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South Wales (Welsh: De Cymru) is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people^[1] and includes the capital city of Cardiff (population approximately 324,800), as well as Swansea and Newport. The Brecon Beacons national park covers about a third of South Wales, containing Pen y Fan, the highest mountain south of Snowdonia.

The extent of South Wales is loosely defined, but it is generally considered to be the area surrounding the M4 motorway, including the historic counties of Glamorganshire and Monmouthshire and sometimes extending westwards to include south Carmarthenshire and south Pembrokeshire. In the western extent, from Swansea westwards, local people would probably recognise that they lived in both South Wales and in West Wales — there is considerable overlap in these somewhat artificial boundaries. The northern border is particularly ill-defined, but the A40 may be a good approximation whilst others consider the more southerly Heads of the Valleys Road as the boundary.

History[link]

The South Wales Valleys and upland mountain ridges were once a very rural area of great natural beauty, noted for its river valleys and ancient forests and lauded by romantic poets such as William Wordsworth as well as poets in the Welsh language, although the interests of the latter lay more in society and culture than in the evocation of natural scenery. This natural beauty changed to a considerable extent during the early Industrial Revolution when the Glamorgan and Monmouthshire valley areas were exploited for coal and iron. By the 1830s, hundreds of tons of coal were being transported by barge to ports in Cardiff and Newport. In the 1870s, coal was transported by railway networks to Newport Docks, at the time the largest coal exporting docks in the world, and by the 1880s coal was being exported from Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan.

The Marquess of Bute, who owned much of the land north of Cardiff, built a steam railway system on his land that stretched from Cardiff into many of the South Wales Valleys where the coal was being found. Lord Bute then charged taxes per ton of coal that was transported out using his railways. With coal mining and iron smelting being the main trades of South Wales, many thousands of immigrants from the English Midlands, Scotland, Ireland, Cornwall and even Italy came and set up homes and put down roots in the region. Very many came from other coal mining areas such as Somerset, the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire and the tin mines of Cornwall such as Geevor Tin Mine, as a large but experienced and willing workforce was required. Whilst some of the migrants left, many settled and established in the South Wales valleys between Swansea and Abergavenny, English speaking communities with a unique identity. Industrial workers were housed in cottages and terraced houses close to the mines and foundries in which they worked. The large influx over the years caused overcrowding which led to outbreaks of Cholera, and on the social and cultural side, the near-loss of the Welsh language in the area.

The 1930s inter-war Great Depression in the United Kingdom saw the loss of almost half of the coal pits in the South Wales coalfield and this number declined further in the years following World War II. This number is now very low, following the UK miners' strike (1984–1985), and the last 'traditional' deep-shaft mine, Tower Colliery, closed in January 2008.

Despite the intense industrialisation of the coal mining valleys, many parts of the landscape of South Wales such as the upper Neath valley, the Vale of Glamorgan and the valleys of the River Usk and River Wye remain distinctly beautiful and unspoilt and have been designated SSSI, Sites of Special Scientific Interest. In addition to this, many once heavily industrialised sites have reverted to wilderness, some provided with a series of cycle tracks and other outdoor amenities. Large areas of forestry and open moorland also contribute to the amenity of the landscape.

View north into Cwm Llwch from Corn Du, in the Brecon Beacons range

Famous industrialised areas in the 19th and 20th centuries[link]

Merthyr Tydfil (Welsh: Merthyr Tudful) grew around the Dowlais Ironworks which was founded to exploit the locally abundant seams of iron ore, and in time it became the largest iron producing town in the world. New coal mines were sunk nearby to feed the furnaces and in time produced coal for export. By the 1831 census, the population of Merthyr was 60,000 — more at that time than Cardiff, Swansea and Newport combined and its industries included coal mines, iron works, cable factory, engine sheds and sidings and many others. The town was also the birthplace of Joseph Parry, composer of the haunting hymn tune Myfanwy.

The Heads of the Valleys towns, including Rhymney, Tredegar and Ebbw Vale rose out of the industrial revolution; producing coal, metal ores and later steel.

Aberfan: The Merthyr Vale colliery began to produce coal in 1875. Spoil from the mine workings was piled on the hills close to the village which grew nearby. Tipping went on until the 1960s. The industry was by then nationalised but even the National Coal Board failed to appreciate the true nature of the danger they helped to create. In October 1966, heavy rain made the giant coal tip unstable. The recent dumping of small particles of coal and ash known as 'tailings' seems to have been partly responsible. A 30-foot-high (9.1 m) black wave tore downhill across the Glamorganshire Canal and swept away houses on its path towards the village school. 114 children and 28 adults were killed.

The Rhondda Valleys (Rhondda Fach and Rhondda Fawr) housed around 3,000 people in 1860 but by 1910 the population had soared to 160,000. The Rhondda had become the heart of a massive South Walian coal industry. Mining accidents below ground were common and in 1896 fifty-seven men and boys were killed in a gas explosion at the Tylorstown Colliery. An enquiry found that the pit involved had not been properly inspected over the previous fifteen months.

Ebbw Vale — the valley of the Ebbw River which stretches from the town of Ebbw Vale to Newport includes the mining towns and villages of Newbridge, Risca, Crumlin, Abercarn and Cwmcarn. The Carboniferous Black Vein coal seams in the area lay 900 feet below the surface and the mining activity associated with it was responsible for many tragic subsurface explosions, roof collapses and mining accidents.

Now the Valleys' heavy industrial past is overprinted with urban regeneration, tourism and multi-national investment. Large, empty factory units, or ones turned over to retail use, witness to the lack of success in replacing older industries.

Gallery[link]

Language[link]

The language of the vast majority of people in South Wales is English, but there are also many who speak Welsh. In western parts of Glamorgan, particularly the Neath and Swansea Valleys, there remain significant Welsh-speaking communities such as Ystradgynlais and Ystalyfera, which share a heritage with the fellow ex-Anthracite mining areas of eastern Carmarthenshire, as much as the Glamorgan valleys.

The local slang dialect and phrases of the South Wales Valleys communities have been referred to as 'Wenglish', with often comic effect^[2]. The dialect is found also in such coastal towns as Barry, as featured in the BBC hit comedy series Gavin and Stacey. Compared with such regional English dialects as those of Yorkshire, the local speech seems to be very little studied or appreciated.

Welsh, however, is now a compulsory language up to GCSE level for all students who start their education in Wales. This has meant the strength of the language, as a 2nd language, has increased considerably in the last 20 years. Several schools offering Welsh-language education operate in this area, for example Ysgol Gyfun Llanhari in Pontyclun, Ysgol Gyfun Y Cymmer in Porth the Rhondda, Ysgol Gyfun Rhydywaun in Penywaun in the Cynon Valley, Ysgol Gyfun Gwynllyw in Pontypool, Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni in Blackwood, Ysgol Gymraeg Plasmawr in Cardiff & Ysgol Gyfun Garth Olwg in Church Village, which have all done much to enhance the status of the language among young people.

A significant number of people from ethnic-minority communities speak another language as their first language, particularly in Cardiff and Newport. Commonly spoken languages in some areas include Punjabi, Bengali, Arabic, Somali and Chinese, and increasingly Central European languages such as Polish.

