Wales

Wales (Template:Langx Template:IPA) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic Sea to the south-west. Template:As of, it had a population of 3.2 million.<ref name="2021 Nomis"/> It has a total area of Template:Convert and over Template:Convert of coastline.<ref name="ONS Standard Area Measurement"/> It is largely mountainous with its higher peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon (Template:Lang), its highest summit.<ref name="ONS Geography Guide">Template:Cite web</ref> The country lies within the north temperate zone and has a changeable, maritime climate. Its capital and largest city is Cardiff.

A distinct Welsh culture emerged among the Celtic Britons after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, and Wales was briefly united under Gruffydd ap Llywelyn in 1055. After over 200 years of war, the conquest of Wales by King Edward I of England was completed by 1283, though Owain Glyndŵr led the Welsh Revolt against English rule in the early 15th century, and briefly re-established an independent Welsh state with its own national parliament (Template:Langx). In the 16th century the whole of Wales was annexed by England and incorporated within the English legal system under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Distinctive Welsh politics developed in the 19th century. Welsh Liberalism, exemplified in the late 19th and early 20th century by David Lloyd George, was displaced by the growth of socialism and the Labour Party. Welsh national feeling grew over the century: a nationalist party, Template:Lang, was formed in 1925, and the Welsh Language Society in 1962. A governing system of Welsh devolution is employed in Wales, of which the most major step was the formation of the Template:Lang (Welsh Parliament, formerly the National Assembly for Wales) in 1998, responsible for a range of devolved policy matters.

At the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, development of the mining and metallurgical industries transformed the country from an agricultural society into an industrial one; the South Wales Coalfield's exploitation caused a rapid expansion of Wales's population. Two-thirds of the population live in South Wales, including Cardiff, Swansea, Newport, and the nearby valleys. The eastern region of North Wales has about a sixth of the overall population, with Wrexham being the largest northern city. The remaining parts of Wales are sparsely populated. Since decline of the country's traditional extractive and heavy industries, the public sector, light and service industries, and tourism play major roles in its economy. Agriculture in Wales is largely livestock-based, making Wales a net exporter of animal produce, contributing towards national agricultural self-sufficiency.

Both Welsh and English are official languages. A majority of the population of Wales speaks English. Welsh is the dominant language in parts of the north and west, with a total of 538,300 Welsh speakers across the entire country. Wales has four UNESCO world heritage sites, of which three are in the north.

Etymology

Template:Main The English words "Wales" and "Welsh" derive from the same Old English root (singular Template:Lang, plural Template:Lang), a descendant of Proto-Germanic Template:Lang, which was itself derived from the name of the Gauls known to the Romans as Volcae. This term was later used to refer indiscriminately to inhabitants of the Western Roman Empire.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Anglo-Saxons came to use the term to refer to the Britons in particular; the plural form Template:Lang evolved into the name for their territory, Wales.<ref name="Wales Hist 71">Davies (1994) p. 71</ref><ref name="Tolkien 1">Template:Cite book</ref> Historically in Britain, the words were not restricted to modern Wales or to the Welsh but were used to refer to anything that Anglo-Saxons associated with Britons, including other non-Germanic territories in Britain (e.g. Cornwall) and places in Anglo-Saxon territory associated with Britons (e.g. Walworth in County Durham and Walton in West Yorkshire).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The modern Welsh name for themselves is Template:Lang, and Template:Lang is the Welsh name for Wales. These words (both of which are pronounced Template:IPA) are descended from the Brythonic word combrogi, meaning "fellow-countrymen",<ref name="Hist Wales 69">Davies (1994) p. 69</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and probably came into use before the 7th century.<ref>Template:Cite book; Davies (1994) p. 71, containing the line: Ar wynep Kymry Cadwallawn was.</ref> In literature, they could be spelt Template:Lang or Template:Lang, regardless of whether it referred to the people or their homeland.<ref name="Hist Wales 69" /> The Latinised forms of these names, Cambrian, Cambric and Cambria, survive as names such as the Cambrian Mountains and the Cambrian geological period.<ref>Template:Cite book; Template:Cite EB1911</ref>

History

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Caradog (depicted by Thomas Prydderch), leader of the north Wales Celtic tribe the Ordovices.

Although the Welsh nation would not arise until the Middle Ages, the territory of Wales was permanently settled from the end of the last ice age onwards.<ref name="CA 2007">Template:Cite web: see Red Lady of Paviland</ref> These first farmers left many impressive funerary monuments, as well as settlement sites that speak to a dispersed culture. With the arrival of the Bronze Age, the Great Orme in North Wales became Britain's premier producer of copper, one of the key ores for smelting bronze.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It is likely that the wealth of mineral resources in Britain, and especially Wales, attracted the Roman invasion,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> but by this time the island had become distinctively Celtic in culture, and the Neolithic population was largely replaced. It was this Iron Age Celtic culture, and their common language, that were called the Britons by the Romans.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp

With the departure of the Romans, Britain fractured into various kingdoms. Despite this, there is a sense in which the Roman withdrawal of 383 created a post Roman nation of Britons, with Magnus Maximus proclaimed Roman emperor in Britannia and Gaul. Although long before the term Cymry (the Welsh term for the Welsh) had been adopted, the concept of a British people, from which the Welsh would emerge, was created here.<ref name="Davies 1994">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp

Encroachment by Germanic Anglo-Saxon settlers gradually displaced the indigenous culture and language of the Britons, and one group of these Britons became isolated by the geography of the western peninsula, bounded by the sea and English neighbours. It was these English neighbours who named the land Wallia, and the people Welsh.<ref name="Johnes 2019">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp

The people of Wallia, medieval Wales, remained divided into separate kingdoms that fought with each other as much as they fought their English neighbours.Template:R Neither were the communities homogeneously Welsh. Place name, historical records and archaeological evidence point to coastal Viking/Norse settlement in places such as Swansea, Fishguard and Anglesey,<ref name="Redknap 2000">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp and Saxons settled inland amongst the Welsh in places such as Presteigne.<ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref>Template:Rp

