Wales

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{{Infobox Country|native_name = |conventional_long_name = Wales|common_name = Wales|image_flag = Flag of Wales 2.svg|image_coat = Gwynedd-arms-transparency.png|symbol_type = Coat of arms|national_motto = (Welsh language)"Wales forever"|national_anthem = (Welsh language)"Land of My Fathers"|image_map = Europe location WAL.png|map_caption = |capital = Cardiff, [English language|government_type = |leader_title1 = British monarchy (of the UK)|leader_name1 = Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|leader_title2 = Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (of the UK)|leader_name2 = Gordon Brown MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 2005|leader_title3 = First Minister of Wales (of Wales)|leader_name3 = Rhodri Morgan Members of the National Assembly for Wales|leader_title4 = Secretary of State for Wales (in the UK government)|leader_name4 = Peter Hain MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 2005|sovereignty_type = History of Wales#Wales and the Normans: 1067.E2.80.931283|sovereignty_note =|established_event1 = |established_date1 = 1056|area_rank =|area_magnitude = 1 E10|area_km2 = 20,779|area_sq_mi = 8,022|percent_water =|population_estimate = 2,958,6001|population_estimate_rank =|population_estimate_year = 2005|population_census = 2,903,085|population_census_year = 2001|population_density_km2 = 140|population_density_sq_mi = 361|population_density_rank =|GDP_PPP = US$48 billion]23,741|GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank =|GDP_nominal =|GDP_nominal_rank =|GDP_nominal_year =|GDP_nominal_per_capita =|GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank =|HDI = 0.939|HDI_rank =|HDI_year = 2003|HDI_category = high|currency = Pound sterling2|calling_code = 44|patron_saint = [Saint David|footnote1 = Office for National Statistics - UK population grows to more than 60 million|footnote2 = Also .eu, as part of the European Union. ISO 3166-1 is Great Britain, but .gb is unused.-->

Wales (;Also spelled "Gymru" or "Nghymru" or "Chymru" in certain contexts, as Welsh is a language with initial mutations— see Welsh morphology. pronounced ) is one of the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom. Wales is an ethnically, culturally and politically separate Celtic nations. Wales is located in the south-west of the island of Great Britain and is bordered by England to the east, the Bristol Channel (Môr Hafren) to the south and the Irish Sea (Môr Iwerddon) to the west and north, and also by the estuary of the River Dee (Afon Dyfrdwy) in the north-east. Wales is the largest principality in the world.

Welsh cultural identity is represented by elements such as the Welsh language (which remains one of Europe's oldest spoken indigenous languages), ancient Welsh festivals and traditions, monasticism asceticism, a highly evolved secular Welsh Law (Cyfraith Hywel), and a distinctive Medieval Welsh literature and culture which emerged after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century. Of the principal polities within Wales, only Kingdom of Gwynedd retained independence until the late 13th century, when it was finally conquered by England. However, formal annexation and Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 did not take place until the 16th century. Wales (with all regions united under one government) historically has not succeeded to remain a consistently sovereign state, although a number of internal principalities remained independent until the Anglo-Norman conquest and Welsh national hero Prince Owain Glyndŵr ruled a united, independant Welsh kingdom in the early 14th Century.

From the late 18th century, some parts of Wales became heavily industrialised, playing a significant and innovative role in the industrial revolution, as it exported vast quantities of coal and steel and established a large manufacturing base which has only recently been overtaken by the tourism and service sectors. Wales has continued to evolve as an adaptable and forward-looking nation, with today's manufacturing emphasis being on the electronic and technological sectors. Despite this, the Welsh Medieval cultural traditions, such as the Eisteddfod festival, remain ever popular.

Two thirds of the population of Wales live in the coastal plains and valleys of the south, with a further significant population concentration in the north east. The remaining areas in mid Wales, the north west and south west are predominantly rural and characterised by hilly and mountainous terrain.

From the 19th century a resurgence in Welsh national consciousness and political allegiance has taken place.Wales's largest city, Cardiff (Caerdydd) was formally recognised as the capital of Wales in 1955. The National Assembly for Wales (Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru) was formed in 1999, providing self-governing power for the Welsh, including powers to amend primary legislation from the U.K. Parliament. These powers were widened by the Government of Wales Act 2006, and the Welsh Assembly Government can now propose and pass its own Assembly Measures.