Culture[link]

The traditional pastimes of the area include rugby and music. Today music ranges from the traditional Welsh Male Voice choirs of the Valleys such as Treorchy Male Choir to the South Wales hardcore scene which plays a dominant role in the Cardiff music scene. Bands such as Lostprophets, Bullet for My Valentine, Feeder, Stereophonics, Manic Street Preachers, Funeral for a Friend, The Automatic, Skindred, Foreign Legion, Kids In Glass Houses and The Blackout all come from the South Wales area. In the nineteenth and earlier twentieth centuries there was a vigorous literary and musical culture centred round eisteddfodau held in the area^[3][4][5]. Despite a few timid attempts to emulate this literature in English, it can be argued that few writers seem to connect either with the landscape or the literary tradition^[6] The one exception, to some extent, can be considered to be Dylan Thomas ^[7].

Religion[link]

The South Wales landscape is marked by numerous chapels, places of worship (past and present) of the various Christian Nonconformist congregations. The Baptist congregation at Ilston, Gower, felt compelled to move to Swansea, Massachusetts^[8], but after the restoration of Anglican worship in 1662 several "gathered" churches survived belonging to the Baptist, Independent and Presbyterian denominations. In the 18th century members of some of these congregations became dissatisfied with the theological innovations of some trained ministers, and created new congregations such as Hengoed near Ystrad Mynach ^[9] In the same century, churches were sometimes involved in the Methodist movement, especially Groeswen and Watford near Caerphilly, which both received frequent visits from John Wesley^[10][11] The largest denomination, however, became the Calvinist Methodists (later the Presbyterian Church of Wales), whose distinctive grey stone chapels can be seen in many parts. These were mainly Welsh language congregations. Anglicanism in South Wales became autonomous from the Church of England with the Welsh Disestablishment Act in 1920, but the immediate demise of the denomination feared at that time has not taken place^[12][13]. The Roman Catholic community, despite systematic persecution, survived in the 17th to 19th centuries, especially in Brecon and among minor gentry such as the Vaughans of Welsh Bicknor, on the Monmouthshire–Herefordshire border^[14][15]. Among members of worldwide origin in later urban Catholic congregations were the Bracchis, Italians in the café and catering trades often from Bardi in the Apennines^[16] Post-war diversity has brought such developments as interesting buildings used as mosques, especially in Cardiff and Newport, Sikh gurdwaras, including one on the mountain near Abercynon^[17] and a growing number of Evangelical and Pentecostal congregations. These often add a strongly international element into local life, such as the "Pont" twinning project between Pontypridd and Mbale, Uganda, and the creation of "Fairtrade" relationships with primary producers worldwide^[18].

Industry today[link]

The former heavy industries of coal and iron production have disappeared since the economic struggles of the 1970s, with the closures of that decade continuing sharply into the 1980s, and by July 1985 just 31 coal pits remained in the region.^[19] Further closures left the region with just one deep mine by the early 1990s,^[20] and this finally closed in January 2008, by which time it had transferred to private ownership after being sold off by the National Coal Board.^[21]

These industries have since largely replaced by service sector industries.

The cities along the M4 corridor are home to a number of high-profile blue-chip companies such as Admiral Insurance, Legal & General and the Welsh based Principality Building Society. A large number of telephone call centres are located in the region and in particular in the Valleys area. Merthyr Tydfil is home to the principal UK call centre for German mobile telephone company, T-Mobile. Many jobs are also provided in small-scale and family businesses^[22]. It is clear from anecdotal personal contacts, apart from official figures, that the new industries have so far failed to cope with the task of providing stable employment for the large number of employable people resident in the area.

The television and film sectors are fast becoming a major industry in South Wales, with the development, by the BBC, of a vast dedicated production studio in Nantgarw, near Pontypridd, for the highly successful Doctor Who series. Lord Attenborough is shortly^[when?] due to open the first completely new film studio in the UK in over fifty years. Dragon International Film Studios, a huge purpose-built studio complex located alongside the M4 motorway between Bridgend and Llantrisant, contains a number of large soundstages which have already attracted the interest of a number of Hollywood directors and producers alike, looking for suitable facilities in Europe.^{[citation needed]}

Local media[link]

Radio stations in the area include:

• Real Radio
• Red Dragon FM
• The Wave 96.4 FM
• Swansea Sound
• Bay Radio
• 97.1 Radio Carmarthenshire
• 102.5 Radio Pembrokeshire
• 97.5 Scarlet FM
• 106.3 Bridge FM
• Afan FM
• BBC Radio Wales
• BBC Radio Cymru
• Nation Radio
• Kiss 101

The Welsh national media is based in Cardiff, with the BBC, ITV and S4C all having their main studios and offices in the capital.

Cardiff also has its own television station, Capital TV, based in the Link Trade Park in Penarth Road, Cardiff. The channel broadcasts to most of Cardiff on terrestrial frequency 49. The company runs alongside with local media studes centre, Media4Schools which produces small videos in co-operation with local schools (CardiffTV4School and ValeTV4Schools).

See also[link]

• South East Wales
• West Wales
• Mid Wales
• North Wales
• Geography of Wales
• Subdivisions of Wales
• M4 Corridor
• South Wales coalfield
• South Wales Valleys
• New South Wales in Australia

References[link]

Coordinates: 51°41′N 3°23′W / 51.683°N 3.383°W / 51.683; -3.383

Wales Cymru[nb 1]
Flag
Motto: Cymru am byth (English: Wales for ever)
Anthem: Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau (English: Land of my fathers)
Location of  Wales  (dark green) – in the European continent  (light green & dark grey) – in the United Kingdom  (light green)
Capital (and largest city)		Cardiff (Caerdydd) 51°29′N 3°11′W / 51.483°N 3.183°W / 51.483; -3.183
Official languages		Welsh, English
Demonym		Welsh (Cymry)
Government		Devolved Government in a Constitutional monarchy
-	Monarch	Elizabeth II
-	First Minister	Carwyn Jones AM
-	Prime Minister of the United Kingdom	David Cameron MP
-	Secretary of State (in the UK government)	Cheryl Gillan MP
Legislature		UK Parliament and National Assembly for Wales
Unification
-	by Gruffydd ap Llywelyn[1]	1057
Area
-	Total	20,779 km2  8,022 sq mi
Population
-	mid 2010 estimate	3,006,400
-	2001 census	2,903,085
-	Density	140/km2  361/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2006 (for national statistics) estimate
-	Total	US$85.4 billion
-	Per capita	US$30,546
Currency		Pound sterling (GBP)
Time zone		GMT (UTC0)
-	Summer (DST)	BST (UTC+1)
Date formats		dd/mm/yyyy (AD or CE)
Drives on the		left
ISO 3166 code		GB
Internet TLD		.uk[nb 2]
Calling code		44
Patron saint		Saint David, Dewi Sant

Wales ⁱ/ˈweɪlz/ (Welsh: Cymru;^[2] Welsh pronunciation: [ˈkəm.rɨ] ( listen)) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain,^[3] bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km² (8,023 sq mi). Wales has over 1,200 km (750 mi) of coastline, including its offshore islands; the largest, Anglesey (Ynys Môn), is also the largest island in the Irish Sea. Wales is largely mountainous, with its highest peaks in the north and central areas, especially in Snowdonia (Eryri), which contains Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa), its highest summit.