File:Laws of Hywel Dda (f.1.v) King Hywel cropped.jpg

Hywel Dda enthroned

In the 10th century, Hywel ap Cadell, later known as Hywel Dda, formed the kingdom of Deheubarth from inheritances in Dyfed and Seisyllwg, and then gained control of the kingdoms of Gwynedd and Powys in 942.<ref name="Lloyd 1912">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp With control of nearly all the territory of Wales,Template:R he codified Welsh law, a law code that survived the later fracture of his kingdom, and that became a significant step in the creation of the nation.Template:R With a common culture and an external threat, the kingdoms of Wales began to see themselves as one people.Template:R

A century later the Kingdom of Gwynedd was in ascendency, and Gruffydd ap Llywelyn subdued all opposition by 1057, becoming the only king to unite all of Wales, and parts of England on the border. "Thus, from about 1057 until his death in 1063, the whole of Wales recognised the kingship of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn. For about seven brief years, Wales was one, under one ruler, a feat with neither precedent nor successor."Template:R

The kingdom did not last, and Gruffydd met his death as a result of a surprise attack by Tostig, brother of the English King, Harold.<ref name=DNB1>Template:Cite DNB</ref>Template:Rp After Gruffydd's death, Harold married his widow, but she would be widowed again by the Norman invasion of England in 1066.<ref name=DNB2>Template:Cite ODNB</ref>

The Normans followed their invasion of England with incursions into Wales, forming the semi-independent Norman Welsh marches (from the French for borderlands), and dividing them from the unconquered Pura Wallia.Template:R The fortunes of Welsh marcher lords and various Welsh princes ebbed and flowed, until Llywelyn ab Iorwerth (Llywelyn the Great) forced all other Welsh princes to submit to him in 1216.<ref name="Pierce 1959b">Template:Cite DWB</ref> Yet Wales was divided again after his death, and it was left for his grandson Llywelyn ap Gruffudd to secure the supremacy once more, recognised as Prince of Wales by the English king, Henry III, in the treaty of Montgomery of 1267.<ref name="Pierce 1959a">Template:Cite DWB</ref>

Relations with Henry's successor, Edward I, broke down and led to a war of conquest, concluding in 1283 with English victory.<ref name="Carpenter 2003">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp The following year the statute of Rhuddlan ended Welsh independence. Wales was divided between principality, ruled by Edward, and the marches and ruled by feudal marcher lords.<ref name="Davies 2000">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp This persisted, despite the Welsh rebellion under Owain Glyndŵr of 1400–1415,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> until the rise of the Tudors, with Welsh support.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp With the Laws in Wales Acts of Henry VIII, the Welsh became full citizens in the Kingdom of England, with parliamentary representation.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp The Welsh border was also formally defined and the territory reunited.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp

File:George Childs Dowlais Ironworks 1840.jpg

Dowlais Ironworks (1840) by George Childs (1798–1875)

In 1707 the act of union created the Kingdom of Great Britain.<ref name="Act of Union 1707">Template:Citation</ref> The industrial revolution and the beginning of empire led to the rapid increase in mining and exploitation of Welsh natural materials – metals, coal and slate. The population of Wales expanded rapidly<ref name="Williams 1985">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp and Wales moved to the centre of the British economy, but the changes bred resentment, this time towards industrialists and not the English state.Template:R Meanwhile, a series of religious revivals transformed the character of the nation, beginning a tradition of non-conformism.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp This carried over into the political sphere too. The rapid industrialisation of parts of Wales gave rise to strong and radical Welsh working class movements which led to the Merthyr Rising of 1831, the widespread support for Chartism, and the Newport Rising of 1839.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Strong liberal traditions were forged and later replaced by socialism.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp Since 1922 Wales has voted Labour in every general election.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

From the mid 19th century until 1914, Wales experienced a strengthened political culture, religious and cultural revival, renewed interest in Welsh literature, the revival of eisteddfodau. There was a thriving economy a renewed interest in Welsh language, and music, non-conformist Christianity and the emergence of strong national identity, along with the founding of many national institutions.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp However the period also saw the publication of a report on education that became known as the Treachery of the Blue Books. The report blamed Welsh language and non conformism for poor educational standards and led to a requirement for bilingual education.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp This fed the rise of the Welsh nationalist movement, expressed in the Cymru Fydd movement, which advocated for greater autonomy and recognition of Welsh identity within the United Kingdom.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Calls for devolution grew over the course of a century, and in 1998 the Government of Wales Act created a devolved Welsh assembly for the first time, now renamed the Senedd or Welsh Parliament.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Government and politics

File:Senedd.JPG

The Senedd building, designed by Richard Rogers, opened on St David's Day 2006.

Wales is a country that is part of the sovereign state of the United Kingdom.<ref name="ONS Geography Guide" /> ISO 3166-2:GB formerly defined Wales as a principality, with England and Scotland defined as countries and Northern Ireland as a province.<ref name="ISO 3166-2 2011 newsletter">Template:Cite web</ref> However, this definition was raised in the Welsh Assembly in 2010 and the then Counsel General for Wales, John Griffiths, stated, 'Principality is a misnomer and that Wales should properly be referred to as a country.'<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2011, ISO 3166-2:GB was updated and the term 'principality' was replaced with 'country'.<ref name="ISO 3166-2 2011 newsletter" /> UK Government toponymic guidelines state that, 'though there is a Prince of Wales, this role is deemed to be titular rather than exerting executive authority, and therefore Wales is described as a country rather than a principality.'<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In the House of Commons – the 650-member lower house of the UK Parliament – there are 32 members of Parliament (MPs) who represent Welsh constituencies. At the 2024 general election, 27 Labour and Labour Co-op MPs were elected, along with 4 Plaid Cymru MPs and 1 Liberal Democrat MP from Wales.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Wales Office is a department of the UK government responsible for Wales, whose minister, the Secretary of State for Wales (Welsh secretary), sits in the UK cabinet.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Wales has a devolved, unicameral legislature known as the Senedd (Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament) which holds devolved powers from the UK Parliament via a reserved powers model.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

