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.

BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution. It was later renamed BBC TV until the launch of sister channel BBC2 in 1964, whereupon it was known as BBC1, with the current spelling adopted in 1997.

The channel's annual budget for 2011/12 is £1,166.6 million. Along with the BBC's other domestic television stations, and many European broadcasters (and some in Asia), it is funded principally by the television licence fee, and therefore shows uninterrupted programming with no commercial advertising at any time. It is currently the most watched television channel in the United Kingdom, ahead of its traditional rival for ratings leadership, ITV1.

As of 2012^[update] the channel controller for BBC One was Danny Cohen, formerly controller of BBC Three. Cohen replaced Jay Hunt following her departure from the BBC in late 2010 to join Channel 4, where she took up her position in January 2011. Jana Bennett, head of BBC Vision, took temporary control of BBC One between Hunt's departure and Cohen's appointment. Cohen briefly held controller positions of both BBC One and BBC Three until former ITV digital channels head Zai Bennett was confirmed as the new controller of BBC Three.