Etymology The English name for Wales List of meanings of countries' names from the Germanic languages word Walha, meaning "foreigner", probably derived from the term Volcae. The term also appears in the "-wall" of Cornwall. The Welsh call themselves Cymry in Welsh, which most likely meant "compatriots" in Old Welsh Online Etymological Dictionary Cymric. The name competed for a long time in Welsh literature with the older name Brythoniaid (Brythons). Only after 1100 did the former become as common as the latter{{cite book | last = Davies | first = John | title = A History of Wales | publisher = Penguin Books | date = 1990/2007 | location = London | pages = 68–69 -->; both terms applied originally not only to the inhabitants of what is now called Wales, but in general to speakers of the [Brythonic language and its descendants, many of whom lived in "[Hen Ogledd": the placenames Cymru (Welsh for Wales) and [Cumbria are of the same origin. The [Angles, [Saxons and [Jutes were known indiscriminately as ''Saeson'' in Welsh (the term is cognate with "Saxon"; compare Gaelic ''[Sassenach''); ''Sais'', plural ''Saeson'', is the modern Welsh word for "Englishman".

There is also a medieval legend found in the Historia Regum Britanniae of Sieffre o Fynwy (Geoffrey of Monmouth) that derives it from the name Camber, son of Brutus of Troy and, according to the legend, the eponymous King of Cymru (Cambria in Latin); this however is considered largely the fruit of Geoffrey's vivid imagination. Cumberland and Cumbria in the North of England derive their names from the same Old Welsh word.

History Colonisation

The first documented history was recorded during the Roman Empire occupation of Britain. At that time the area of modern Wales was divided into many tribes, of which the Silures in the south-east and the Ordovices in the central and north-west areas were the largest and most powerful. The Romans established a string of forts across what is now Southern Wales, as far west as Carmarthen (Caerfyrddin; ), and mined gold at Dolaucothi Gold Mines in Carmarthenshire. There is evidence that they progressed even farther west. They also built the legionary fortress at Caerleon (), whose magnificent amphitheatre is the best preserved in Britain. The Romans were also busy in Northern Wales, and the mediaeval Welsh tale Breuddwyd Macsen Wledig claims that Magnus Maximus (Macsen Wledig), one of the last western Roman emperors, married Elen or Helen, the daughter of a Welsh chieftain from Segontium Roman Fort, present-day Caernarfon.For the original Middle Welsh text see, Ifor Williams (ed.), Breuddwyd Maxen (Bangor, 1920). Discussion of the tale and its context in, M.P. Charlesworth, The Lost Province (Gregynog Lectures series, 1948, 1949). It was in the 4th century during the Roman occupation that Christianity was introduced to Wales.

After the Roman withdrawal from Britain in 410, much of the lowlands were overrun by various Germanic tribes. However, kingdom of Gwynedd, kingdom of Powys, kingdom of Deheubarth, Morgannwg, and Kingdom of Gwent emerged as independent Welsh successor states. They endured, in part because of favourable geographical features such as uplands, mountains, and rivers and a resilient society that did not collapse with the end of the Roman civitas. 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 the West Midlands (region) to Mercia in the 6th and early 7th century, a resurgent late 7th 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 Severn valley to the Dee estuary, gave Oswestry (Welsh: Croesoswallt) to Powys. King Offa of Mercia seems to have continued this consultative initiative when he created a larger earth work, now known as Offa's Dyke (Welsh: Clawdd Offa). Davies wrote of Cyril Fox's study of Offa's Dyke:

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 and the Conwy known then as the Perfeddwlad. By the eighth century the eastern borders with the Anglo-Saxons had broadly been set.

Following the successful examples of Cornwall in 722 and Brittany in 865, the Britons of Wales made their peace with the Vikings and asked the Norsemen to help the Britons fight the Anglo-Saxons of Mercia to prevent an Anglo-saxon conquest of Wales. In 878 AD the Britons of Wales unified with the Vikings of Denmark to destroy an Anglo-Saxon army of Mercians. Like Cornwall in 722, this decisive defeating of the Saxons gave Wales some decades of peace from Anglo-saxon attack. In 1063, the Welsh prince Gruffydd ap Llewelyn made an alliance with Norwegian Vikings against Mercia which, as in 878 AD was successful, and the Saxons of Mercia defeated. As with Cornwall and Brittany, Viking aggression towards the Saxons/Franks ended any chance of the Anglo-Saxons/Franks conquering their Celtic neighbours.