For the purposes of local government, Wales has been divided into 22 council areas since 1996. These "principal areas"<ref>Part 1, Local Government (Wales) Act 1994</ref> are responsible for the provision of all local government services.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Devolved Government

File:First Minister meeting with First Minister of Wales - 52943408033.jpg

First Minister Mark Drakeford meets with First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf in Edinburgh, 2023

Following devolution in 1997, the Government of Wales Act 1998 created a Welsh devolved assembly, the National Assembly for Wales, with the power to determine how Wales's central government budget is spent and administered.<ref name="Wyn Jones">Template:Cite book</ref> Eight years later, the Government of Wales Act 2006 reformed the National Assembly for Wales and allowed further powers to be granted to it more easily. The Act also created a system of government with a separate executive, the Welsh Government, drawn from and accountable to the legislature, the National Assembly. Following a successful referendum in 2011, the National Assembly was empowered to make laws, known as Acts of the Assembly, on all matters in devolved subject areas, without requiring the UK Parliament's approval of legislative competence. It also gained powers to raise taxes.<ref name="Expert Panel">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp In May 2020, the National Assembly was renamed "Senedd Cymru" or "the Welsh Parliament", commonly known as the Senedd in both English and Welsh.<ref name="Senedd Cymru name">Template:Cite web</ref>

Devolved areas of responsibility include agriculture, economic development, education, health, housing, local government, social services, tourism, transport and the Welsh language.<ref>Template:Cite web; Template:Cite web</ref> The Welsh Government also promotes Welsh interests abroad.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Law

A half timbered building of two floors, with four sets of leaded windows to the front aspect and one set to the side. The build has a steep, slate roof, with a single chimney placed left of centre. Steps and a ramp lead up to its single visible entrance

The Old Court House, Ruthin, Denbighshire, built 1401, following Owain Glyndŵr's attack on the town

File:Laws of Hywel Dda (f.4.r) Judge cropped.jpg

Illustration of a Welsh judge from the Laws of Hywel Dda

By tradition, Welsh Law was compiled during an assembly held at Whitland around 930 by Hywel Dda, king of most of Wales between 942 and his death in 950. The 'law of Hywel Dda' (Template:Langx), as it became known, codified the previously existing folk laws and legal customs that had evolved in Wales over centuries. Welsh Law emphasised the payment of compensation for a crime to the victim, or the victim's kin, rather than punishment by the ruler.<ref>Template:Cite web; Davies (2008) p. 450; Davies (1994) p. 86</ref> Other than in the Marches, where March law was imposed by the Marcher Lords, Welsh Law remained in force in Wales until the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284. Edward I of England annexed the Principality of Wales following the death of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, and Welsh Law was replaced for criminal cases under the Statute. Marcher Law and Welsh Law (for civil cases) remained in force until Henry VIII of England annexed the whole of Wales under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542 (often referred to as the Acts of Union of 1536 and 1543), after which English law applied to the whole of Wales.<ref name="HMCS">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Davies (1994) p. 225</ref> The Wales and Berwick Act 1746 provided that all laws that applied to England would automatically apply to Wales (and the Anglo-Scottish border town of Berwick) unless the law explicitly stated otherwise; this Act was repealed with regard to Wales in 1967. English law has been the legal system of England and Wales since 1536.<ref name="Wales Hist 263">Davies (1994) p. 263</ref>

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 Supreme Court of the United Kingdom which is the highest court of appeal in the land for criminal and civil cases. The Senior Courts 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 magistrates' courts or the County Court. In 2007 the Wales and Cheshire Region (known as the Wales and Cheshire Circuit before 2005) came to an end when Cheshire was attached to the North-Western England Region. From that point, Wales became a legal unit in its own right, although it remains part of the single jurisdiction of England and Wales.<ref>Davies (2008) p. 453</ref>

The Senedd has the authority to draft and approve laws outside of the UK Parliamentary system to meet the specific needs of Wales. Under powers approved by a referendum held in March 2011, it is empowered to pass primary legislation, at the time referred to as an Act of the National Assembly for Wales but now known as an Act of Senedd Cymru in relation to twenty subjects listed in the Government of Wales Act 2006 such as health and education. Through this primary legislation, the Welsh Government can then also enact more specific subordinate legislation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Wales is served by four regional police forces: Dyfed-Powys Police, Gwent Police, North Wales Police, and South Wales Police.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> There are five prisons in Wales: four in the southern half of the country, and one in Wrexham. Wales has no women's prisons: female inmates are imprisoned in England.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite web</ref>

Geography and natural history

File:Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) from Crib Goch, Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri National Park, Cymru (Wales) 09.jpg

Snowdon (Template:Langx) Gwynedd, the highest mountain in Wales

Wales is a generally mountainous country on the western side of central southern Great Britain.<ref name="ONS Cymru">Template:Cite book</ref> It is about Template:Convert north to south.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The oft-quoted "size of Wales" is about Template:Convert.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Wales is bordered by England to the east and by sea in all other directions: the Irish Sea to the north and west, St George's Channel and the Celtic Sea to the southwest and the Bristol Channel to the south.<ref>Template:Cite hansard</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Wales has about Template:Convert of coastline (along the mean high water mark), including the mainland, Anglesey and Holyhead.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Over 50 islands lie off the Welsh mainland, the largest being Anglesey, in the north-west.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Much of Wales's 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 (Template:Lang), of which five are over Template:Convert. The highest of these is Snowdon (Template:Lang), at Template:Convert.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="WalesOnline mynyddoedd">Template:Cite web</ref> The 14 Welsh mountains, or 15 if including Carnedd GwenllianTemplate:Spaced ndashoften discounted because of its low topographic prominenceTemplate:Spaced ndashover Template:Convert high are known collectively as the Welsh 3000s and are located in a small area in the north-west.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The highest outside the 3000s is Aran Fawddwy, at Template:Convert, in the south of Snowdonia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Brecon Beacons (Template:Lang) are in the south (highest point Pen y Fan, at Template:Convert),<ref>Nuttall, John & Anne (1999). The Mountains of England & Wales – Volume 1: Wales (2nd edition ed.). Milnthorpe, Cumbria: Cicerone. Template:ISBN.</ref> and are joined by the Cambrian Mountains in Mid Wales (highest point Pumlumon, at Template:Convert).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

