'Wales' (;
[1] pronounced ) is one of the four
constituent countries of the
United Kingdom. Wales is located in the south-west 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,
monastic asceticism, a highly evolved
secular legal system (''Cyfraith Hywel''), and a distinctive
literary tradition which emerged after the
Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century. Of the principal
polities within Wales, only
Gwynedd retained independence until the late 13th century, when it too was conquered by England. However, formal annexation and
abolition of Welsh law did not take place until the 16th century. Wales (with all regions united under one government) has never been a
sovereign state, although a number of rival principalities remained independent until the
Anglo-Norman conquest.
From the 19th century on, parts of Wales became heavily
industrialised, exporting vast quantities of
coal and
steel and establishing a large manufacturing base which has only recently been overtaken by the
service sector.
Two thirds of the population of Wales live in the valleys and coastal plain of the south, with a further significant population concentration in the north east. The remaining areas in Mid Wales, the south west and west are predominantly rural and characterised by hilly and mountainous terrain.
From the 20th century a revival in Welsh national consciousness and sentiment has taken place.
Wales's largest city,
Cardiff (''Caerdydd'') was established as the capital of Wales in 1955. The
National Assembly for Wales (''Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru'') was formed in 1999, with powers to amend primary legislation from the U.K. Parliament. These powers were widened by the
Government of Wales Act 2006, and the Assembly can now propose and pass its own
laws but only after
the agreement of the UK Parliament.
Etymology
The English name for Wales
originates from the
Germanic word ''
Walha'', meaning "stranger" or "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[2]. 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
[ A History of Wales, , John, Davies, Penguin Books, , ]; 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 "
the Old North": 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 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
Main articles: History of Wales
Colonisation
Bryn Celli Ddu, a late Neolithic chambered tomb on Anglesey
The first documented history was recorded during the
Roman 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 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, present-day
Caernarfon.
[3] 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,
Gwynedd,
Powys,
Dyfed and Seisyllg, Morgannwg, and
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 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.
Medieval 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.
[4] 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
Armes Prydain, 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.
From the year 800 onwards, a series of dynastic marriages led to
Rhodri Mawr'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 historian
John Davies. The Aberffraw dynasty would surge to pre-eminence with Owain Gwynedd's grandson
Llywelyn Fawr (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 II also secured the recognition of the title ''Prince of Wales'' from
Henry III with the
Treaty of Montgomery in 1267. 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
Edward I. 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
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. Llywelyn's head was then carried through London on a spear; his baby daughter
Gwenllian was locked in the priory at Sempringham, where she remained until her death fifty four years later.
[5]
To help maintain his dominance, Edward constructed a series of great stone
castles.
Beaumaris,
Caernarfon, and
Conwy 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
Prince Charles 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 monarch, currently
Queen Elizabeth II (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'.
The
Senedd in the daytime ( The Welsh Assembly Building)
The National Assembly was first established in 1998 under the
Government of Wales Act. There are 60 members of the Assembly, known as "Assembly Members (AM)". Forty of the AMs are elected under the
First Past the Post 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
Lord Rogers was opened by
The Queen on
St David's Day (March 1) 2006.
The current First Minister of Wales is
Rhodri Morgan [6] (since 2000), of the
''Welsh Labour'' party, with 26 of 60 seats. After the
National Assembly for Wales election, 2007 Welsh Labour and
''Plaid Cymru; The Party of Wales'', 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
Deputy First Minister of Wales. The
presiding officer of the Assembly is ''Plaid Cymru'' member
Lord Elis-Thomas. Other parties include the
''Conservative Party'', currently the
loyal opposition with 12 seats, and the
''Liberal Democrats'' with 7 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
MPs (out of a total of 646) in
the Welsh constituencies. 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 Act 1535, in the reign of
King Henry VIII. 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
court system 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; the
High Court of Justice 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 '
Welsh laws' passed by the National Assembly.
Subdivisions
Main articles: Subdivisions of Wales
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
★
Cardiff (Caerdydd)
★
Newport (Casnewydd)
★
St David's (Tyddewi)
★
Swansea (Abertawe)
(
St. Asaph historically had
city status. 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
Map of Wales
Wales is located on a
peninsula in central-west
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
Môr Hafren (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
islands off the Welsh mainland, the largest being
Ynys Môn (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.
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 Celtic tribes from this area. The older rocks underlying the
Cambrian rocks were referred to as
Pre-cambrian.