During the Iron Age and early medieval period, Wales was inhabited by the Celtic Britons. A distinct Welsh national identity emerged in the centuries after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, and Wales is regarded as one of the modern Celtic nations today. Gruffydd ap Llywelyn was recognised as King of Wales in 1057. Llywelyn ap Gruffydd's death in 1282 marked the completion of Edward I of England's conquest of Wales. The castles and town walls erected to ensure its permanence are now UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Owain Glyndŵr briefly restored independence to what was to become modern Wales, in the early 15th century. Wales was subsequently annexed by England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 since when, excluding those matters now devolved to Wales, English law has been the legal system of Wales and England. Distinctive Welsh politics developed in the 19th century. Welsh Liberalism, exemplified in the early 20th century by Lloyd George, was displaced by the growth of socialism and the Labour Party. Welsh national feeling grew over the century; Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925 and The Welsh Language Society in 1962. The National Assembly for Wales, created in 1999 following a referendum, holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters.

Wales lies within the north temperate zone, its changeable, maritime climate making it one of the wettest countries in Europe. It was an agricultural society for most of its early history, the country's terrain making arable farming secondary to pastoral farming, the primary source of Wales' wealth. In the 18th century, the introduction of the slate and metallurgical industries, at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, began to transform the country into an industrial nation; the UNESCO World Heritage Sites Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape date from that period. The south Wales coalfield's exploitation in the Victorian era caused a rapid expansion of the Welsh population. Two-thirds of Wales' three million population live in south Wales, mainly in and around the cities of Cardiff, Swansea and Newport, and in the nearby valleys. Another concentration live in eastern north Wales. Cardiff, Wales' capital, is the country's most populous city, with 317,500 residents, and for a period was the biggest coal port in the world. Today, with the country's traditional heavy industries (coal, steel, copper, tinplate and slate) either gone or in decline, Wales' economy depends on the public sector, light and service industries, and tourism.

Although Wales shares a close political and social history with the rest of Great Britain, it has retained a distinct cultural identity. Wales is officially bilingual, the Welsh and English languages having equal status. The Welsh language is an important element of Welsh culture, and its use is supported by national policy. Over 580,000 Welsh speakers live in Wales, more than 20% of the population. From the late 19th century onwards, Wales acquired its popular image as the "land of song", attributable in part to the revival of the eisteddfod tradition. At international sporting events, such as the FIFA World Cup, Rugby World Cup and the Commonwealth Games, Wales is represented by national teams regulated and organised by over fifty national governing bodies of sports in Wales. At the Olympic Games, Welsh athletes compete as part of a Great Britain team. Although association football has traditionally been the more popular sport in north Wales, rugby union is seen as a symbol of Welsh identity and an expression of national consciousness.

Etymology[link]

Etymology of Wales[link]

The Anglo-Saxon word for 'foreign' or 'foreigner' was Waelisc and a 'foreign(er's) land' was called Wēalas. The modern English forms of these words with respect to the modern country are Welsh (the people) and Wales (the land), respectively.

Historically in Britain the words were not restricted to modern Wales or to the Welsh but were used indiscriminately to refer to anything that the Anglo-Saxons associated with Celtic Britons, including other foreign lands (e.g., Cornwall), places once associated with Celtic Britons (e.g., Walworth in County Durham and Walton in West Yorkshire),^[4] the surnames of people (e.g., Walsh and Wallace) and various other things that were once new and foreign to the Anglo-Saxons (e.g., the walnut). None of these historic usages is necessarily connected to Wales or the Welsh.

The Anglo-Saxon words are derived from the same Germanic root (singular Walh, plural Walha), applied to Italic and Celtic peoples and places, that has provided modern names for Continental lands (e.g., Wallonia and Wallachia)^[5] and peoples (e.g., the Vlachs via a borrowing into Old Church Slavonic),^[6][7][8] none of which has any connection to Wales or the Welsh.

Etymology of Cymru[link]

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Moliant Cadwallon

The modern Welsh name for themselves is Cymry, and Cymru is Welsh for "Land of the Cymry". The etymological origin of Cymry is from the Brythonic word combrogi, meaning "fellow-countrymen".^[9] The use of the word Cymry as a self-designation derives from the post-Roman Era relationship of the Welsh with the Brythonic-speaking peoples of northern England and southern Scotland, the peoples of "Yr Hen Ogledd" (English: The Old North). In its original use, it amounted to a self-perception that the Welsh and the "Men of the North" were one people, exclusive of all others.^[10] In particular, the term was not applied to the Cornish or the Breton peoples, who are of similar heritage, culture, and language to both the Welsh and the Men of the North. The word came into use as a self-description probably before the 7th century.^[11] It is attested in a praise poem to Cadwallon ap Cadfan ("Moliant Cadwallon", by Afan Ferddig) c. 633.^[12] In Welsh literature, the word Cymry was used throughout the Middle Ages to describe the Welsh, though the older, more generic term Brythoniaid continued to be used to describe any of the Britonnic peoples (including the Welsh) and was the more common literary term until c. 1100. Thereafter Cymry prevailed as a reference to the Welsh. Until c. 1560 Cymry was used indiscriminately to mean either the people or their homeland.^[9]

The Latinised forms of these names are Cambrian or Cambric (meaning "Welsh") and Cambria (meaning "Wales"). They survive as lesser-used alternative names for Wales, Welsh and the Welsh people. Examples include the Cambrian Mountains (which cover most of Wales), the newspaper "Cambrian News", as well as the organisations Cambrian Airways, Cambrian Railways and Cambrian Archaeological Association. Outside Wales, this form survives as the name of Cumbria in North West England, which was once a part of "Yr Hen Ogledd". This form also appears at times in literary references, perhaps most notably in the pseudohistorical "Historia Regum Britanniae" of Geoffrey of Monmouth, where the character of Camber is described as the eponymous King of Cymru.