File:Map of Wales.svg

Relief map of Wales:
Template:LegendTemplate:Legend

Wales has three national parks: Snowdonia, Brecon Beacons, and Pembrokeshire Coast (Template:Lang). It has five Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty: Anglesey, the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley, the Gower Peninsula, the Llŷn Peninsula, and the Wye Valley.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Gower Peninsula was the first area in the United Kingdom to be designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, in 1956. As of 2019, the coastline of Wales had 40 Blue Flag beaches, three Blue Flag marinas and one Blue Flag boat operator.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The south and west coasts of Wales, along with the Irish and Cornish coasts, are frequently blasted by Atlantic westerlies/south-westerlies that, over the years, have sunk and wrecked many vessels. In 1859 over 110 ships were destroyed off the coast of Wales in a hurricane that saw more than 800 lives lost across Britain.<ref>Davies (2008) p.778</ref> The greatest single loss occurred with the sinking of the Royal Charter off Anglesey in which 459 people died.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The 19th century saw over 100 vessels lost with an average loss of 78 sailors per year.<ref name="Davies 814">Davies (2008) p.814</ref> Wartime action caused losses near Holyhead, Milford Haven and Swansea.<ref name="Davies 814"/> Because of offshore rocks and unlit islands, Anglesey and Pembrokeshire are still notorious for shipwrecks, most notably the Sea Empress oil spill in 1996.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The first border between Wales and England was zonal, apart from around the River Wye, which was the first accepted boundary.<ref name="Davies75">Davies (2008) p. 75</ref> Offa's Dyke was supposed to form an early distinct line but this was thwarted by Gruffudd ap Llewellyn, who reclaimed swathes of land beyond the dyke.<ref name="Davies75"/> The Act of Union 1536 formed a linear border stretching from the mouth of the Dee to the mouth of the Wye.<ref name="Davies75"/> Even after the Act of Union, many of the borders remained vague and moveable until the Sunday Closing (Wales) Act 1881, which forced local businesses to decide which country they fell within to accept either the Welsh or English law.<ref name="Davies75"/>

Geology

Template:Main The earliest geological period of the Palaeozoic era, the Cambrian, takes its name from the Cambrian Mountains, where geologists first identified Cambrian remnants.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=Sedgwick1852>Template:Cite journal</ref> In the mid-19th century, Roderick Murchison and Adam Sedgwick used their studies of Welsh geology to establish certain principles of stratigraphy and palaeontology. The next two periods of the Palaeozoic era, the Ordovician and Silurian, were named after ancient Celtic tribes from this area.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Climate

File:Milvus milvus R(ThKraft).jpg

A Red kite, considered one of the national symbols of Wales and voted the nation's favourite bird<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Wales lies within the north temperate zone. It has a changeable, maritime climate and is one of the wettest countries in Europe.<ref name="Met Off 1">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Davies148-150">Davies (2008) pp. 148–150</ref> Welsh weather is often cloudy, wet and windy, with warm summers and mild winters.<ref name="Met Off 1"/><ref name="WalesOnline soggy"> Template:Cite web </ref>

• Highest maximum temperature: Template:Convert at Hawarden, Flintshire on 18 July 2022.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Lowest minimum temperature: Template:Convert at Rhayader, Radnorshire (now Powys) on 21 January 1940.<ref name="Met Office Temp">Template:Cite web</ref>
• Maximum number of hours of sunshine in a month: 354.3 hours at Dale Fort, Pembrokeshire in July 1955.<ref name="Met Haul 1">Template:Cite web</ref>
• Minimum number of hours of sunshine in a month: 2.7 hours at Llwynon, Brecknockshire in January 1962.<ref name="Met Haul 1"/>
• Maximum rainfall in a day (0900 UTC – 0900 UTC): Template:Convert at Rhondda, Glamorgan, on 11 November 1929.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Wettest spot – an average of Template:Convert rain a year at Crib Goch in Snowdonia, Gwynedd (making it also the wettest spot in the United Kingdom).<ref>

