for Wales, derived from Brythonic combrogi, meaning "fellow-countrymen"

History

• Wales was inhabited since the end of the last ice age.
• During the Bronze Age, the Great Orme, in North Wales, became Britain's main source of copper.
• Wales attracted the Roman invasion due to its mineral resources.
• The Romans called the Celtic culture of the time "Britons".
• The Roman withdrawal in 383 led to Britain fracturing into various kingdoms, laying the foundation for a British nation.
• Germanic Anglo-Saxon settlers displaced the Britons, isolating a group in the western peninsula, later named Wallia by the English.
• Medieval Wales was divided into kingdoms that fought amongst themselves and against their English neighbors.
• Vikings and Saxons settled in Wales evidenced by place names, historical records, and archaeological evidence.
• Hywel ap Cadell formed the kingdom of Deheubarth in the 10th century and gained control of most of Wales by 942.
• The Welsh law codified by Hywel Dda became a crucial step in the creation of the Welsh nation.
• In 1057, Gruffydd ap Llywelyn united all of Wales.
• The kingdom ended with Gruffydd's death in 1063 after an attack by Tostig, the English King's brother.
• The Normans invaded Wales, creating the semi-independent Norman Welsh marches and dividing them from the unconquered Pura Wallia.
• Llywelyn ab Iorwerth forced Welsh princes to his rule in 1216.
• The statute of Rhuddlan ended Welsh independence in 1284 after war concluded in an English victory in 1283.
• The Welsh became full citizens in the Kingdom of England by the Laws in Wales Acts of Henry VIII.
• The act of union created the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707.
• Coal mining and the exploitation of natural resources increased rapidly in Wales from the industrial revolution up until empire times.
• Religious revivals transformed Wales, beginning non-conformism traditions.
• Radical Welsh working-class movements emerged because of rapid industrialization, sparking events like the Merthyr Rising of 1831.
• Wales has voted Labour in every general election since 1922.
• Welsh language and non-conformism were blamed for poor educational standards in a report, leading to bilingual education requirements.
• The Government of Wales Act created a devolved Welsh assembly for the first time in 1998.

Government and Politics

• Wales is a country within the United Kingdom.
• Wales should be referred to as a country rather than a principality according to the Counsel General for Wales, John Griffiths, in 2010.
• There are 32 Welsh Members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons.
• The Wales Office is a UK government department responsible for Wales.
• The Senedd (Welsh Parliament) is Wales's unicameral legislature, holding devolved powers from the UK Parliament.
• Wales is divided into 22 council areas responsible for local government services since 1996.
• The Government of Wales Act 1998 created the National Assembly for Wales.
• In 2011, a referendum empowered the National Assembly to make laws on devolved subject areas.
• The National Assembly was renamed "Senedd Cymru" or "the Welsh Parliament" in May 2020.
• Devolved areas of responsibility include agriculture, economic development, education, health, housing, local government, social services, tourism, transport, and the Welsh language.

Law

• Welsh Law, or 'law of Hywel Dda', was compiled around 930 and codified existing folk laws, emphasizing compensation to victims rather than punishment by the ruler.
• Welsh Law remained in force until the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284, which replaced it with English law for criminal cases.
• English law has been the legal system of England and Wales since 1536.
• The Wales and Berwick Act 1746, which provided that almost all laws applying to England would automatically apply to Wales, was repealed regarding Wales in 1967.
• The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is the highest court of appeal for criminal and civil cases.
• The Senedd can draft and approve laws outside of the UK Parliamentary system to meet the specific needs of Wales.
• In March 2011, a referendum approved the Welsh assembly's power to pass primary legislation on twenty subjects listed in the Government of Wales Act 2006.
• There are four regional police forces: Dyfed-Powys Police, Gwent Police, North Wales Police, and South Wales Police.
• There are five prisons in Wales, with female inmates imprisoned in England.