History[link]

Prehistoric origins[link]

Bryn Celli Ddu
a late Neolithic chambered tomb on Anglesey

Wales has been inhabited by modern humans for at least 29,000 years.^[13] Continuous human habitation dates from the end of the last ice age, between 12,000 and 10,000 years before present (BP), when Mesolithic hunter-gatherers from central Europe began to migrate to Great Britain. At that time sea levels were much lower than today, and the shallower parts of what is now the North Sea were dry land. The east coast of present day England and the coasts of present day Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands were connected by the former landmass known as Doggerland, forming the British Peninsula on the European mainland. Wales was free of glaciers by about 10,250 BP, the warmer climate allowing the area to become heavily wooded. The post-glacial rise in sea level separated Wales and Ireland, forming the Irish Sea. Doggerland was submerged by the North Sea and, by 8,000 BP, the British Peninsula had become an island.^[14][15] By the beginning of the Neolithic (c. 6,000 BP) sea levels in the Bristol Channel were still about 33 feet (10 metres) lower than today.^[16][17][18] John Davies has theorised that the story of Cantre'r Gwaelod's drowning and tales in the Mabinogion, of the waters between Wales and Ireland being narrower and shallower, may be distant folk memories of this time.^[19]

Neolithic colonists integrated with the indigenous people, gradually changing their lifestyles from a nomadic life of hunting and gathering, to become settled farmers about 6,000 BP – the Neolithic Revolution.^[19][20] They cleared the forests to establish pasture and to cultivate the land, developed new technologies such as ceramics and textile production, and built cromlechs such as Pentre Ifan, Bryn Celli Ddu and Parc Cwm long cairn between about 5,500 BP and 5,800 BP.^{[21][22][23][24]} In common with people living all over Great Britain, over the following centuries the people living in what was to become known as Wales assimilated immigrants and exchanged ideas of the Bronze Age and Iron Age Celtic cultures. According to John T. Koch and others, Wales in the Late Bronze Age was part of a maritime trading-networked culture that also included the other Celtic nations, England, France, Spain and Portugal where Celtic languages developed.^{[25][26][27][28][29]} By the time of the Roman invasion of Britain the area of modern Wales had been divided among the tribes of the Deceangli, Ordovices, Cornovii, Demetae and Silures for centuries.^[19]

Roman era[link]

The Roman conquest of Wales began in AD 48 and took 30 years to complete. Roman rule lasted over 300 years. The campaigns of conquest are the most widely known feature of Wales during the Roman era, due to the spirited, but ultimately unsuccessful, defence of their homelands by two native tribes: the Silures and the Ordovices. Roman rule in Wales was a military occupation, save for the southern coastal region of South Wales, east of the Gower Peninsula, where there is a legacy of Romanisation.^[30] The only town in Wales founded by the Romans, Caerwent, is in South Wales. Both Caerwent and Carmarthen, also in southern Wales, became Roman civitates.^[31] Wales had a rich mineral wealth. The Romans used their engineering technology to extract large amounts of gold, copper and lead, as well as modest amounts of some other metals such as zinc and silver.^[32] Roman economic development was concentrated in south-eastern Britain, and no significant industries located in Wales.^[32] This was largely a matter of circumstance, as Wales had none of the necessary materials in suitable combination, and the forested, mountainous countryside was not amenable to industrialisation. Although Latin became the official language of Wales, the people tended to continue to speak in Brythonic. While Romanisation was far from complete, the upper classes of Wales began to consider themselves Roman, particularly after the ruling of 212 that granted Roman citizenship to all free men throughout the Empire.^[33] Further Roman influence came through the spread of Christianity, which gained many followers after Christians were allowed to worship freely in 313.^[33]

Coin of
Magnus Maximus

Early historians, including the 6th century cleric Gildas, have noted 383 as a significant point in Welsh history,^[34] as it is stated in literature as the foundation point of several medieval royal dynasties. In that year the Roman general Magnus Maximus, or Macsen Wledig, stripped all of western and northern Britain of troops and senior administrators, to launch a successful bid for imperial power; continuing to rule Britain from Gaul as Emperor.^[35][36] Gildas, writing in about 540, says that Maximus left Britain not only with all of its Roman troops, but also with all of its armed bands, governors, and the flower of its youth, never to return. Having left with the troops and Roman administrators, and planning to continue as the ruler of Britain in the future, his practical course was to transfer local authority to local rulers. The earliest Welsh genealogies give Maximus the role of founding father for several royal dynasties, including those of Powys and Gwent.^[37][38] It was this transfer of power that has given rise to the belief that he was the father of the Welsh Nation.^[34] He is given as the ancestor of a Welsh king on the Pillar of Eliseg, erected nearly 500 years after he left Britain, and he figures in lists of the Fifteen Tribes of Wales.^[39]

Post-Roman era[link]

Britain in AD 500: The areas shaded pink on the map were inhabited by the Celtic Britons, here labelled as Welsh. The pale blue areas in the east were controlled by Germanic tribes–the pale green areas to the north were inhabited by the Gaels and Picts.

The 400 years following the collapse of Roman rule is the most difficult to interpret in the history of Wales.^[33] After the Roman departure from Britain in 410, much of the lowlands of Britain to the east and south-east were overrun by various Germanic peoples. Before extensive studies of the distribution of R1b Y-DNA subclades, some used to maintain that native Britons were displaced by the invaders.^[40] This idea has been discarded in the face of evidence that the population has, mainly, at latest Hallstatt era origins, but probably late Neolithic, or at earliest Mesolithic origins with little contribution from Anglo-Saxon source areas.^[41] However, by 500 AD, the land that would become Wales had divided into a number of kingdoms free from Anglo-Saxon rule.^[33] The kingdoms of Gwynedd, Powys, Dyfed and Seisyllg, Morgannwg and Gwent emerged as independent Welsh successor states.^[33] Archaeological evidence, in the Low Countries and what was to become England, shows early Anglo-Saxon migration to Great Britain reversed between 500 to 550, which concurs with Frankish chronicles.^[42] John Davies notes this as consistent with the British victory at Badon Hill, attributed to Arthur by Nennius.^[42] 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 what is now the West Midlands to Mercia in the 6th and early 7th centuries, a resurgent late-seventh-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 valley of the River Severn to the Dee estuary, gave Oswestry to Powys.^[43] Another theory, after carbon dating placed the dyke's existence 300 years earlier, is that it may have been built by the post-Roman rulers of Wroxeter.^[44] King Offa of Mercia seems to have continued this consultative initiative when he created a larger earthwork, now known as Offa's Dyke (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 slopes in the hands of the Welsh; near Rhiwabon, 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."^[43] However, Fox's interpretations of both the length and purpose of the Dyke have been questioned by more recent research.^[45] 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 (Afon Dyfrdwy), and the Conwy known then as Y Berfeddwlad. By the eighth century, the eastern borders with the Anglo-Saxons had broadly been set.

In 853 the Vikings raided Anglesey, but in 856 Rhodri Mawr defeated and killed their leader, Gorm.^[46] The Britons of Wales later made their peace with the Vikings and Anarawd ap Rhodri allied with the Norsemen occupying Northumbria to conquer the north.^[47] This alliance later broke down and Anarawd came to an agreement with Alfred, king of Wessex, with whom he fought against the west Welsh. According to Annales Cambriae, in 894, "Anarawd came with the Angles and laid waste Ceredigion and Ystrad Tywi."^[48]

Medieval Wales[link]

The southern and eastern parts of Great Britain 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.^{[nb 3]} The Germanic tribes who now dominated these lands were invariably called Saeson, meaning "Saxons". The Anglo-Saxons called the Romano-British 'Walha', meaning 'Romanised foreigner' or 'stranger'.^[49] The Welsh continued to call themselves Brythoniaid (Brythons or Britons) well into the Middle Ages, though the first written evidence of the use of Cymru and y Cymry is found in a praise poem to Cadwallon ap Cadfan (Moliant Cadwallon, by Afan Ferddig) c. 633.^[6] In Armes Prydain, believed to be written around 930–942, the words Cymry and Cymro are used as often as 15 times.^[50] However, from the Anglo-Saxon settlement onwards, the people gradually begin to adopt the name Cymry over Brythoniad.^[51]

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

From 800 onwards, a series of dynastic marriages led to Rhodri Mawr's (r. 844–77) inheritance of Gwynedd and Powys. His sons in turn would found three principal dynasties (Aberffraw for Gwynedd, Dinefwr for Deheubarth, and Mathrafal for Powys). Rhodri's grandson Hywel Dda (r. 900–50) founded Deheubarth out of his maternal and paternal inheritances of Dyfed and Seisyllwg in 930, ousted the Aberffraw dynasty from Gwynedd and Powys, and then codified Welsh law in the 940s.^[52] Maredudd ab Owain (r. 986–99) of Deheubarth (Hywel's grandson) would, (again) temporarily oust the Aberffraw line from control of Gwynedd and Powys.