Template:Cite news</ref>

Flora and fauna

Wales's wildlife is typical of Britain with several distinctions. Because of its long coastline, Wales hosts a variety of seabirds. The coasts and surrounding islands are home to colonies of gannets, Manx shearwater, puffins, kittiwakes, shags and razorbills. In comparison, with 60 per cent of Wales above the 150m contour, the country also supports a variety of upland-habitat birds, including raven and ring ouzel.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Birds of prey include the merlin, hen harrier and the red kite, a national symbol of Welsh wildlife.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In total, more than 200 different species of bird have been seen at the RSPB reserve at Conwy, including seasonal visitors.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Larger mammals, including brown bears, wolves and wildcats, died out during the Norman period. Today, mammals include shrews, voles, badgers, otters, stoats, weasels, hedgehogs and fifteen species of bat. Two species of small rodent, the yellow-necked mouse and the dormouse, are of special Welsh note being found at the historically undisturbed border area.<ref name="Davies533">Davies (2008) p. 533</ref> The pine marten, which has been sighted occasionally, has been reintroduced in parts of Wales since 2015, having previously not been officially recorded since the 1950s.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The polecat was nearly driven to extinction in Britain, but hung on in Wales and is now rapidly spreading. Feral goats can be found in Snowdonia.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In March 2021, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) granted a licence to release up to six beavers in the Dyfi Valley, the first official beaver release in Wales.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Believed to be home to some of Wales's rarest land invertebrates, some 2,500 disused coal tips are the subject of study by the Welsh Government; the tips are home to a wide variety of other wildlife.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The waters of south-west Wales of Gower, Pembrokeshire and Cardigan Bay attract marine animals, 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 bottlenose dolphins, and New Quay has the only summer residence of bottlenose dolphins in the whole of the UK. Freshwater fish of note include char, eel, salmon, shad, sparling and Arctic char, while the gwyniad is unique to Wales, found only in Bala Lake. Wales is known for its shellfish, including cockles, limpet, mussels and periwinkles. Herring, mackerel and hake are the more common of the country's marine fish.<ref name="Hist 286-288">Davies (1994) pp. 286–288</ref> The north facing high grounds of Snowdonia support a relict pre-glacial flora including the iconic Snowdon lily – Gagea serotina – and other alpine species such as Saxifraga cespitosa, Saxifraga oppositifolia and Silene acaulis. Wales has a number of plant species not found elsewhere in the UK, including the spotted rock-rose Tuberaria guttata on Anglesey and Draba aizoides on the Gower.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Economy

File:Profile of Wales.png

A profile of the economy of Wales in 2012

File:This is Trade and Investment. This is Wales. Welsh Government video.webm

A 2021 introduction to some of the largest companies based in Wales, including: Airbus, bipsync, HCI Pharmaceutical, ReNeuron, Deloitte, Coaltown Coffee, DMM International and Freudenberg

Over the last 250 years, Wales has been transformed from a predominantly agricultural country to an industrial, and then to a post-industrial economy.<ref>Davies (2008), pp. 233, 697; Template:Cite book</ref> In the 1950s, Wales's GDP was twice as big as Ireland's; by the 2020s, Ireland's economy was four times that of Wales. Since the Second World War, the service sector has come to account for the majority of jobs, a feature typifying most advanced economies.<ref>Davies (2008), p. 233–234</ref> in 2018, according to OECD and Eurostat data, gross domestic product (GDP) in Wales was £75 billion, an increase of 3.3 per cent from 2017. GDP per head in Wales in 2018 was £23,866, an increase of 2.9 per cent on 2017. This compares to Italy's GDP/capita of £25,000, Spain £22,000, Slovenia £20,000 and New Zealand £30,000.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Nation Cymru">Template:Cite news</ref> In the three months to December 2017, 72.7 per cent of working-age adults were employed, compared to 75.2 per cent across the UK as a whole.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref> For the 2018–19 fiscal year, the Welsh fiscal deficit accounts for 19.4 per cent of Wales's estimated GDP.<ref name="Cardiff">Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2019, Wales was a net exporter of electricity. It produced 27.9 TWh of electricity while only consuming 14.7 TWh.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 2021, the Welsh government said that more than half the country's energy needs were being met by renewable sources, 2 per cent of which was from 363 hydropower projects.<ref name="BBC210302">Template:Cite news</ref>

By UK law, Wales contributes to items that do not directly benefit Wales e.g. over £5 billion for HS2 "which will damage the Welsh economy by £200m pa", according to the UK and Welsh Government's transport adviser Mark Barry. Wales also pays more in military costs than most similar-sized countries e.g. Wales pays twice the amount Ireland spends on the military.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The UK government spends £1.75bn per year on the military in Wales, which is almost as much as Wales spends on education every year (£1.8 billion in 2018/19) and five times as much as the total amount spent on the police in Wales (£365 million).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

From the middle of the 19th century until the post-war era, the mining and export of coal was the dominant industry. At its peak of production in 1913, nearly 233,000 men and women were employed in the South Wales coalfield, mining 56 million tons of coal.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Cardiff was once the largest coal-exporting port in the world and, for a few years before the First World War, handled a greater tonnage of cargo than either London or Liverpool.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite web</ref> In the 1920s, over 40 per cent of the male Welsh population worked in heavy industry.<ref name="IWA 2003">Template:Cite book</ref> According to Phil Williams, the Great Depression "devastated Wales", north and south, because of its "overwhelming dependence on coal and steel".<ref name="IWA 2003" /> From the mid-1970s, the Welsh economy faced massive restructuring with large numbers of jobs in heavy industry disappearing and being replaced eventually by new ones in light industry and in services. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Wales was successful in attracting an above average share of foreign direct investment in the UK.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Much of the new industry was essentially of a "branch (or "screwdriver") factory" type where a manufacturing plant or call centre is in Wales but the most highly-paid jobs in the company are elsewhere.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Economi">Template:Cite web</ref>

Poor-quality soil in much of Wales is unsuitable for crop-growing, so livestock farming has been the focus of farming. About 78 per cent of the land surface is used for agriculture.<ref>Template:Cite web Total agricultural area (2004): 1633.5 thousand hectares (16,335 km²), Wales area 20,779 km²</ref> The Welsh landscape, with its three national parks and Blue Flag beaches, attracts large numbers of tourists, who bolster the economy of rural areas.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite web</ref> Wales, like Northern Ireland, has relatively few 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.<ref name="Economi" /> 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 per cent of the EU25 average and around 80 per cent of the UK average.<ref name="Economi" /> In June 2008, Wales made history by becoming the first nation to be awarded Fairtrade status.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The pound sterling is the currency used in Wales. Numerous Welsh banks issued their own banknotes in the 19th century: the last bank to do so closed in 1908. Since then the Bank of England has had a monopoly on the issue of banknotes in Wales.<ref>Template:Cite web; Template:Cite web</ref> The Commercial Bank of Wales, established in Cardiff by Sir Julian Hodge in 1971, was taken over by the Bank of Scotland in 1988 and absorbed into its parent company in 2002.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Royal Mint, which issues the coinage circulating through the whole of the UK, has been based at a single site in Llantrisant since 1980.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Since decimalisation, in 1971, at least one of the coins in circulation emphasises Wales such as the 1995 and 2000 one pound coin (above). As at 2012, the last designs devoted to Wales saw production in 2008.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