Wales has three
National Parks:
Snowdonia,
Brecon Beacons and
Pembrokeshire Coast. 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.
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 is highly arbitrary; it was largely defined in the 16th century, based on medieval
feudal boundaries. It has apparently never been confirmed by referendum or reviewed by any
Boundary Commission. The boundary line (which very roughly follows
Offa's Dyke up to 40 miles (64 km) of the northern coast) separates
Knighton 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.
[7] 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, ''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
yew 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.
[1]
★ '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.
[2]
★ 'Maximum rainfall in a day (0900 UTC - 0900 UTC)': 211 mm (8.30 inches) at Rhondda,
Glamorgan, on
11 November 1929.
[3]
Economy
Main articles: Economy of Wales
Parts of Wales have been heavily
industrialised 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 employing low
skilled workers.
The main building of Cardiff University
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) and the absence of a large
city -
Cardiff is smaller than other major British regional cities like
Leeds,
Manchester or
Bristol, or prime cities in small countries such as
Dublin,
Copenhagen or
Helsinki. 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-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
Main articles: Demographics of Wales,
Demographics of the United Kingdom
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
country by population if it were a sovereign state.
According to the 2001 census, 96% of the population was
White British, and 2.1% non-white (mainly of
Asian origin).
[4] Most non-white groups were concentrated in the southern cities of
Cardiff,
Newport and
Swansea.
Wales 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).
[5] A recent study estimated that 35% of the Welsh population have surnames of Welsh origin.
[6] 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.
[7] 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. In the case of
Flintshire,
The Countess of Chester Hospital is only 13 miles (21 km) from
Mold, the prime town of the county. The Welsh option would be
Glan Clwyd Hospital in
Denbighshire which would be a 25 mile (40 km) trip.
Languages
Main articles: English language,
Welsh language
The official languages in Wales are
English and
Welsh. English is spoken by almost all people in Wales and is the ''de facto'' main language (see
Welsh English). However, 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 century
[8]. 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 or
Cantonese, 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 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 patron saint of Wales is
Saint David (Welsh: ''Dewi Sant''), with
St David's Day (Welsh: ''Gŵyl Dewi'') 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.
Islam is the largest non-Christian religion in Wales, with over 30,000 reported in the 2001 census. There are also communities of
Hindus and
Sikhs mainly in the South Wales cities of Newport, Cardiff and Swansea, while curiously the largest concentration of
Buddhists 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.
[9]
Culture
Main articles: Culture of Wales
Sport
Main articles: Sport in Wales
Millennium Stadium
The most popular sports in Wales are
football 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).
The Welsh 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,
Swansea,
Neath,
Newport and
Cardiff. Wales has produced nine 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 Rugby Club 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
football league since 1992 although, for historical reasons, the three major Welsh clubs (
Swansea City,
Cardiff City, and
Wrexham A.F.C.) play in the
English 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
cricket, England and Wales field a single representative team which is administered by the
England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). There is a separate
Wales team that occasionally participates in limited-overs domestic competition.
Glamorgan County Cricket Club is the only Welsh participant in the England and Wales County Championship. A Wales team also plays in the English
Minor Counties competition.
Wales' other bat-and-ball sport is
British Baseball, which is chiefly confined to
Cardiff and
Newport. The sport is governed by the Welsh Baseball Union.
The Isle of
Anglesey/Ynys Môn is a member island of the
International Island Games Association. The next Island Games will be held in 2007 on Rhodes (Greece). In the 2005 Games, held on the Shetland Islands, the Isle of Anglesey/Ynys Môn came 11th on the medal table with 4 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals.
Wales has produced some great world class
snooker players such as
Ray Reardon,
Terry Griffiths,
Mark Williams and
Matthew Stevens. Amateur participation in the sport is very high. The rugged terrain of the country also gives plenty of opportunities for rally driving and Wales currently hosts the finale of the
World Rally Championship.
Glamorgan compete in county cricket competitions and the
Cardiff Devils were once a strong force in British
ice hockey. There is also some success in boxing.
Joe Calzaghe the half-Welsh, half-Italian boxer has been
WBO World Super-Middleweight Champion since 1997. Swansea born
Enzo Maccarinelli is the current
WBO World Cruiserweight Champion and
Gavin Rees the current
WBA World Light-Welterweight Champion. Wales has also produced a number of athletes who have made a mark on the world stage, including the 110m hurdler Colin Jackson who is a former world record holder and the winner of numerous Olympic, World and European medals.
