Wales ⁱ/ˈweɪlz/ (Welsh: Cymru;Welsh pronunciation: [ˈkəm.rɨ] ( listen)) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain,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.

Mikko Hirvonen (born 31 July 1980, Kannonkoski) is a Finnish rally driver currently driving for the Citroën Total World Rally Team in the World Rally Championship. He placed third in the drivers' championship and helped Ford to the manufacturers' title in both 2006 and 2007. In 2008, 2009 and 2011, he finished runner-up to Sébastien Loeb. Hirvonen's co-driver has been Jarmo Lehtinen since the 2003 season.

Hirvonen won the under 2000 cc Group a Finnish Rally Championship in 2002. As one of the World Rally Championship's younger competitors he made his debut full-time in a third Ford World Rally Team entry in the 2003 season, scoring one points finish for sixth place at the Cyprus Rally.

Hirvonen moved to be a team-mate to 2003 world champion Petter Solberg in 2004 for the Subaru World Rally Team. He scored points in ten rallies, but his best event result was only fourth, at the Rally Argentina and at the season-ending Rally Australia. These performances were not enough to secure a seat for the 2005 season. Hirvonen then campaigned a two-year-old Ford Focus RS WRC 03 and led one rally during the course of the year, and scored a career-best third place finish at the Rally Catalunya as a privateer.

Jarmo Lehtinen (born 3 January 1969) is a rally co-driver from Finland. He is currently the co-driver to World Rally Championship driver Mikko Hirvonen. To date the pair have scored 13 WRC wins, all with the Ford World Rally Team.

Lehtinen started co-driving in 1988 alongside friend Jari Mikkola. He later partnered Marko Ramanen in the Finnish Rally Championship, and he made his WRC debut in the 1997 Rally Finland. In 1999 Lehtinen partnered Ramanen in the British Rally Championship and accompanied Jouni Ampuja to sixth in Group N in the Finnish Championship. He worked with Ampuja in the Finnish Championship for another two seasons. In 2002 he took up a new role in the gravel crew for Skoda driver Toni Gardemeister on the world championship. He also began to work with Hirvonen on international events. The pair have worked together on all their WRC outings since 2003, with Subaru in 2004 and with Ford since 2006, becoming runners-up in 2008. He won his first world rally at the 2006 Rally Australia. Lehtinen and Hirvonen will compete for Citroën in 2012.

Andreas Mikkelsen (born 22 June 1989) is a Norwegian rally driver. His co-driver is Ola Fløene.

Mikkelsen has a broad background in sports. He has competed in slalom and giant slalom, and was a member of the national juniors' alpine skiing team. In 2003 and 2004, he competed in motocross, also representing the national juniors' team.

After turning 17 and getting a British driver's license, Mikkelsen started competing in rallies in the United Kingdom. Driving a Ford Focus WRC, he won the Quinton Stages, the Coracle, the Plains, the Bulldog and the Cambrian Rally, as well as the Saaremaa Rally in Estonia.

Mikkelsen debuted in the World Rally Championship at the 2006 Rally GB and retired from the 14th special stage after going off the road. In the 2007 season, he competed in eight WRC events, and also took part in the Irish Tarmac Championship and the Norwegian Rally Championship. His best WRC results were ninth at the 2007 Rally Ireland and tenth in Norway and Portugal.

For the 2008 season, Mikkelsen had some exclusive coaching from Ford's retired double world champion Marcus Grönholm. Even though having major problems with turbocharger on Friday's stages, he achieved the best result of his WRC career so far by claiming fifth in the 2008 Swedish Rally, beating Matthew Wilson's 2006 record of being the youngest driver ever to score points in a WRC event. He intended to compete in all of the championship rounds in Europe, whilst completing his final year in school.

Mikko Markkula (1942-2012) of Finland is Chairman of the FIDE Qualification Commission, which decides on title applications for the GM, IM and lesser titles. Markkula was known for being a stickler for the rules and for checking title applications carefully. He has caused many title applications to be rejected.