During 2020, and well into 2021, the restrictions and lockdowns necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic affected all sectors of the economy and "tourism and hospitality suffered notable losses from the pandemic" across the UK.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As of 6 April 2021, visitors from "red list" countries were still not allowed to enter unless they were UK residents. Restrictions will "likely be in place until the summer", one report predicted, with June being the most likely time for tourism from other countries to begin a rebound.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 12 April 2021, many tourist facilities were still closed in Wales but non-essential travel between Wales and England was finally permitted. Wales also allowed non-essential retail stores to open.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 

Transport

Main roads

• The M4 motorway running from West London to South Wales links Newport, Cardiff and Swansea. Responsibility for the section of the motorway within Wales, from the Second Severn Crossing to Pont Abraham services, sits with the Welsh Government.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• The A55 expressway has a similar role along the North Wales coast, connecting Holyhead and Bangor with Wrexham and Flintshire. It also links to northwest England, principally Chester.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• The main north-south Wales link is the A470, which runs from Cardiff to Llandudno.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Rail

File:Rail network of Wales 2021.svg

Rail network of Wales, 2021

Rail transport in Wales includes the Wales & Borders franchise, which is overseen by the Welsh Government with most passenger services operated by Transport for Wales Rail.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Cardiff region has its own urban rail network. Beeching cuts in the 1960s mean that most of the remaining network is geared toward east–west travel connecting with the Irish Sea ports for ferries to Ireland.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Services between north and south Wales operate through the English cities of Chester and Hereford and towns of Shrewsbury, Gobowen for Oswestry and along the Welsh Marches Line, with trains on the Heart of Wales Line from Swansea to Llandovery, Llandrindod and Knighton, connecting with the Welsh Marches line at Craven Arms. Trains in Wales are mainly diesel-powered but the South Wales Main Line branch of the Great Western Main Line used by services from London Paddington to Cardiff has undergone electrification, although the programme experienced significant delays and cost overruns.<ref>Template:Cite web; Template:Cite web; Template:Cite webTemplate:Page needed</ref> Many of the Valley Lines are also undergoing electrification, under the South Wales Metro project.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A North-South railway has been suggested to better link North and South Wales.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":02">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Air and ferries

Cardiff Airport is the international airport of Wales. Providing links to European, African and Asian destinations,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> it is about Template:Convert southwest of Cardiff city centre, in the Vale of Glamorgan. Intra-Wales flights used to run between Anglesey (Valley) and Cardiff, and were operated since 2017 by Eastern Airways;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> as of 2022, those flights are no longer available. Other internal flights operate to northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Wales has four commercial ferry ports. Regular ferry services to Ireland operate from Holyhead, Pembroke Dock and Fishguard. The Swansea to Cork service was cancelled in 2006, reinstated in March 2010, and withdrawn again in 2012.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref>

Education

File:Llanbedr Pont Steffan.jpg

St. David's Building, Lampeter campus, University of Wales, Trinity Saint David (Template:Lang). Founded in 1822, it is the oldest degree-awarding institution in Wales.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

A distinct education system has developed in Wales.<ref name="Davies238">Davies (2008) p. 238</ref> Formal education before the 18th century was the preserve of the elite. The first grammar schools were established in Welsh towns such as Ruthin, Brecon and Cowbridge.<ref name="Davies238" /> One of the first successful schooling systems was started by Griffith Jones, who introduced the circulating schools in the 1730s; these are believed to have taught half the country's population to read.<ref name="Davies239">Davies (2008) p. 239</ref> In the early 19th century, English became the usual language of instruction at schools in Wales. While the country's working class was largely Welsh-speaking at the time, Welsh public opinion wished for children to learn English.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Many schools used corporal punishment to stop children from speaking Welsh in the first half of the 19th century;Template:Sfn the practice declined in the second half of the century.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The British government never prohibited the use of Welsh at schools but it treated English as the assumed language of instruction.Template:Sfn More Welsh was gradually used at schools in Welsh-speaking areas in the mid to late 19th centuryTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn and teaching of the language began to receive moderate government support from the late 19th century.Template:Sfn

The University College of Wales opened in Aberystwyth in 1872. Cardiff and Bangor followed, and the three colleges came together in 1893 to form the University of Wales.<ref name="Davies239" /> The Welsh Intermediate Education Act of 1889 created 95 secondary schools. The Welsh Department for the Board of Education followed in 1907, which gave Wales its first significant educational devolution.<ref name="Davies239" /> A resurgence in Welsh-language schools in the latter half of the 20th century at nursery and primary level saw attitudes shift towards teaching in the medium of Welsh.<ref name="Davies240">Davies (2008) p. 240</ref> Welsh is a compulsory subject in all of Wales's state schools for pupils aged 5–16 years old.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> While there has never been an exclusively Welsh-language college, Welsh-medium higher education is delivered through the individual universities and has since 2011 been supported by the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol (Welsh-language National College) as a delocalised federal institution. In 2021–2022, there were 1,470 maintained schools in Wales.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2021–22, the country had 471,131 pupils taught by 25,210 full-time equivalent teachers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Healthcare

File:University Hospital of Wales, Heath Park - Cardiff - geograph.org.uk - 1736088.jpg