Two Welsh drivers have competed in the
Formula One championship: the first was
Alan Rees at the
1967 British Grand Prix, who finished in ninth position, four laps behind the winner,
Jim Clark.
Tom Pryce was the more notable of the two drivers, as he finished on the podium twice and, at the
1975 British Grand Prix, qualified in
pole position. Pryce's career was cut short after he collided with volunteer marshal,
Jansen Van Vuuren, killing both instantly. As well as Formula One, Wales have had some notability in the
World Rally Championship, producing two championship winning Co-Drivers, those being Nicky Grist, who helped
Colin McRae to victory in 1995 and
Phil Mills who helped
Petter Solberg win the 2003 title.
Freddie Williams was World
Motorcycle speedway champion twice - in 1950 and 1953 - and the country has a professional speedway team,
Newport Wasps. The
Millennium Stadium in
Cardiff hosts the annual British Speedway Grand Prix, the United Kingdom's round of the world championship.
Other notable Welsh sports people include 11 times gold medal winning paralympic athlete Tani Grey Thompson, Olympic medallist and twice world record holder for 60m and 110m hurdles
Colin Jackson, footballer
Ryan Giggs who is currently playing for Manchester United in the English Premiership, and formerly for the Welsh national team prior to his retirement from international football on June 2, 2007, BDO world darts champion
Richie Burnett, international champion cyclist
Nicole Cooke, Geraint Thomas, who will compete in the 2007 Tour de France and Commonwealth gold and bronze medallist in shooting
Dave Phelps.
Since 2006, Wales has had its own professional golf tour, the Dragon Tour.
Media
Cardiff is home to the Welsh national media.
BBC Wales is based in
Llandaff, Cardiff and produces Welsh-oriented output for
BBC One and
BBC Two channels. BBC 2W is the Welsh digital version of BBC Two, and broadcasts between 8.30pm and 10pm each week night for specific Wales based programming.
ITV the UK's main commercial broadcaster has a Welsh-oriented service branded as ITV Wales, whose studios are in
Culverhouse Cross, Cardiff.
S4C, based in
Llanishen, Cardiff, broadcasts mostly Welsh-language programming at peak hours, but shares English-language content with
Channel 4 at other times. ''S4C Digidol'' (S4C Digital), on the other hand, broadcasts entirely in Welsh. Channel 4 and Channel 5 are now available in most parts of the country via digital television and satellite.
BBC Radio Wales is Wales's only national English-language radio station, while
BBC Radio Cymru broadcasts throughout Wales in Welsh. There are also a number of independent radio stations across Wales. Radio stations around the country include
Red Dragon FM,
Marcher Sound,
Coast FM, Swansea Sound, 96.4FM The Wave,
Radio Pembrokeshire, Radio Carmarthenshire, Champion 103, Radio Ceredigion and
Real Radio.
Xfm has announced plans to broadcast in Cardiff from November.
Most of the newspapers sold and read in Wales are national newspapers sold and read throughout Britain, unlike in Scotland where many newspapers have rebranded into Scottish based titles. Wales-based newspapers include: Cardiff's ''
South Wales Echo'', ''
South Wales Evening Post'', ''
Liverpool Daily Post'' (Welsh edition) and ''
Y Cymro'', a Welsh language publication.
The ''
Western Mail'' is the main all-Wales newspaper which includes the ''Wales on Sunday'' paper. The first Welsh language daily, ''
Y Byd'', is due to commence on
3 March 2008.
[10]
The ''Western Mail'' and ''South Wales Echo'' have their offices in Thomson House,
Cardiff city centre
In addition to English-language magazines, a number of weekly and monthly Welsh-language magazines are published. Wales has some 20 publishing companies, publishing mostly English titles. However, some 500-600 titles are published each year in Welsh
[8].
Notably, the recent hit revival of cult classic series 'Doctor Who' was and is conceived in Wales (BBC Wales), with many episodes set in Cardiff. Most of the filming and production takes place in locations all over Wales and attracts staggering audiences worldwide.
Food
Main articles: Welsh cuisine
About 80% of the land surface of Wales is given over to agricultural use. However, very little of this is
arable land; the vast majority consists of permanent grass or rough grazing for herd animals. Although both
beef and
dairy cattle are raised widely, especially in Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, Wales is more well-known for its
sheep farming, and thus lamb is the meat traditionally associated with Welsh cooking.
Some traditional dishes include
laverbread (made from
seaweed),
bara brith (fruit bread),
cawl cennin (
leek soup),
Welsh cakes,
Welsh rarebit (cheese on toast), and Welsh
lamb.