Geography and natural history

• Wales is mountainous, located on the western side of Great Britain.
• From north to south, Wales measures approximately 170 miles (270 km).
• The country is bordered by England to the east and by the Irish Sea, St George's Channel, Celtic Sea, and Bristol Channel on all other sides.
• Wales has about 1,680 miles (2,700 km) of coastline
• Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) is the highest summit, standing at 1,085 m (3,560 ft).
• Snowdonia (Eryri) is home to the highest mountains in Wales
• Wales has three national parks: Snowdonia, Brecon Beacons, and Pembrokeshire Coast.
• There are five Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
• The Gower Peninsula became the first area in the United Kingdom to be designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1956.
• Wales coastline had 40 Blue Flag beaches, three Blue Flag marinas, and one Blue Flag boat operator as of 2019.
• The Act of Union 1536 formed a linear border stretching from the mouth of the Dee to the mouth of the Wye.

Geology

• The Cambrian Mountains is where geologists first identified Cambrian remnants
• Roderick Murchison and Adam Sedgwick established stratigraphy and palaeontology principles through Welsh geology studies in the mid-19th century.
• The Ordovician and Silurian periods of the Palaeozoic era 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 Europe's wettest countries
• Welsh weather has cloudy, wet, and windy conditions, warm summers and mild winters
• The highest maximum temperature was 37.1 °C (99 °F) at Hawarden, Flintshire on 18 July 2022.
• The record lowest temperature was −23.3 °C (−10 °F) at Rhayader, Radnorshire on 21 January 1940.
• The maximum amount of sunshine in a month was 354.3 hours at Dale Fort, Pembrokeshire in July 1955.
• The minimum sunshine was 2.7 hours at Llwynon, Brecknockshire in January 1962.
• The maximum rainfall in a day was 211 millimetres (8.3 in) at Rhondda, on 11 November 1929.
• The wettest spot averages 4,473 millimetres (176 in) of rain annually at Crib Goch in Snowdonia, Gwynedd

Flora and Fauna

• Wales's wildlife is typical of Britain.
• A variety of seabirds populate the long coastline.
• There are colonies of gannets, Manx shearwater, puffins, kittiwakes, shags, and razorbills on the coasts and surrounding islands.
• The country supports a variety of upland-habitat birds, including raven and ring ouzel.
• Birds of prey include the merlin, hen harrier, and red kite
• Larger mammals died out during the Norman period.
• Shrews, voles, badgers, otters, stoats, weasels, hedgehogs, and fifteen species of bat can be found today.
• Pine martens have been reintroduced since 2015 after being absent since the 1950s.
• Beavers have been officially released in the Dyfi Valley.
• The Welsh Government is studying approximately 2,500 disused coal tips.
• South-west Wales waters attract marine animals like basking sharks, Atlantic grey seals, leatherback turtles, dolphins, porpoises, jellyfish, crabs, and lobsters.
• Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion are internationally recognized for bottlenose dolphins.
• New Quay is the only summer residence of bottlenose dolphins in the UK.
• Freshwater fish include char, eel, salmon, shad, sparling, and Arctic char.
• The gwyniad, only found in Bala Lake, is unique to Wales.
• Known shellfish include cockles, limpet, mussels, and periwinkles.
• Snowdonia's north-facing high grounds are home to a relict pre-glacial flora.
• The Snowdon lily, Saxifraga cespitosa, Saxifraga oppositifolia, and the Silene acaulis belong to the alpine species in the area.