University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff

Public healthcare in Wales is provided by NHS Wales (Template:Lang), through seven local health boards and three all-Wales trusts. It was originally formed as part of the NHS structure for England and Wales by the National Health Service Act 1946, but with powers over the NHS in Wales coming under the Secretary of State for Wales in 1969.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Responsibility for NHS Wales passed to the Welsh Assembly under devolution in 1999, and is now the responsibility of the Minister for Health and Social Services.<ref name="WHS 2009">Template:Cite web</ref> Historically, Wales was served by smaller 'cottage' hospitals, built as voluntary institutions.<ref name="Davies361">Davies (2008), p.361</ref> As newer, more expensive, diagnostic techniques and treatments became available, clinical work has been concentrated in newer, larger district hospitals.<ref name="Davies361"/> In 2006, there were seventeen district hospitals in Wales.<ref name="Davies361"/> NHS Wales directly employs over 90,000 staff, making it Wales's biggest employer.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The National Survey for Wales in 2021–22 reported that 72 per cent of adults surveyed had good or very good general health, 19 per cent had fair general health and 8 had bad or very bad general health.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The survey recorded that 46 per cent of Welsh adults had a long-standing illness, such as arthritis, asthma, diabetes or heart disease.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The survey also reported that 13 per cent of the adult population were smokers, 16 per cent admitted drinking alcohol above weekly recommended guidelines, while 56 per cent undertook the recommended 150 minutes of physical activity each week.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> According to the survey, 30 per cent of adults in Wales reported to have eaten at least 5 portions of fruit or vegetables the previous day and 36 per cent reported a healthy weight.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Demography

Population history

Template:Historical populations The population of Wales doubled from 587,000 in 1801 to 1,163,000 in 1851 and had reached 2,421,000 by 1911. Most of the increase came in the coal mining districts, especially Glamorganshire, which grew from 71,000 in 1801 to 232,000 in 1851 and 1,122,000 in 1911.<ref>Brian R. Mitchell and Phyllis Deane, Abstract of British Historical Statistics (Cambridge, 1962) pp 20, 22</ref> Part of this increase can be attributed to the demographic transition seen in most industrialising countries during the Industrial Revolution, as death rates dropped and birth rates remained steady. However, there was also large-scale migration into Wales during the Industrial Revolution. The English were the most numerous group, but there were also considerable numbers of Irish and smaller numbers of other ethnic groups,<ref>Template:Cite web; Template:Cite web</ref> including Italians, who migrated to South Wales.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Wales also received immigration from various parts of the British Commonwealth of Nations in the 20th century, and African-Caribbean and Asian communities add to the ethnocultural mix, particularly in urban Wales. Many of these self-identify as Welsh.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The population in 1972 stood at 2.74 million and remained broadly static for the rest of the decade. However, in the early 1980s, the population fell due to net migration out of Wales. Since the 1980s, net migration has generally been inward, and has contributed more to population growth than natural change.<ref name="Overview">Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref> The resident population of Wales in 2021 according to the census was 3,107,500 (1,586,600 female and 1,521,000 male), an increase of 1.4 per cent over 2011. A decreased change from the 5 per cent increase between 2001 and 2011.<ref name="Region populations">Template:Cite web</ref> Wales accounted for 5.2 per cent of the population of England and Wales in 2021. Wales has seven cities: Cardiff, Newport, Swansea, Wrexham, Bangor, St Asaph and St Davids. (The last two of these have city status in the United Kingdom despite their small populations.)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Wrexham, north Wales's largest settlement, became Wales's newest and seventh city in September 2022.<ref>Template:Cite web; Template:Cite web</ref>

Language

File:Welsh speakers in the 2011 census.png

The proportion of respondents in the 2011 census who said they could speak Welsh

Welsh is an official language in Wales as legislated by the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Both Welsh and English are also official languages of the Senedd.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The proportion of the Welsh population able to speak the Welsh language fell from just under 50 per cent in 1901 to 43.5 per cent in 1911, and continued to fall to 18.9 per cent in 1981.<ref name=":03">Template:Cite web</ref> The results of the 2001 Census showed an increase in the number of Welsh speakers to 21 per cent of the population aged 3 and older, compared with 18.7 per cent in 1991 and 19 per cent in 1981. This compares with a pattern of steady decline indicated by census results during the 20th century.<ref name=":03"/> In the 2011 census it was recorded that the proportion of people able to speak Welsh had dropped from 20.8 per cent to 19 per cent (still higher than 1991). Despite an increase in the overall size of the Welsh population this still meant that the number of Welsh speakers in Wales dropped from 582,000 in 2001 to 562,000 in 2011. However this figure was still higher than the 508,000 people (or 18.7 per cent of the population) who said they could speak Welsh in the 1991 census.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

According to the 2021 census, the Welsh-speaking population of Wales aged three or older was 17.8 per cent (538,300 people) and nearly three-quarters of the population in Wales said they had no Welsh language skills.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Other estimates suggest that 29.7 per cent (899,500) of people aged three or older in Wales could speak Welsh in June 2022.<ref name="gov-wales-2021-2022-lang-survey">Template:Cite web</ref>

English is spoken by almost all people in Wales and is the main language in most of the country. Code-switching is common in all parts of Wales and is known by various terms, though none is recognised by professional linguists.<ref name="Davies 262">Davies (2008) p. 262</ref> "Wenglish" is the Welsh dialect of the English language. It has been influenced significantly by Welsh grammar and includes words derived from Welsh.<ref>Davies (1994) p. 623; Template:Cite news</ref> Northern and western Wales retain many areas where Welsh is spoken as a first language by the majority of the population, and English learnt as a second language. Although monoglotism in young children continues, life-long monoglotism in Welsh no longer occurs.<ref>Davies (2008) p. 940</ref>

Since Poland joined the European Union, Wales has seen a significant increase in Polish immigrants. This has made Polish the most common main language in Wales after English and Welsh, at 0.7 per cent of the population.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Religion