Cockles are sometimes served with breakfast.
[9]
In 2005 the Welsh National Culinary Teams returned from the Culinary World Cup in Luxembourg with eight gold, 15 silver and seven bronze medals, and were placed 7th in the world.
Music
Main articles: Welsh music
The principal Welsh festival of music and poetry is the ''
National Eisteddfod''. This takes place annually in a different town or city. The ''Llangollen
International Eisteddfod'' echoes the National Eisteddfod but provides an opportunity for the singers and musicians of the world to perform.
Wales is often referred to as "the land of song",
[11] being particularly famous for
harpists, male voice choirs, and solo artists including Sir
Geraint Evans, Dame Gwynneth Jones,
Dame Anne Evans,
Ivor Novello, Madam
Adelina Patti,
John Cale,
Tom Jones,
Charlotte Church,
Bonnie Tyler,
Bryn Terfel,
Mary Hopkin,
Katherine Jenkins,
Meic Stevens,
Shirley Bassey and
Aled Jones.
Indie bands like the
Manic Street Preachers,
Catatonia,
Stereophonics,
Feeder,
Super Furry Animals, and
Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, in the 1990s, and later
Goldie Lookin' Chain,
mclusky,
The Automatic,
Skindred,
The Blackout and were preceded by
Man in the 1970s. Another famous Welsh singer includes pop icon
Jem who has recorded songs for/performed on TV programmes such as
Las Vegas and
The OC, and movies such as
Eragon. The popular
New Wave/
synthpop group
Scritti Politti was a vehicle for singer/songwriter and
Cardiff native
Green Gartside. In recent years there has also been an increase in the amount of Metal and Hard Rock Bands coming from Wales including
Bullet for My Valentine,
Lostprophets and
Funeral For A Friend.
The Welsh traditional and
folk music scene, long overshadowed by its
Irish and
Scottish cousins, is in resurgence with performers and bands such as
Crasdant,
Carreg Lafar, Fernhill,
Siân James,
Robin Huw Bowen,
Llio Rhydderch,
KilBride and
The Hennessys. Traditional music and dance in Wales is supported by a myriad of societies. Welsh Folk Song Society (Cymdeithas Alawon Gwerin Cymru) has published a number of collections of songs and tunes. The Welsh Folk Dance Society (Cymdeithas Ddawns Werin Cymru) supports a network of national amateur dance teams and publishes support material. Clera (Traditional instruments society) runs workshops to promote the harp, ''telyn deires'' (
triple harp), fiddle,
crwth, ''pibgorn'' (hornpipe) and other instruments. The
Cerdd Dant Society promotes its specific singing art primarily through an annual one-day festival. The traditional music development agency, trac, runs projects in communities throughout Wales and advocates on behalf of traditional music. There are also societies for Welsh
hymnology, oral history, small eisteddfodau, oral history, and poetry.
The 'Sîn Roc Gymraeg' (Welsh language Rock Scene) in Wales is thriving, with acts ranging from rock to hip-hop which routinely attracts immense crowds and audiences. The Welsh-language Rock Scene presently is stated as 'the best yet,' with more bands, and more audiences than the 'Sin Roc Gymraeg' has ever seen in its existence. Dolgellau, in the heart of Snowdonia has held the annual Sesiwn Fawr (mighty session) festival since 1992. From humble beginnings the festival has grown to be Wales' largest Welsh-Language Music Festivals.
The
BBC National Orchestra of Wales performs in Wales and internationally. The world-renowned
Welsh National Opera now has a permanent home at the
Wales Millennium Centre in
Cardiff Bay.
Transport
The main road artery linking cities and other settlements along the south Wales coast is the
M4 motorway which also provides a link with England and eventually
London. The Welsh section of the motorway, managed by the Welsh Assembly Government, runs from the Second Severn Bridge to Pont Abraham in West Wales, connecting cities such as Cardiff, Newport and Swansea. In north Wales the
A55 expressway performs a similar role along the north Wales coast providing connections for places such as Holyhead and Bangor with Wrexham and Flinthsire and also with England, principally Chester. The main north-south Wales link is the
A470 which runs from Cardiff to Llandudno.
Cardiff International Airport is the only large and international airport in Wales, offering links domestically and to European and North American destinations, located some 12 miles south-west of Cardiff city centre, in the Vale of Glamorgan.