Maredudd's great-grandson (through his daughter Princess Angharad) Gruffydd ap Llywelyn (r. 1039–63) would conquer his cousins' realms from his base in Powys, and even extend his authority into England. Historian John Davies states that Gruffydd was "the only Welsh king ever to rule over the entire territory of Wales... Thus, from about 1057 until his death in 1063, the whole of Wales recognised the kingship of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn. For about seven brief years, Wales was one, under one ruler, a feat with neither precedent nor successor."^[1] Owain Gwynedd (1100–70) 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 John Davies.^[53]

Sculpture of Owain Glyndŵr (c. 1354 or 1359 – c. 1416) at Cardiff City Hall

Within four years of the Battle of Hastings England had been completely subjugated by the Normans.^[1] William I of England established a series of lordships, allocated to his most powerful warriors along the Welsh border, the boundaries fixed only to the east.^[54] This frontier region, and any English-held lordships in Wales, became known as Marchia Wallie, the Welsh Marches, in which the Marcher Lords were subject to neither English nor Welsh law.^[55] The area of the March varied as the fortunes of the Marcher Lords and the Welsh princes ebbed and flowed.^[56] The March of Wales, which existed for over 450 years, was abolished under the Acts of Union in 1536.^[55]

Owain Gwynedd's grandson Llywelyn Fawr (the Great, 1173–1240), wrested concessions out of the Magna Carta in 1215 and receiving the fealty of other Welsh lords in 1216 at the council at Aberdyfi, became the first Prince of Wales.^[57] His grandson Llywelyn ap Gruffydd also secured the recognition of the title Prince of Wales from Henry III with the Treaty of Montgomery in 1267.^[58] 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 King Edward I of England.^[59] As a result of military defeat, the Treaty of Aberconwy exacted Llywelyn's fealty to England in 1277.^[59] 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 I. Llywelyn's head was carried through London on a spear; his baby daughter Gwenllian was locked in the priory at Sempringham, where she remained until her death 54 years later.^[60]

Caernarfon Castle

To help maintain his dominance, Edward constructed a series of great stone castles. Beaumaris, Caernarfon and Conwy. His son, the future King Edward II of England, was born at Edward's new castle at Caernarfon in 1284.^[61] He became the first English Prince of Wales, not as an infant, but in 1301. The apocryphal story that Edward tricked the Welsh by offering them a Welsh-born Prince who could speak no English, was first recorded in 1584.^[62] The title also provided an income from the north–west part of Wales known as the Principality of Wales, until the Act of Union (1536), after which the term principality, when used, was associated with the whole of Wales.^[63][64][65] After the failed revolt in 1294–95 of Madog ap Llywelyn – who styled himself Prince of Wales in the so-called Penmachno Document – there was no major uprising until 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.^[66] Glyndŵr 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 essentially restored in Wales by 1415. Although the English conquest of Wales took place under the 1284 Statute of Rhuddlan, a formal Union did not occur until 1536,^[64] shortly after which Welsh law, which continued to be used in Wales after the conquest, was fully replaced by English law, under what would become known as the Act of Union.^[67]

Industrial Wales[link]

Dowlais Ironworks by George Childs (1840)

Prior to the British Industrial Revolution, which saw a rapid economic expansion between 1750 and 1850, there were signs of small-scale industries scattered throughout Wales.^[68] These ranged from industries connected to agriculture, such as milling and the manufacture of woollen textiles, through to mining and quarrying.^[68] Until the Industrial Revolution, Wales had always been reliant on its agricultural output for its wealth and employment and the earliest industrial businesses were small scale and localised in manner.^[68] The emerging industrial period commenced around the development of copper smelting in the Swansea area. With access to local coal deposits and a harbour that could take advantage of Cornwall's copper mines and the copper deposits being extracted from the then largest copper mine in the world at Parys Mountain on Anglesey, Swansea developed into the world's major centre for non-ferrous metal smelting in the 19th century.^[68] The second metal industry to expand in Wales was iron smelting, and iron manufacturing became prevalent in both the north and the south of the country.^[69] In the north of Wales, John Wilkinson's Ironworks at Bersham was a significant industry, while in the south, a second world centre of metallurgy was founded in Merthyr Tydfil, where the four ironworks of Dowlais, Cyfarthfa, Plymouth and Penydarren became the most significant hub of iron manufacture in Wales.^[69] In the 1820s, south Wales alone accounted for 40% of all pig iron manufactured in Britain.^[69]

In the late 18th century, slate quarrying began to expand rapidly, most notably in north Wales. The most notable site, opened in 1770 by Richard Pennant, is Penrhyn Quarry which, by the late 19th century, was employing 15,000 men;^[70] and along with Dinorwic Quarry, dominated the Welsh slate trade. Although slate quarrying has been described as 'the most Welsh of Welsh industries',^[71] it is coal mining which has become the single industry synonymous with Wales and its people. Initially, coal seams were exploited to provide energy for local metal industries but, with the opening of canal systems and later the railways, Welsh coal mining saw a boom in its demand. As the south Wales coalfield was exploited, mainly in the upland valleys around Aberdare and later the Rhondda, the ports of Swansea, Cardiff and later Penarth, grew into world exporters of coal and, with them, came a population boom. By its height in 1913, Wales was producing almost 61 million tons of coal. As well as in South Wales, there was also a significant coalfield in the north-east of the country, particularly around Wrexham.^[72] As Wales was reliant on the production of capital goods rather than consumer goods, it possessed few of the skilled craftspeople and artisans found in the workshops of Birmingham or Sheffield in England and had few factories producing finished goods – a key feature of most regions associated with the Industrial Revolution.^[69] However, there is increasing support that the industrial revolution was reliant on harnessing the energy and materials provided by Wales and, in that sense, Wales was of central importance.^[69]

Modern Wales[link]

Battle at Mametz Wood by Christopher Williams (1918)

Historian Kenneth Morgan described Wales on the eve of the First World War as a "relatively placid, self-confident, and successful nation". Output from the coalfields continued to increase, with the Rhondda Valley recording a peak of 9.6 million tons of coal extracted in 1913.^[73] The outbreak of the First World War (1914–1918) saw Wales, as part of the United Kingdom, enter hostilities with Germany. A total of 272,924 Welshmen served in the war, representing 21.5% of the male population.^[74] Of these, roughly 35,000 were killed.^[74] The two most notable battles of the War to include Welsh forces were those at Mametz Wood on the Somme and Third Ypres.^[75]