Mediaeval Wales The southern and eastern lands 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.The earliest instance of Lloegyr occurs in the early 10th century prophetic poem Armes Prydain. It seems comparatively late as a place name, the nominative plural Lloegrwys, "men of Lloegr", being earlier and more common. The English were sometimes referred to as an entity in early poetry (Saeson, as today) but just as often as Eingl (Angles), Iwys (Wessex-men), etc. Lloegr and Saecson became the norm later when England emerged as a kingdom. As for its origins, some scholars have suggested that it originally referred only to Mercia - at that time a powerful kingdom and for centuries the main foe of the Welsh. It was then applied to the new kingdom of England as a whole (see for instance Rachel Bromwich (ed.), ''Trioedd Ynys Prydain, University of Wales Press, 1987). "The lost land" and other fanciful meanings, such as Geoffrey of Monmouth's monarch Locrinus, have no etymological basis whatsoever. (See also Discussion, article 40) The Germanic tribes who now dominated these lands were invariably called Saeson, meaning "Saxons". The Anglo-Saxons, in turn, labelled the Romano-British as Walha, meaning 'foreigner' or 'stranger'. The Welsh continued to call themselves Brythoniaid (Brythons or Britons) well into the Middle Ages, though the first use of Cymru and y Cymry is found as early as 633 in the Gododdin of Aneirin. In Welsh literature, written in about 930, the words Cymry and Cymro are used as often as 15 times. It was not until about the 12th century however, that Cymry began to overtake Brythoniaid in their writings.

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

From the year 800 onwards, a series of dynastic marriages led to Rhodri the Great's (r. 844-877) inheritance of Gwynedd and Powys. His sons in turn would found three principal dynasties (Aberffraw for Gwynedd, Dinefwr for Deheubarth, and Mathrafal for Powys), each competing for hegemony over the others. Rhodri's grandson Hywel Dda (r.900-950) founded Deheubarth out of his maternal and paternal inheritances of Dyfed and Seisyllwg, oust the Aberffraw dynasty from Gwynedd and Powys, and codify Welsh law in 930, finally going on a pilgrimage to Rome (and allegedly having the Law Codes blessed by the pope). Maredudd ab Owain (r.986-999) of Deheubarth (Hywel's grandson) would, (again) temporarily oust the Aberffraw line for control of Gwynedd and Powys. Maredudd's great-grandson (through his daughter Princess Angharad) Gruffydd ap Llywelyn (r.1039-1063) would conquer his cousins' realms from his base in Powys, and even extend his authority into England. Owain Gwynedd (1100-1170) 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 historianJohn Davies. The Aberffraw dynasty would surge to pre-eminence with Owain Gwynedd's grandson Llywelyn the Great (the Great) (b.1173-1240), wrestling concessions out of the Magna Carta in 1215 and receiving the fealty of other Welsh lords in 1216 at the council at Aberdyfi, becoming the first Prince of Wales. His grandson Llywelyn the Last also secured the recognition of the title Prince of Wales from Henry III of England with the Treaty of Montgomery in 1267. Later however, a succession of disputes, including the imprisonment of Llywelyn's wife Eleanor de Montfort, daughter of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, culminated in the first invasion by Edward I of England. As a result of military defeat, the Treaty of Aberconwy imposed English fealty over Llywelyn in 1277. Peace was short lived and with the 1282 Llywelyn the Last#Last campaign and death the rule of the Welsh princes permanently ended. With Llywelyn's death and his brother prince Dafydd ap Gruffydd's execution, the few remaining Welsh Peers did homage for their lands to Edward. Llywelyn's head was then carried through London on a spear; his baby daughter Gwenllian ferch Llywelyn was locked in the priory at Sempringham, where she remained until her death fifty four years later. "Tribute to lost Welsh princess", bbc.co.uk date 12 June 2000, URL retrieved on 5 March 2007

To help maintain his dominance, Edward constructed a series of great stone castles. Beaumaris Castle, Caernarfon Castle, and Conwy Castle were built mainly to overshadow the Welsh royal home and headquarters Garth Celyn, Aber Garth Celyn, on the north coast of Gwynedd.

There was no major uprising except 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; he 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 more or less restored in Wales by 1415.

Although English conquest of Wales took place under the 1284 Statute of Rhuddlan, a formal Union did not occur until 1536, shortly after which Welsh law, which continued to be used in Wales after the conquest, was fully replaced by English law under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535-1542. Wales remains the largest principality in the world.