Rail is also extensively developed throughout the country, with
Cardiff Central and
Cardiff Queen Street stations being the busiest and the major hubs on the national network. The
Welsh Assembly Government manages the rail network and has a programme of reopening old railway lines and extending rail usage.
Arriva Trains Wales is the major operator of rail services within Wales, while
First Great Western provides services to London and elsewhere to England.
Virgin Trains provides services from
Cardiff and
Newport to North East England and Scotland, and from
North Wales to
Birmingham and
London. Additionally,
Central Trains links Cardiff and Newport to the English
Midlands.
Regular ferry services operate from Holyhead and Fishguard to Ireland.
National symbols
The Flag of Saint David (''Baner Dewi Sant'')
★ The
Flag of Wales (Y Ddraig Goch) incorporates the
red dragon of Prince Cadwalader along with the
Tudor colours of green and white. It was used by Henry VII at the
battle of Bosworth in 1485 after which it was carried in state to St. Paul's Cathedral. The red dragon was then included in the Tudor royal arms to signify their Welsh descent. It was officially recognised as the Welsh national flag in 1959. The British
Union Flag incorporates the flags of Scotland, Ireland and England but does not have any Welsh representation, it being designed before the Flag of Wales was officially recognised.
★ The flag of
Owain Glyndŵr, which has 4 squares alternating in red and yellow and then a rampant lion in each square of the opposite colour. Some believe that this is the true flag of Wales arguing that Owain Glyndŵr was the last real Prince of
Wales.
★ The
Dragon, part of the national flag design, is also a popular Welsh symbol. The oldest recorded use of the dragon to symbolise Wales is from the
Historia Brittonum, written around 820, but it is popularly supposed to have been the battle standard of
King Arthur and other ancient Celtic leaders. This myth is likely to have originated from
Merlin's vision of a Red (Wales) and White (England) dragon battling, with the Red dragon being victorious. Following the annexation of Wales by England, the dragon was used as a supporter in the English monarch's coat of arms.
★ The
leek is also a national emblem of Wales. According to legend,
Saint David ordered his Welsh soldiers to identify themselves by wearing the vegetable on their helmets in an ancient battle against the Saxons that took place in a leek field.
★ The
daffodil is the
national flower of Wales, and is worn on
St David's Day each
March 1. (In Welsh, the daffodil is known as "
Peter's Leek", ''cenhinen Pedr''.)
★ The
Sessile Oak is the
national tree of Wales.
★ The
Flag of Saint David is sometimes used as an alternative to the national flag (and used in part of Cardiff City FC's crest), and is flown on
St David's Day.
★ The
Coat of Arms of the Principality of Wales is used by
Charles, Prince of Wales in his personal standard.
★ The
Prince of Wales's feathers, the heraldic badge of the
Prince of Wales is sometimes adapted by Welsh bodies for use in Wales. The symbolism is explained on the article for
Edward, the Black Prince, who was the first Prince of Wales to bear the emblem; see also
John, king of Bohemia. The
Welsh Rugby Union uses such a design for its own badge.
Photos of Wales
Notable Welsh people
:''see
List of Welsh people''
See also
★
England and Wales
★
Welsh Peers
★
Welsh Nationalism
★
Welsh language
★
Wales Labour Party
★
Plaid Cymru
★
Wales Council for Voluntary Action
★
Visit Wales
★
Welsh settlement in Argentina
★
Seven Wonders of Wales
★
Capital of Wales
★
National Eisteddfod
References
1. Also spelled "Gymru" or "Nghymru" or "Chymru" in certain contexts, as Welsh is a language with initial mutations— see Welsh morphology.
2. Online Etymological Dictionary ''Cymric''
3. 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).
4. 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)
5. "Tribute to lost Welsh princess", bbc.co.uk date 12 June 2000, URL retrieved on 5 March 2007
6. Official Welsh Government biography of Morgan
7. 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.
8. 41,155 (1951 Census: Wales total monoglots)
9.
Paganism and Wicca are also growing in Wales. Many Pagans and Wiccans also visit Wales because of the Ancient Celtic history the country has.BBC - Wales - History of religion : Multicultural Wales
10. Welsh language paper is unveiled
11.
External links
★
Wales - World Nation
★
Welsh Icons - About Wales and all things Welsh
★
Myths of British ancestory
★
BBC Wales
★ http://www.llywelyn.co.uk
★
National Assembly for Wales
★
100 Welsh Heroes
★
Wales Council for Voluntary Action
★
Wales Tourists Online
★
VisitWales
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