The first quarter of the 20th century also saw a shift in the political landscape of Wales. Since 1865, the Liberal Party had held a parliamentary majority in Wales and, following the general election of 1906, only one non-Liberal Member of Parliament, Keir Hardie of Merthyr Tydfil, represented a Welsh constituency in Westminster.^[76] Yet by 1906, industrial dissension and political militancy had begun to undermine Liberal consensus in the Southern coalfields.^[76] In 1916, David Lloyd George became the first Welshman to become Prime Minister of Britain when he was made head of the 1916 coalition government.^[77] In December 1918, Lloyd George was re-elected at the head of a Conservative-dominated coalition government, and his poor handling of the 1919 coalminers' strike was a key factor in destroying support for the Liberal party in south Wales.^[78] The industrial workers of Wales began shifting towards a new political organisation, established by Hardie and others to ensure an elected representation for the working class, and now called the Labour party.^[79] When in 1908 the Miners' Federation of Great Britain became affiliated to the Labour Party the four Labour candidates sponsored by miners were all elected as MPs.^[79] By 1922, half of the Welsh seats in Westminster were held by Labour politicians, which was the beginning of a Labour hegemony which would dominate Wales into the 21st century.^[79]

Despite economic growth in the first two decades of the 20th century, from the early 1920s to the late 1930s, Wales' staple industries endured a prolonged slump, leading to widespread unemployment and poverty in the South Wales valleys.^[80] For the first time in centuries, the population of Wales went into decline; the scourge of unemployment only relented with the production demands of the Second World War.^[81] The Second World War (1939–1945) saw Welsh servicemen and women fight in all the major theatres of war, with some 15,000 of them killed.^[82] Bombing raids brought major loss of life as the German Air Force targeted the docks at Swansea, Cardiff and Pembroke.^[82] After 1943, 10% of Welsh conscripts aged 18 were sent to work in the coal mines to rectify labour shortages; they became known as Bevin Boys.^[82] Pacifist numbers during both World Wars were fairly low, especially in the Second World War, which was seen as a fight against fascism.^[82] Of the political parties active in Wales, only Plaid Cymru advocated a neutral stance, on the grounds that it was an 'imperialist war'.^[82]

The 20th century saw a revival in Welsh national feeling. Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925, seeking greater autonomy or independence from the rest of the UK.^[84] In 1955, the term England and Wales became common for describing the area to which English law applied, and Cardiff was proclaimed as capital city of Wales. Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (The Welsh Language Society) was formed in 1962, in response to fears that the language may soon die out.^[85] Nationalist sentiment grew following the flooding of the Tryweryn valley in 1965 to create a reservoir supplying water to the English city of Liverpool.^[86] Despite 35 of the 36 Welsh Members of Parliament voting against the bill, with the other abstaining, Parliament still passed the bill and the village of Capel Celyn was submerged, highlighting Wales' powerlessness in her own affairs in the face of the numerical superiority of English MPs in the Westminster Parliament.^[87] Both the Free Wales Army and Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru (Welsh Defence Movement, abbreviated as MAC) were formed as a direct result of the Tryweryn destruction, conducting campaigns from 1963.^[88] 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, tax and other offices, and part of the dam at the new Clywedog reservoir project in Montgomeryshire; being built to supply water to the English Midlands.^[89][90] In 1966 the Carmarthen Parliamentary seat was won by Gwynfor Evans at a by-election, Plaid Cymru's first Parliamentary seat.^[91] In the following year, the Wales and Berwick Act 1746 was repealed and a legal definition of Wales and of the boundary with England was stated.

By the end of the 1960s, the regional policy of bringing firms into disadvantaged areas of Wales through financial incentives, had proven very successful in diversifying the once industrial landscape.^[92] This policy, begun in 1934, was enhanced by the construction of industrial estates and improving transport communications,^[92] most notably the M4 motorway linking Wales directly to London. There was a belief that the foundations for stable economic growth had been firmly established in Wales during this period; but these views were shown to be wildly optimistic after the recession of the early 1980s saw the collapse of much of the manufacturing base that had been built over the preceding forty years.^[93]

The first referendum, in 1979, in which the Welsh electorate voted on the creation of an assembly for Wales resulted in a large majority for the "no" vote.^[94] However, in 1997, a referendum on the same issue secured a "yes", although by a very narrow majority.^[94] 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 governments of the United Kingdom and of Wales almost invariably define Wales as a country.^[95][96] The Welsh Assembly Government says: "Wales is not a Principality. Although we are joined with England by land, and we are part of Great Britain, Wales is a country in its own right."^[97] The title Prince of Wales is still conferred on the heir apparent to the British throne, currently Prince Charles. However the Prince of Wales has no constitutional role in modern Wales.^[98] According to the Welsh Assembly Government: "Our Prince of Wales at the moment is Prince Charles, who is the present heir to the throne. But he does not have a role in the governance of Wales, even though his title might suggest that he does."^[97]

Government and politics[link]

Royal Badge of Wales, used by the National Assembly

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom.^[3][99] Constitutionally, the UK is a de jure, unitary state, its parliament and government in Westminster. In the House of Commons – the lower house of the UK government – Wales is represented by 40 MPs (of 650) from Welsh constituencies. Labour MPs hold 26 of the 40 seats, the Liberal Democrats hold three seats, Plaid Cymru, three and the Conservatives, eight. A Secretary of State for Wales sits in the UK cabinet and is responsible for representing matters pertaining to Wales. The Wales Office is a department of the United Kingdom government, responsible for Wales. Cheryl Gillan has been Secretary of State for Wales since 12 May 2010, replacing Peter Hain of the previous Labour administration. Gillan was appointed to the new Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition Westminster government following the United Kingdom general election of 2010.^[100]

Referendums held in Wales and Scotland in 1997 chose to establish a form of self-government in both countries. In Wales, the consequent process of devolution began with the Government of Wales Act 1998, which created the National Assembly for Wales (Welsh: Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru).^[101] Powers of the Secretary of State for Wales were transferred to the devolved government on 1 July 1999, granting the Assembly responsibility to decide how the Westminster government's budget for devolved areas is spent and administered.^[102] 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. The Assembly consists of 60 members, known as Assembly Members (Aelodau y Cynulliad). Members (AMs (ACau)) are elected for four year terms under an additional member system. Forty of the AMs represent geographical constituencies, elected under the First Past the Post system. The remaining twenty AMs represent five electoral regions, each representing between seven and nine constituencies, using the d'Hondt method of proportional representation.^[103] The Assembly must elect a First Minister, who selects ministers to form the Welsh Government.