Nationalist revival In the 20th century, Wales saw a revival in its national status. Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925, seeking greater autonomy or independence from the rest of the UK. In 1955, the term England and Wales became common for describing the area to which English law applied, and Cardiff was proclaimed as capital. In 1962 the Welsh Language Society (Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg) was formed in response to fears that the language might soon die out. Nationalism grew, particularly following the flooding of the Tryweryn valley in 1965, drowning the village of Capel Celyn to create a reservoir supplying water to Liverpool. In 1966 the Carmarthen Parliamentary seat was won by Plaid Cymru at a by-election, their first Parliamentary seat. A terror campaign was waged for a short period by the Free Wales Army and Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru (MAC - Welsh Defence Movement). In the years leading up to the investiture of Charles, Prince of Wales as Prince of Wales in 1969, these groups were responsible for a number of bomb blasts destroying water pipes and tax and other offices. In 1967, the Wales and Berwick Act 1746 was repealed for Wales, and a legal definition of Wales, and of the boundary with England was stated.

A referendum on the creation of an assembly for Wales in 1979 (see Wales referendum, 1979) led to a large majority for the "no" vote. However, in 1997 a referendum on the same issue secured a "yes", although by a very narrow majority. 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 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. Following the 2007 Assembly election, the One Wales Government was formed under a coalition agreement between Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Labour Party, under that agreement, a convention is due to be established to discuss further enhancing Wales' legislative and financial autonomy.

Politics The head of state in Wales, a constituent part of the United Kingdom, is the British monarchy, currently Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom (since 1952). Executive power is derived by the Queen, and exercised by the Parliament of the United Kingdom at Westminster, with some powers devolved to the National Assembly for Wales in Cardiff. The United Kingdom Parliament retains responsibility for passing primary legislation in Wales. The National Assembly has regulatory authority over laws passed that are applicable to Wales, and has limited power to vary these by secondary legislation. The National Assembly is not a sovereign authority, and the UK Parliament could, in theory, overrule or even abolish it at any time. However, its powers are set to increase as the Government of Wales Act 2006 will allow it to speed up the passage of 'Assembly Measures'. in the daytime ( The Welsh Assembly Building)The National Assembly was first established in 1998 under the Government of Wales Act 1998. There are 60 members of the Assembly, known as "Assembly Members (AM)". Forty of the AMs are elected under the Plurality voting system system, with the other 20 elected via the Additional Member System via regional lists in 5 different regions. The largest party elects the First Minister of Wales, who acts as the head of government. The Welsh Assembly Government is the executive arm, and the Assembly has delegated most of its powers to the Assembly Government. The new Assembly Building designed by Richard Rogers was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on Saint David's Day (March 1) 2006.

The current First Minister of Wales is Rhodri Morgan (since 2000), of the Wales Labour Party party, with 26 of 60 seats. After the National Assembly for Wales election, 2007 Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru, which favour Welsh independence, entered into a coalition partnership to form a stable government with the "historic" One Wales agreement. As the second largest party in the Assembly with 15 out of 60 seats, Plaid Cymru is currently led by Ieuan Wyn Jones, now the First Minister of Wales. The presiding officer of the Assembly is Plaid Cymru member Dafydd Elis-Thomas. Other parties include the Conservative Party (UK), currently the loyal opposition with 12 seats, and the Liberal Democrats (UK) with 6 seats. The "LibDems" had previously formed part of a coalition government with Labour in the first Assembly. There is one independent member.

In the British House of Commons, Wales is represented by 40 Member of Parliament (out of a total of 646) in List of Parliamentary constituencies in the United Kingdom#Wales. Currently, Welsh Labour represents 29 of the 40 seats, the Liberal Democrats hold 4 seats, Plaid Cymru 3 and the Conservatives 3. A Secretary of State for Wales sits in the UK cabinet and is responsible for representing matters that pertain to Wales. The Wales Office is a department of the United Kingdom government, responsible for Wales. The current Secretary of State for Wales is Peter Hain, who is also Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

Law England fully annexed Wales under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535-1542, in the reign of Henry VIII of England. Prior to that Welsh Law had survived de facto after the conquest up to the fifteenth century in areas remote from direct English control. The Wales and Berwick Act 1746 provided that all laws that applied to England would automatically apply to Wales (and Berwick, a town located on the Anglo-Scottish border) unless the law explicitly stated otherwise. This act, with regard to Wales, was repealed in 1967. However, Wales and England, as part of the legal entity England and Wales, share the same legal system —except for a few changes to accommodate the autonomy recently awarded to Wales (but not to England). In this sense, English law is the law of Wales.

