Coordinates: 51°37′13″N 3°56′31″W / 51.62017°N 3.94206°W / 51.62017; -3.94206

Swansea city centre in Swansea, Wales, contains the main shopping, leisure and nightlife district in Swansea. The city centre covers much of the Castle ward including the area around Oxford Street, Castle Square, and the Quadrant Shopping Centre; Alexandra Road, High Street, Wind Street and the Castle; Parc Tawe; and the Maritime Quarter extending down to the seafront.

Swansea's early 18th century industrial development shaped the development of today's city centre. However, the heart of the city centre was bombed severely in 1941 in what is now termed the "Three Nights Blitz". Forty one acres of the city centre and 857 premises were destroyed beyond repair. Many local businesses had to be relocated just outside of the area of devastation. The small area of Georgian streets around the Old Town Hall (now the Dylan Thomas Centre) and later buildings including the former Head Post Office on Wind Street, Swansea Harbour Trust Office (now Morgans Hotel), the Castle cinema and the Carlton Cinema on Oxford Street (now a Waterstone’s bookshop) are rare survivors of the former streets and buildings.

Swansea ( /ˈswɒnzi/ SWONZ-ee; Welsh: Abertawe [abɛrˈtauɛ], "mouth of the Tawe") is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands. Swansea had a population of 169,880 in 2001 and is the second most populous city in Wales after Cardiff and the third most populous county in Wales after Cardiff and Rhondda Cynon Taf. During its 19th century industrial heyday, Swansea was one of the key centres of the world copper industry, earning the nickname 'Copperopolis'.

Archaeological finds are mostly confined to the Gower Peninsula, and include items from the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age. The Romans reached the area, as did the Vikings.

Swansea is thought to have originally developed as a Viking trading post. Some think that its name is derived from Sveinn's island (Old Norse: Sveinsey) – the reference to an island may refer to a bank at the mouth of the river Tawe, or perhaps an area of raised ground in marshes. An alternative explanation is that the name derives from the Norse name 'Sweyn' and 'ey', which can mean inlet. The name is pronounced Swans-y /ˈswɒnzi/), not Swan-sea. The Welsh name first appears in Welsh poems at the beginning of the 13th century, as "Aber Tawy".

A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart of a city.

The city centre is the (often historical) area of a city where commerce, entertainment, shopping and political power are concentrated. The term is most commonly used in the United Kingdom and Ireland, as opposed to "downtown", which is most commonly used in North America. While in most cases, the CBD is within the city centre, the concept "city centre" differs from the Central business district. The latter solely revolves around economic and financial power, while the former also includes historical, political and cultural factors (e.g. La Défense is the central business district of Paris, but is not the city centre).

A city centre is often the first settled part of a city, which can make it the most historical part of a city.

In Dutch the terms binnenstad, centrum, stadscentrum or stadskern are used to describe the city centre. Amsterdam is a clear example of the city centre and the central business district not being the same area. The city centre of Amsterdam is Centrum, the historical heart of the city, while the CBD of Amsterdam is the Zuidas in the south.

Swansea City Association Football Club (Welsh: Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Abertawe) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. They currently play in the Premier League and are the only Welsh club to have ever done so since the Premier League was formed in 1992. The club play their home matches at the Liberty Stadium.

One of the most successful clubs in Welsh football, they have won 10 Welsh Cups and led the Football League First Division in December 1981, before finishing the season in a club record 6th position. Swansea are one of only two Welsh clubs to have competed in the top flight of English football, and the first and only one to have played in the Premier League being the 45th different club to participate in the competition since its inception in 1992.

Swansea City A.F.C. was founded in 1912 as Swansea Town and joined the Football League in 1921. The club changed their name in 1969, when it adopted the name Swansea City to reflect Swansea's new status as a city. Since 2005 Swansea City have played their home games at the Liberty Stadium, a ground they share with the Ospreys Rugby Union Club. Before 2005 the club's home ground was Vetch Field.