Economy

• Wales has been transformed from an agricultural country to an industrial and then to a post-industrial economy.
• Gross domestic product (GDP) in Wales was £75 billion in 2018.
• The Welsh fiscal deficit accounts for 19.4 per cent of Wales's estimated GDP.
• Wales was a net exporter of electricity in 2019.
• The Welsh government said that more than half the country's energy needs were being met by renewable sources in 2021.
• Wales contributes to items that do not directly benefit Wales such as HS2.
• Wales also pays more in military costs than most similar-sized countries.
• Cardiff was once the largest coal-exporting port in the world.
• Over 40 per cent of the male Welsh population worked in heavy industry in the 1920s.
• The Welsh economy faced massive restructuring from the mid-1970s.
• Livestock farming has been the focus of farming due to poor-quality soil.
• The Welsh landscape attracts tourists, who bolster the economy of rural areas.
• Wales became the first nation awarded Fairtrade status in June 2008.
• During 2020 and well into 2021, the restrictions and lockdowns affected all sectors of the economy.
• On 12 April 2021, non-essential travel between Wales and England was permitted.

Transport

• The M4 motorway links Newport, Cardiff, and Swansea.
• The A55 expressway connects Holyhead and Bangor with Wrexham and Flintshire along the North Wales coast.
• The A470 runs from Cardiff to Llandudno, serving as the main north-south Wales link.
• The Welsh Government oversees rail transport in Wales
• Transport for Wales Rail operates most passenger services
• A North-South railway has been suggested to better link North and South Wales to improve transport accessibility.
• Cardiff Airport is the international airport of Wales, which provides links to European, African, and North American destinations.
• Regular ferry services to Ireland operate from Holyhead, Pembroke Dock, and Fishguard.

Education

• Formal education before the 18th century was for the elite.
• Griffith Jones introduced the circulating schools in the 1730s.
• English became the usual language of instruction at schools in Wales in the early 19th century.
• The University College of Wales opened in Aberystwyth in 1872.
• The Welsh Intermediate Education Act of 1889 created 95 secondary schools.
• Wales's first significant educational devolution came in 1907, with the Welsh Department for the Board of Education.
• Attitudes shifted towards teaching in the medium of Welsh in the latter half of the 20th century.
• Welsh is a compulsory subject in all of Wales's state schools for pupils aged 5–16.
• Welsh-medium higher education is delivered through individual universities and supported by the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol since 2011.
• There were 1,470 maintained schools in Wales in 2021–2022.

Healthcare

• NHS Wales (GIG Cymru) provides public healthcare in Wales through seven local health boards and three all-Wales trusts.
• In 1969 powers over the NHS in Wales came under the Secretary of State for Wales.
• Responsibility for NHS Wales passed to the Welsh Assembly under devolution in 1999.
• Clinical work has been concentrated in newer, larger district hospitals.
• There were seventeen district hospitals in Wales in 2006.
• Seventy-two per cent of adults had good or very good general health in 2021–22.
• Forty-six per cent of Welsh adults had a long-standing illness.
• Thirteen per cent of the adult population were smokers.

Demography

• The population of Wales doubled from 587,000 in 1801 to 1,163,000 in 1851, reaching 2,421,000 by 1911.
• Large-scale migration into Wales occurred during the Industrial Revolution.
• African-Caribbean and Asian communities add to the ethnocultural mix, particularly in urban Wales.
• The population fell in the early 1980s due to net migration out of Wales.
• The resident population of Wales was 3,107,500 in 2021.
• There are seven cities: Cardiff, Newport, Swansea, Wrexham, Bangor, St Asaph, and St Davids.
• Wrexham, was granted city status in September 2022.

Language

• The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 legislates Welsh as an official language in Wales.
• Both Welsh and English are also official languages of the Senedd.
• The Welsh-speaking population of Wales aged three or older was 17.8 per cent (538,300 people), according to the 2021 census.
• English is spoken by almost all people in Wales and is the main language in most of the country.
• Code-switching is common.
• "Wenglish" is the Welsh dialect of the English language.
• Northern and western Wales retain many areas where Welsh is spoken as a first language by most of the population.
• Polish has become 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 Wales for more than 1,400 years.
• The 2021 census recorded that 46.5 per cent had "No religion".
• Christianity is the largest religion in Wales with a rate of 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).
• The Church in Wales is a province of the Anglican Communion.
• Non-Christian religions are small in Wales, making up approximately 2.7 per cent of the population.