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 Courts of England and Wales is headed by the House of Lords which is the highest court of appeal in the land for criminal and civil cases (although this is due to be replaced by a Supreme Court of the United Kingdom). 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 of England and Wales; the High Court of Justice of England and Wales and the Crown Court. Minor cases are heard by the Magistrates' Courts or the County Court.

Now, however, with the large degree of autonomy caused by the creation of the Welsh Assembly, there is a degree of independence for Wales (but not England) in terms of law-making. Following the Government of Wales Act 2006, which transferred some primary legislation powers to the National Assembly for Wales (although the final authority on such legislation must be passed by the Westminster Parliament), the ancient and historic Wales and Chester court circuit was disbanded and a separate Welsh court circuit was created to allow for any 'Assembly Measures' passed by the National Assembly.

Subdivisions

For the purposes of local government, Wales was divided into 22 council areas in 1996. These are unitary authorities responsible for the provision of all local government services, including education, social work, environment and roads services. Below these in some areas there are community councils — that cover specific areas within a council area.

The Queen appoints a Lord Lieutenant to represent her in the eight Preserved counties of Wales — which are combinations of council areas. The 13 traditional counties of Wales are also used as geographical areas. However other subdivisions occur when dividing Wales into separate regions in the provisions of fire, and police services. For example there is a South Wales police force, rather than the Glamorgan Police Force.

City status in the United Kingdom is determined by Letters patent. There are five cities in Wales:

Bangor, Wales
Cardiff (Caerdydd)
Newport (Casnewydd)
St David's (Tyddewi)
Swansea (Abertawe)

(St. Asaph historically had City status in the United Kingdom. The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica refers to it as a city, but it is no longer considered as such. Applications for restoration of city status in the 2000 and 2002 competitions were unsuccessful).

Geography

Wales is located on a peninsula in central-west Great Britain. Its area, the size of Wales, is about 20,779 km² (8,023 square miles - about the same size as Massachusetts, Slovenia or El Salvador). It is about 274 km (170 miles) north-south and 97 km (60 miles) east-west. Wales is bordered by England to the east and by sea in the other three directions: the Bristol Channel (Bristol Channel) to the south, St. George's Channel to the west, and the Irish Sea to the north. Altogether, Wales has over 1,200km (750 miles) of coastline. There are several List of islands of Wales off the Welsh mainland, the largest being Anglesey (Anglesey) in the northwest.

The main population and industrial areas are in South Wales, consisting of the cities of Cardiff (Caerdydd), Swansea (Abertawe) and Newport (Casnewydd) and surrounding areas. With another significant population in the north-east around Wrexham(Wrecsam).

(Yr Wyddfa), Gwynedd, 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), and include Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa), which, at 1085 m (3,560 ft) is the highest peak in Wales. The 14 (or possibly 15) Welsh mountains over 3,000 feet (914 m) high are known collectively as the Welsh 3000s. The Brecon Beacons (Bannau Brycheiniog) are in the south (Highest point Pen-y-Fan 886m (2,907ft)). and are joined by the Cambrian Mountains in mid-Wales, the latter name being given to the earliest geological period of the Paleozoic era, the Cambrian.

In the mid-nineteenth century, two prominent geologists, Roderick Murchison and Adam Sedgwick, used their studies of the geology of Wales to establish certain principles of stratigraphy and palaeontology. After much dispute, the next two periods of the Paleozoic era, the Ordovician and Silurian, were named after ancient Celts tribes from this area. The older rocks underlying the Cambrian rocks were referred to as Precambrian.

Wales has three National Parks: Snowdonia, Brecon Beacons and Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. It also has four Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. These areas include Anglesey, the Clwydian Range, the Gower Peninsula and the Wye Valley. The Gower Peninsula was the first area in the whole of the United Kingdom to be designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, in 1956. , Gower Peninsula (Gŵyr), Glamorgan.

Along with its Celtic cousins in Cornwall, the coastline of South and West Wales has more miles of Heritage Coast than anywhere else. The coastline of the Glamorgan Heritage Coast, the Gower Peninsula, Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, and Ceredigion is particularly wild and impressive. Gower, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and Cardigan Bay all have clean blue water, white sand beaches and impressive marine life. Despite this scenic splendour the coast of Wales has a dark side; the south and west coasts of Wales, along with the Irish and Cornish coasts, are frequently blasted by huge Atlantic westerlies/south westerlies that, over the years, have sunk and wrecked many vessels. On the night of October 25, 1859, 114 ships were destroyed off the coast of Wales when a hurricane blew in from the Atlantic; Cornwall and Ireland also had a huge number of fatalities on its coastline from shipwrecks that night. Wales has the somewhat unenviable reputation, along with Cornwall, Ireland and Brittany, of having per square mile, some of the highest shipwreck rates in Europe. The shipwreck situation was particularly bad during the industrial era when ships bound for Cardiff got caught up in Atlantic gales and were decimated by "the cruel sea".