The Senedd (National Assembly building)
Designed by Richard Rogers,
opened on St David's Day (1 March) 2006

Labour remained the largest Assembly party following the 2007 election, winning 26 of the 60 seats.^[103] Having insufficient support to form a government, the Labour Party entered into the 'One Wales' agreement with Plaid Cymru, forming a coalition, with the Labour leader as First Minister.^[104] Carwyn Jones has been First Minister and leader of Welsh Labour since Rhodri Morgan retired from office in December 2009, after nine years and ten months as First Minister.^[105] Ieuan Wyn Jones, Deputy First Minister in the coalition government, was leader of Plaid Cymru, the second-largest party in the Assembly with 14 of the 60 seats. Under the 'One Wales' agreement, a referendum on giving the Welsh assembly full law-making powers was promised "as soon as practicable, at or before the end of the assembly term (in 2011)" and both parties have agreed "in good faith to campaign for a successful outcome to such a referendum".^[106]

Welsh Labour again remained the largest party within the Assembly following the National Assembly for Wales election, 2011 winning 30 of the 60 seats. Other parties represented in the assembly are the Welsh Covervatives, the loyal opposition with 14 seats, Plaid Cymru which have 11 seats and the Welsh Liberal Democrats with five seats. Carwyn Jones remained First Minister following the election, this time leading a Welsh Labour ministerial team. The Presiding Officer of the Assembly is Rosemary Butler of Welsh Labour.

The twenty areas of responsibility devolved to the Welsh Government, known as "subjects", include agriculture, economic development, education, health, housing, local government, social services, tourism, transport and the Welsh language.^[107][108] On its creation in 1999, the National Assembly for Wales had no primary legislative powers.^[109] However, since the Government of Wales Act 2006 (GoWA 2006) came into effect in 2007, the Assembly had power to pass primary legislation as Assembly Measures on some specific matters within the areas of devolved responsibility. Further matters have been added subsequently, either directly by the UK Parliament or by the UK Parliament approving a Legislative Competence Order (LCO); a request from the National Assembly for additional powers. The GoWA 2006 allows for the Assembly to gain primary lawmaking powers on a more extensive range of matters within the same devolved areas if approved in a referendum.^[110]

A referendum on extending the law-making powers of the National Assembly was accordingly held on 3 March 2011. It asked the question: "Do you want the Assembly now to be able to make laws on all matters in the 20 subject areas it has powers for?" The result of the vote was that 63.49% voted 'yes', and 36.51% voted 'no'. Consequently, the Assembly is now able to make laws, known as Acts of the Assembly, on all matters in the subject areas, without needing the UK Parliament's agreement.^[111]

Wales is also a distinct UK electoral region of the European Union represented by four Members of the European Parliament.

Local government[link]

For the purposes of local government, Wales has been divided into 22 council areas since 1996. These "principal areas"^[112] are responsible for the provision of all local government services, including education, social work, environment and roads services.^[113]

Map of principal areas

Blaenau Gwent † Bridgend (Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr) † Caerphilly (Caerffili) † Cardiff (Caerdydd) * Carmarthenshire (Sir Gaerfyrddin) Ceredigion Conwy † Denbighshire (Sir Ddinbych) Flintshire (Sir y Fflint) Gwynedd Isle of Anglesey (Ynys Môn) Merthyr Tydfil (Merthyr Tudful) † Monmouthshire (Sir Fynwy) Neath Port Talbot (Castell-nedd Port Talbot) † Newport (Casnewydd) * Pembrokeshire (Sir Benfro) Powys Rhondda Cynon Taf † Swansea (Abertawe) * Torfaen (Tor-faen) † Vale of Glamorgan (Bro Morgannwg) † Wrexham (Wrecsam) †

Areas are Counties, unless marked *(for Cities) or † (for County Boroughs). Welsh-language forms are given in parentheses, where they differ from the English..

Note: Wales has five cities. In addition to Cardiff, Newport and Swansea, the communities of Bangor and St David's also have city status in the United Kingdom.

Law and order[link]

The Old Court House, Ruthin, Denbighshire, built 1401, following Owain Glyndŵr's attack on the town

By tradition, Welsh Law was compiled during an assembly held at Whitland around 930 CE by Hywel Dda, king of most of Wales between 942 and his death in 950. The 'law of Hywel Dda' (Welsh: Cyfraith Hywel), as it became known, 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 on punishment by the ruler.^{[114][115][116]} Other than in the Marches, where law was imposed by the Marcher Lords, Welsh Law remained in force in Wales until the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284. Edward I of England annexed the Principality of Wales following the death of Llywelyn the Last 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 1535-1542 (often referred to as the Acts of Union of 1536 and 1543), after which English Law applied to the whole of Wales.^[114][117] 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, with regard to Wales, was repealed in 1967. However, excluding those matters devolved to Wales since 1999, English law has been the legal system of Wales and England since 1536.^[118]

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 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. In 2007 the Wales and Cheshire Region (known as the Wales and Cheshire Circuit before 2005) came to an end when Cheshire was attached to the North-Western England Region. From that point Wales became a legal unit in its own right.^[119]

The Welsh Assembly has the authority to draft and approve laws outside of the UK Parliamentary system to meet the specific needs of Wales. Under powers approved by a referendum held in March 2011 , it is able to pass primary legislation known as Acts of the Assembly in relation to twenty subjects listed in the Government of Wales Act 2006 such as health and education. Through this primary legislation, the Welsh Government can then also draft more specific secondary legislation.

Wales is served by four regional police forces, Dyfed-Powys Police, Gwent Police, North Wales Police and South Wales Police. There are four prisons in Wales, though all are based in the southern half of the country. As well as no northern provision for Welsh prisoners, there are no female prisons in Wales, with inmates being housed in prisons in England.^[120][121]

Geography and natural history[link]

Tor Bay and Three Cliffs Bay
Gower, Swansea

Wales is a generally mountainous country on the western side of central southern Great Britain.^[122] It is about 274 km (170 mi) north–south and 97 km (60 mi) east–west.^[123] The oft-quoted 'size of Wales' is about 20,779 km² (8,023 sq mi).^[124][125] 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.^[126][127] Altogether, Wales has over 1,180 km (730 mi) of coastline.^[128] Over 50 islands lie off the Welsh mainland; the largest being Anglesey, in the northwest.

Snowdon, Gwynedd
the 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), 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).^[129][130] The 14 (or 15 if including Garnedd Uchaf; often discounted due to its low topographic prominence) Welsh mountains 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.^[131]

The highest outside the 3000s is Aran Fawddwy, at 905 metres (2,969 feet), in the south of Snowdonia.^[132] 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. The highest point being Pumlumon at 752 metres (2,467 feet).