Ethnicity

• In 2021, the census showed that 93.8 per cent of the population of Wales identified as "White".
• 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.
• Vaughan Gething was elected First Minister of Wales in 2024 becoming the first black head of government in Europe.

National Identity

• The 2021 census showed that 63.3 per cent identified as Welsh.
• A 2022 YouGov poll showed that 67 per cent of respondents considered themselves Welsh to some degree.
• Wales is regarded as a modern Celtic nation.

Culture

• Wales has a distinctive culture, including its own language, customs, holidays, and music.
• There are four UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Wales.

Mythology

• Native Celtic mythology of the pre-Christian Britons was passed down orally by the cynfeirdd (the early poets).
• Medieval Welsh manuscripts such as the Black Book of Carmarthen and the Book of Aneirin preserve some of their work.

Literature

• Wales has one of the oldest unbroken literary traditions in Europe.
• The earliest Welsh verse, by poets Taliesin and Aneirin, survived 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).
• William Morgan became the first person to translate the Bible into Welsh in 1588.
• Lady Charlotte Guest's translation into English of the Mabinogion ranks as one of the most important medieval Welsh prose works of Celtic mythology.

Museums and Libraries

• Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales was founded in 1907 and operates at seven sites.
• Entry to all sites is free.
• The National Library of Wales, in Aberystwyth, houses collections of printed works, art, and Ordnance Survey maps.

Visual Arts

• Celtic art has been found in Wales.
• During the Early Medieval period, the Celtic Christianity of Wales influenced the Insular art of the British Isles.
• Richard Wilson (1714–1782) is the first major British landscapist.
• The Cardiff School of Art opened in 1865.
• South Wales had several notable potteries including the Cambrian Pottery (1764–1870, also known as "Swansea pottery").

National Symbols and Identity

• Wales is regarded as a modern Celtic nation.
• The red dragon is the main symbol of national identity and pride.
• The red dragon of Wales has been used as an emblem since the reign of Cadwaladr, King of Gwynedd.
• The banner of Owain Glyndŵr is associated with Welsh nationhood, includes four lions on red and gold.
• Welsh people celebrate Saint David's Day on 1 March.
• "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" (English: Land of My Fathers) is the de facto, national anthem of Wales.
• "Cymru am byth" ("Wales forever") is a popular Welsh motto.

Sport

• More than 50 national governing bodies regulate and organize their sports in Wales.
• Wales is represented at major world sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup, Rugby World Cup, and the Commonwealth Games.
• Welsh athletes compete as part of a Great Britain team at the Olympic Games.
• Rugby union is seen as a symbol of Welsh identity.
• Five Welsh clubs play in the English football league system because of historical reasons.

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.
• ITV has a Welsh-orientated service branded ITV Cymru Wales.
• S4C began broadcasting in 1982.
• The Western Mail is Wales's only print national daily newspaper.
• Wales-based regional daily newspapers include the Daily Post (which covers North Wales), the South Wales Evening Post (Swansea), the South Wales Echo (Cardiff), and the South Wales Argus (Newport).
• Y Cymro is a Welsh-language newspaper, published weekly.

Cuisine

• Traditional Welsh dishes include laverbread, bara brith, cawl, cawl cennin, and Welsh cakes.
• Chicken tikka masala is the country's favourite meal.

Performing Arts

• Wales is notable for its solo artists, its male voice choirs, and its harpists.
• The annual National Eisteddfod is the country's main performance festival.
• Traditional instruments of Wales include the telyn deires (triple harp), fiddle, crwth (bowed lyre) and the pibgorn (hornpipe).
• Many of the historic choirs survive in modern Wales, singing a mixture of traditional and popular songs.
• The BBC National Orchestra of Wales performs in Wales and internationally.
• Contemporary dance grew out of Cardiff in the 1970s