Like Cornwall, Brittany and Ireland, the clean, clear waters of South-west Wales of Gower, Pembrokeshire and Cardigan Bay attract visitors including basking sharks, Atlantic grey seals, leatherback turtles, dolphins, porpoises, jellyfish, crabs and lobsters. Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion in particular are recognised as an area of international importance for bottle nosed dolphins, and New Quay in the middle of Cardigan Bay has the only summer residence of bottle nosed dolphins in the whole of the U.K.

The modern border between Wales and England was largely defined in the 16th century, based on medieval feudalism boundaries. The boundary line (which very roughly follows Offa's Dyke up to 40 miles (64 km) of the northern coast) separates Knighton, Powys from its railway station, virtually cuts off Church Stoke from the rest of Wales, and slices straight through the village of Llanymynech (where a pub actually straddles the line).

The Seven Wonders of Wales is a list in doggerel verse of seven geographic and cultural landmarks in Wales probably composed in the late eighteenth century under the influence of tourism from England.See Meic Stephens (ed.), Companion to Welsh Literature. The doggerel verse was composed in English, probably for the benefit of visitors from across Offa's Dyke. 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' Church, Gresford at Gresford), the Llangollen bridge (built in 1347 over the River Dee, Wales, Afon Dyfrdwy), St Winefride's Well (a pilgrimage site at Holywell, Treffynnon) in Flintshire) the Wrexham (Wrecsam) steeple (16th century tower of St. Giles Church in Wrexham), the Overton yew trees (ancient Taxaceae trees in the churchyard of St Mary's at Overton-on-Dee) and Pistyll Rhaeadr (Wales' tallest waterfall, at 240 ft or 75 m). The wonders are part of the rhyme: Pistyll Rhaeadr and Wrexham steeple, Snowdon's mountain without its people, Overton yew trees, St Winefride wells, Llangollen bridge and Gresford bells.

Climate

Highest maximum temperature: 35.2°C (95.4°F) at Hawarden Bridge, Flintshire on 2 August 1990.
Lowest minimum temperature: -23.3°C (-10°F) at Rhayader, Radnorshire on 21 January 1940.
Maximum number of hours of sunshine in a month: 354.3 hours at Dale Fort, Pembrokeshire in July 1955.
Minimum number of hours of sunshine in a month: 2.7 hours at Llwynon, Brecknockshire in January 1962.
Maximum rainfall in a day (0900 UTC - 0900 UTC): 211 mm (8.30 inches) at Rhondda, Glamorgan, on 11 November 1929.

Economy Parts of Wales have been heavily industrialisation since the 18th century. Coal, copper, iron, silver, lead, and gold have been mined in Wales, and slate has been quarried. By the second half of the 19th century, mining and metallurgy had come to dominate the Welsh economy, transforming the landscape and society in the industrial districts of south and north-east Wales.

From the early 1970s, the Welsh economy faced massive restructuring with large numbers of jobs in traditional heavy industry disappearing and being replaced by new ones in light industry and in services. Over this period Wales was successful in attracting an above average share of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the UK. However, much of the new industry has essentially been of a 'branch factory' type, often routine assembly line employing low skills workers.Wales has struggled to develop or attract high value-added employment in sectors such as finance and research and development, attributable in part to a comparative lack of economic mass (i.e. population) - Wales lacks a large metropolitan centre and most of the country, except the south east, is sparsely populated. The lack of high value-added employment is reflected in lower economic output per head relative to other regions of the UK - in 2002 it stood at 90% of the EU25 average and around 80% of the UK average. However, care is needed in interpreting these data, which do not take account of regional differences in the cost of living. The gap in real living standards between Wales and more prosperous parts of the UK is not pronounced.

In 2002, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Wales was just over £26 billion ($48 billion), giving a per capita GDP of £12,651 ($19,546). As of 2006, the unemployment rate in Wales stood at 5.7% - above the UK average, but lower than in the majority of EU countries.

Due to poor-quality soil, much of Wales is unsuitable for crop (agriculture)-growing, and livestock farming has traditionally been the focus of agriculture. The Welsh landscape (protected by three National Parks), as well as the unique culture of Wales, attract large numbers of tourists, who play an especially vital role in the economy of rural areas.