Map of Wales:

  Topography above 600 feet (180 m)

  National Parks

Wales has three national parks: Snowdonia, Brecon Beacons and Pembrokeshire Coast. It has five Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.^[133] These areas include Anglesey, the Clwydian Range, the Gower 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. Forty two percent of the coastline of South and West Wales is designated as Heritage Coast, with 13 specific designated strips of coastline maintained by the Countryside Council of Wales.^[134] As from 2012 the coastline of Wales has 43 Blue Flag beaches and five Blue Flag marinas.^[135] Despite its Heritage and award winning beaches; the south and west coasts of Wales, along with the Irish and Cornish coasts, are frequently blasted by Atlantic westerlies/south westerlies that, over the years, have sunk and wrecked many vessels. On the night of 25 October 1859, over 110 ships were destroyed off the coast of Wales when a hurricane blew in from the Atlantic.^[136] More than 800 lives were lost across Britain due to the storm but the greatest tragedy was the sinking of the Royal Charter off the coast of Anglesey in which 459 people died.^[137] The number of shipwrecks around the coast of Wales reached a peak in the 19th century with over 100 craft losses and an average loss of life of about 78 sailors per year.^[138] Wartime action caused losses near Holyhead, Milford Haven and Swansea.^[138] Due to offshore rocks and unlit islands, Anglesey and Pembrokeshire are still notorious for shipwrecks, most notably the Sea Empress Disaster in 1996.^[139]

The first border between Wales and England was zonal, apart from around the River Wye, which was the first accepted boundary.^[140] Offa's Dyke was supposed to form an early distinct line but this was thwarted by Gruffudd ap Llewellyn, who reclaimed swathes of land beyond the dyke.^[140] The Act of Union of 1536 formed a linear border stretching from the mouth of the Dee to the mouth of the Wye.^[140] Even after the Act of Union, many of the borders remained vague and moveable until the Welsh Sunday Closing act of 1881, which forced local businesses to decide which country they fell within to accept either the Welsh or English law.^[140]

Llyn y Fan Fawr, Powys
within the Brecon Beacons National Park

The Seven Wonders of Wales is a list in doggerel verse of seven geographic and cultural landmarks in Wales probably composed in the late 18th century under the influence of tourism from England.^[141] 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), St Winefride's Well (a pilgrimage site at Holywell) in Flintshire, the Wrexham (Wrecsam) steeple (16th-century tower of St Giles' Church, Wrexham), the Overton Yew trees (ancient yew trees in the churchyard of St. Mary's at Overton-on-Dee) and Pistyll Rhaeadr – a tall waterfall, at 240 ft (73 m). The wonders are part of the rhyme:

Pistyll Rhaeadr and Wrexham steeple,

Snowdon's mountain without its people,

Overton yew trees, St Winefride's Wells,

Llangollen bridge and Gresford bells.

Geology[link]

The earliest geological period of the Paleozoic era, the Cambrian, takes its name from the Cambrian Mountains in mid-Wales where geologists first identified Cambrian remnants.^[142][143] In evolutionary studies the Cambrian is the period when most major groups of complex animals appeared (the Cambrian explosion). The older rocks underlying the Cambrian rocks in Wales lacked fossils which could be used to differentiate their various groups and were referred to as Pre-cambrian.

In the mid-19th century, two prominent geologists, Roderick Murchison and Adam Sedgwick (who first proposed the name of the Cambrian period), independently used their studies of the geology of Wales to establish certain principles of stratigraphy and palaeontology. The next two periods of the Paleozoic era, the Ordovician and Silurian, were named after ancient Celtic tribes from this area based on Murchison's and Sedgwick's work.^[144][145]

Climate[link]

Wales lies within the north temperate zone. It has a changeable, maritime climate and is one of the wettest countries in Europe.^[146][147] Welsh weather is often cloudy, wet and windy, with warm summers and mild winters.^[146][148] The long summer days and short winter days are due to Wales' northerly latitudes (between 53° 43′ N and 51° 38′ N). Aberystwyth, at the mid point of the country's west coast, has nearly 17 hours of daylight at the summer solstice. Daylight at midwinter there falls to just over seven and a half hours.^[149] The country's wide geographic variations cause localised differences in sunshine, rainfall and temperature. Average annual coastal temperatures are 10.5 °C (51 °F) and in low lying inland areas, 1 °C (34 °F) lower. It becomes cooler at higher altitudes; annual temperatures decrease on average approximately 0.5 °C (33 °F) each 100 metres (330 feet) of altitude. Consequently, the higher parts of Snowdonia experience average annual temperatures of 5 °C (41 °F).^[146] Temperatures in Wales are kept higher than would otherwise be expected at its latitude by the North Atlantic Drift, a branch of the Gulf Stream. The ocean current, bringing warmer water to northerly latitudes, has a similar effect on most of north west Europe. As well as its influence on Wales' coastal areas, air warmed by the Gulf Stream is carried further inland by the prevailing winds.^[150]

At low elevations, summers tend to be warm and sunny. Average maximum temperatures range between 19 °C (66 °F) and 22 °C (72 °F). Winters tend to be fairly wet, but rainfall is rarely excessive and the temperature usually stays above freezing. Spring and autumn feel quite similar and the temperatures tend to stay above 14 °C (57 °F) – also the average annual daytime temperature.^[151]

The sunniest time of year tends to be between May and August. The south-western coast is the sunniest part of Wales, averaging over 1700 hours of sunshine annually. Wales' sunniest town is Tenby, Pembrokeshire. The dullest time of year tends to be between November and January. The least sunny areas are the mountains, some parts of which average less than 1200 hours of sunshine annually.^[146][147] The prevailing wind is south-westerly. Coastal areas are the windiest, gales occur most often during winter, on average between 15 and 30 days each year, depending on location. Inland, gales average fewer than six days annually.^[146]

Rainfall patterns show significant variation. The further west, the higher the expected rainfall; up to 40% more.^[147] At low elevations, rain is unpredictable at any time of year, although the showers tend to be shorter in summer.^[151] The uplands of Wales have most rain, normally more than 50 days of rain during the winter months (December to February), falling to around 35 rainy days during the summer months (June to August). Annual rainfall in Snowdonia averages between 3,000 millimetres (120 in) (Blaenau Ffestiniog) and 5,000 millimetres (200 in) (Snowdon's summit).^[147] The likelihood is that it will fall as sleet or snow when the temperature falls below 5 °C (41 °F), and snow tends to be lying on the ground there for an average of 30 days a year. Snow falls several times each winter in inland areas, but is relatively uncommon around the coast. Average annual rainfall in those areas can be less than 1,000 millimetres (39 in). Met Office statistics show Swansea to be the wettest city in Great Britain, with an average annual rainfall of 1,360.8 millimetres (53.57 in).^[148] This has led to the old adage "If you can see Mumbles Head it is going to rain – if you can't, it is raining".^[148] Cardiff is Great Britain's fifth wettest city, with 908 millimetres (35.7 in).^[148] Rhyl is Wales' driest town, its average annual rainfall 640 millimetres (25 in).^[146][147]

• Highest maximum temperature: 35.2 °C (95 °F) at Hawarden Bridge, Flintshire on 2 August 1990.^[152]
• Lowest minimum temperature: −23.3 °C (−10 °F) at Rhayader, Radnorshire (now Powys) on 21 January 1940.^[152]
• Maximum number of hours of sunshine in a month: 354.3 hours at Dale Fort, Pembrokeshire in July 1955.^[153]
• Minimum number of hours of sunshine in a month: 2.7 hours at Llwynon, Brecknockshire in January 1962.^[153]
• Maximum rainfall in a day (0900 UTC – 0900 UTC): 211 millimetres (8 in) at Rhondda, Glamorgan, on 11 November 1929.^[154]
• Wettest spot – an average of 4,473 millimetres (176 in) rain a year at Crib Goch in Snowdonia, Gwynedd (making it also the wettest spot in the United Kingdom).^[155]