Demographics The population of Wales in the 2001 census was 2,903,085, which has risen to 2,958,876 according to 2005 estimates. This would make Wales the 132nd largest List of countries by population if it were a sovereign state.

According to the 2001 census, 96% of the population was White(people) United Kingdom, and 2.1% non-white (mainly of British Asian origin). Most non-white groups were concentrated in the southern cities of Cardiff, Newport and Swansea., CardiffWales has large ethnically Asian communities mainly in Cardiff, Newport and Swansea due to immigration since World War II and more recently, since the European Union enlarged to include many Eastern European nations. Much of Wales has seen an increased number of immigrants settle from countries such as Poland - although considerable numbers of Poles also settled in Wales in the immediate aftermath of World War II.

In the 2001 Labour Force Survey, 72% of adults in Wales considered their national identity as wholly Welsh and another 7% considered themselves to be partly Welsh (Welsh and British were the most common combination). A recent study estimated that 35% of the Welsh population have surnames of Welsh origin. However, some names identified as English (such as 'Greenaway') may be corruptions of Welsh ('Goronwy'). Other names common in Wales, such as 'Richards', may have originated simultaneously in other parts of Britain. Equally, Welsh surnames such as 'Jones' are amongst the most common names in England.

In 2001 a quarter of the Welsh population were born outside Wales, mainly in England; about 3% were born outside the UK. The proportion of people who were born in Wales differs across the country, with the highest percentages in the South Wales Valleys, and the lowest in Mid Wales and parts of the north-east. In both Blaenau Gwent and Merthyr Tydfil 92% were Welsh-born, compared to only 51% in Flintshire and 56% in Powys. One of the reasons for this is that the locations of the most convenient hospitals in which to give birth are over the border in England.

Languages The official languages in Wales are English language and Welsh language. English is spoken by almost all people in Southern Wales and is the de facto main language (see Welsh English). However, North Wales retains many areas where only Welsh is spoken, and English is learnt as a second language. Wales is officially bilingual, with 21.7% of the population able to speak Welsh and a larger proportion having some knowledge of the Welsh language according to a 2004 language survey. Today there are very few truly monoglot Welsh speakers, other than small children, but individuals still exist who may be considered less than fluent in English and rarely speak it. There were still many monoglots as recently as the middle of the twentieth century41,155 (1951 Census: Wales total monoglots). The Welsh Language Act 1993 and the Government of Wales Act 1998 provide that the Welsh and English languages should be treated on a basis of equality. Public bodies are required to prepare and implement a Welsh Language Scheme. Thus the Welsh Assembly, local councils, police forces, fire services and the health sector use Welsh as an official language, issuing official literature and publicity in Welsh versions (e.g. letters to parents from schools, library information, and council information). All road signs in Wales should be in English and Welsh, including both versions of place names where names or versions exist in both languages e.g. "Cardiff" and "Caerdydd".

During the 20th century a number of small communities of speakers of languages other than English or Welsh, such as Bengali language or Cantonese (linguistics), have established themselves in Wales as a result of immigration. This phenomenon is almost exclusive to urban Wales. The Italian Government funds the teaching of Italian language to Welsh residents of Italian ancestry. These other languages however have no official status, although public services may produce information leaflets in minority ethnic languages where there is a specific need, as happens elsewhere in the United Kingdom.

Religion The largest religion in Wales is Christianity, with 72% of the population describing themselves as Christian in the 2001 census. The Presbyterian Church of Wales is the largest denomination and was born out of the Welsh Methodist revival in the eighteenth century and seceded from the Church of England in 1811. The Church in Wales is the next largest denomination, and forms part of the Anglican Communion. It too was part of the Church of England, and was disestablished by the British Government under the Welsh Church Act 1914 (the act did not take effect until 1920). The Roman Catholic Church makes up the next largest denomination at 3% of the population. Non-Christian religions are small in Wales, making up approximately 1.5% of the population. 18% of people declare no religion. The Apostolic Church holds its annual Apostolic Conference in Swansea each year, usually in August.

The patron saint of Wales is Saint David, with Saint David's Day celebrated annually on March 1.

In 1904, there was a religious revival (known by some as the 1904-1905 Welsh Revival or simply The 1904 Revival) which started through the evangelism of Evan Roberts and took many parts of Wales by storm with massive amounts of people voluntarily converting to Christianity, sometimes whole communities. During the few months of the revival, public houses became almost empty, people stopped using obscene language and even made every effort to pay up on outstanding bills. There are even anecdotal accounts (including newspaper articles from the time) of white gloves being presented to judges in some parts of Wales (indicating no cases to be tried). Many of the present-day Pentecostal Churches in Wales claim to have originated in this revival. It is said that 25% of the worlds Christianity today, was due to the 1904 Welsh Revival.

Islam is the largest non-Christian religion in Wales, with over 30,000 reported in the 2001 census. There are also communities of Hinduism and Sikhism mainly in the South Wales cities of Newport, Cardiff and Swansea, while curiously the largest concentration of Buddhism is in the western rural county of Ceredigion.Judaism was the first non-Christian faith (excluding pre-Roman animism) to be established in Wales, however, due to a history of antisemitic attacks, as of the year 2001 the community has declined to approximately 2,000.Paganism and Wicca are also growing in Wales. Many Pagans and Wiccans also visit Wales because of the Ancient Celts history the country has. BBC - Wales - History of religion : Multicultural Wales

Culture Sport The most popular sports in Wales are football (soccer) and Rugby union football. Wales, like other constituent nations, enjoys independent representation in major world sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup, Rugby World Cup and in the Commonwealth Games (however as Great Britain in the Olympics). As in New Zealand, rugby is a core part of the national identity, although football is normally the number one sport in north Wales due to the close proximity to England's north-west. Wales has its own governing bodies in rugby, the Welsh Rugby Union and in football, the Football Association of Wales (the third oldest in the world).

Wales national rugby union team takes part in the annual Six Nations Championship, and the Rugby World Cup. Welsh teams also play in the Magners League (rugby union) alongside teams from Ireland and Scotland, the EDF Energy Cup and the European Heineken Cup. Wales hosted the 1999 Rugby World Cup. Wales most recognised club teams include Llanelli RFC, Swansea RFC, Neath RFC, Newport Rugby Club and Cardiff RFC. Wales has produced ten members of the International Rugby Hall of Fame including Gareth Edwards, JPR Williams and Gerald Davies. Newport Rugby Club also achieved an historic win over the 'invincible' New Zealand Rugby team of 1963.A similar feat was achieved by Llanelli RFC in October 1972, although the 1972 New Zealand squad is often seen as an inferior touring team to the 1963 squad.

Wales has had its own League of Wales since 1992 although, for historical reasons, the three major Welsh clubs (Swansea City, Cardiff City, and Wrexham A.F.C.) play in the The Football League and another three Welsh clubs in its feeder leagues.

Rugby league is now developing in Wales. There has been a national league since 2003 and the admission of the Bridgend-based Celtic Crusaders to National League Two in 2006 brought the semi-professional game to Wales.

In international

NHS Wales - Health of Wales Information Service (HOWIS)
A gateway to information on organisations and services provided by the National Health Service (NHS) within Wales. Details of key publications (PDF format), press releases and ...

NHS Wales - Directory of Services
NHS Wales Directory To browse services by area, click on the map or the links below. North Wales; Mid and West Wales; South East Wales; To browse services by type, click on the ...

National Assembly for Wales
Official information on the Welsh Assembly, its members and functions.

Cadw
The official guardian of the built heritage of Wales. Sensitive maps and lists lead to photographs and brief descriptions of the 129 monuments in State care in Wales. Also news ...

NHS Direct Wales - Home
The 24 hour nurse-led telephone advice service run by NHS Wales. Provides information on the diagnosis and treatment of common conditions. When to seek medical help. Advice on ...

Prifysgol Cymru The University of Wales
A federal university comprising six Constituent Institutions and two University Colleges, the University of Wales has close links with other higher education institutions in Wales ...

Welsh Assembly Government | Education and skills
The Welsh Assembly Government is committed to lifelong learning and skills development. ... The Welsh Assembly Government wants Wales to be a learning country, where high quality ...

Wales accommodation - Holiday cottages, Hotels, Bed and Breakfast ...
Searchable database of holiday accommodation, with contact details, a brief description, and a link to the website for each.

BBC NEWS | Wales
Visit BBC News for up-to-the-minute news, breaking news, video, audio and feature stories. BBC News provides trusted World and UK news as well as local and regional perspectives.

Home - WHS
Service provider to the National Health Service in Wales and is managed by Bro Morgannwg NHS Trust. Its role is to provide two key links in the supply chain to Welsh NHS Trusts ...