File:StDavidsCathedral Tower&SouthTransept.JPG

St. David's Cathedral, Pembrokeshire

Forms of Christianity have dominated religious life in what is now Wales for more than 1,400 years.<ref>L. Alcock, Kings and Warriors, Craftsmen and Priests in Northern Britain AD 550–850 (Edinburgh: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland), Template:ISBN, p. 63.</ref><ref>Lucas Quensel von Kalben, "The British Church and the Emergence of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom", in T. Dickinson and D. Griffiths, eds, Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History, 10: Papers for the 47th Sachsensymposium, York, September 1996 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), Template:ISBN, p. 93.</ref> The 2021 census recorded that 46.5 per cent had "No religion", more than any single religious affiliation and up from 32.1 per cent in 2011.<ref name=":5">Template:Cite web</ref> The largest religion in Wales is Christianity, with 43.6 per cent of the population describing themselves as Christian in the 2021 census.<ref name=":5" /> The patron saint of Wales is Saint David (Template:Lang), with Saint David's Day (Template:Lang) celebrated annually on 1 March.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The early 20th century saw a religious revival, the 1904–1905 Welsh Revival, which started through the evangelism of Evan Roberts and brought large numbers of converts, sometimes whole communities, to non-Anglican Christianity.<ref>Davies (2008), p. 739</ref>

The Church in Wales with 56,000 adherents has the largest attendance of the denominations.<ref name="Faith in Wales">Template:Cite web</ref> It is a province of the Anglican Communion, and was part of the Church of England until disestablishment in 1920 under the Welsh Church Act 1914. The first Independent Church in Wales was founded at Llanvaches in 1638 by William Wroth. The Presbyterian Church of Wales was born out of the Welsh Methodist revival in the 18th century and seceded from the Church of England in 1811.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The second largest attending faith in Wales is Roman Catholic, with an estimated 43,000 adherents.<ref name="Faith in Wales" />

Non-Christian religions are small in Wales, making up approximately 2.7 per cent of the population.<ref name="2011 Census Faith">Template:Cite news</ref> Islam is the largest, with 24,000 (0.8 per cent) reported Muslims in the 2011 census.<ref name="2011 Census Faith" /> There are also communities of Hindus and Sikhs, mainly in the south Wales cities of Newport, Cardiff and Swansea, while the largest concentration of Buddhists is in the western rural county of Ceredigion.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Judaism was the first non-Christian faith to be established in Wales since Roman times, though by 2001 the community had declined to approximately 2,000<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and as of 2019 only numbers in the hundreds.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Ethnicity

File:Shirley Bassey (1971).jpg

Singer Shirley Bassey

The 2021 census showed that 93.8 per cent of the population of Wales identified as "White", compared to 95.6 per cent in 2011. 90.6 per cent of the population identified as "White: Welsh, English, Scottish, Northern Irish or British" in 2021. The second-highest ethnicity in 2021 was "Asian, Asian Welsh or Asian British" at 2.9 per cent of the population, compared to 2.3 per cent in 2011. 1.6 per cent of the population identified as "Mixed or multiple ethnic groups", compared to 1.0 per cent in 2011; 0.9 per cent of the population identified as "Black, Black Welsh, Black British, Caribbean or African", compared to 0.6 per cent in 2011; and 0.9 per cent identified as "Other ethnic group" compared to 0.5 per cent in 2011. The local authorities with the highest proportions of "high-level" ethnic groups other than "White" were mainly urban areas including Cardiff, Newport and Swansea. 5.3 per cent of households in Wales were multiple ethnic group households, up from 4.2 per cent in 2011.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2021, the first statue of a named, non-fictional woman outdoors was raised for Wales's first black headteacher, Betty Campbell. In 2023, Patti Flynn (a contemporary of Shirley Bassey, both of Tiger Bay, Cardiff) became the first black Welsh woman to be awarded a purple plaque.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2024, Vaughan Gething was elected First Minister of Wales becoming the first black head of government in Europe having previously served as Secretary for Finance.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

National identity

Template:Main The 2021 census showed that 55.2 per cent identified as "Welsh only" and 8.1 per cent identified as "Welsh and British", giving the combined proportion of 63.3 per cent for people identifying as Welsh.<ref name=":14">Template:Cite web</ref> The Welsh Annual Population Survey showed that the proportion of people who identified as Welsh versus another identity was 62.3 per cent in 2022, compared to 69.2 per cent in 2001.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A 2022 YouGov poll found that 21 per cent considered themselves Welsh not British, 15 per cent more Welsh than British, 24 per cent equally Welsh and British, 7 per cent more British than Welsh, 20 per cent British and not Welsh, and 8 per cent other; a total of 67 per cent thus considered themselves Welsh to some degree.<ref name=":11">Template:Cite web</ref>

Culture

Template:Main Wales has a distinctive culture including its own language, customs, holidays and music. There are four UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Wales: The Castles and Town Walls of King Edward I in Gwynedd; Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal; the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape; and The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Mythology

Template:Main Remnants of native Celtic mythology of the pre-Christian Britons was passed down orally by the cynfeirdd (the early poets).<ref name="cynfeirdd">Template:Cite book</ref> Some of their work survives in later medieval Welsh manuscripts: the Black Book of Carmarthen and the Book of Aneirin (both 13th-century); the Book of Taliesin and the White Book of Rhydderch (both 14th-century); and the Red Book of Hergest (c. 1400).<ref name="cynfeirdd" /> The prose stories from the White and Red Books are known as the Mabinogion.<ref>Davies (2008) p. 525</ref> Poems such as Cad Goddeu (The Battle of the Trees) and mnemonic list-texts like the Welsh Triads and the Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain, also contain mythological material.<ref>Template:Cite book; Template:Cite book; Template:Cite book</ref> These texts include the earliest forms of the Arthurian legend and the traditional history of post-Roman Britain.<ref name="cynfeirdd" /> Other sources of Welsh folklore include the 9th-century Latin historical compilation Historia Britonum (the History of the Britons) and Geoffrey of Monmouth's 12th-century Latin chronicle Template:Lang (the History of the Kings of Britain), and later folklore, such as The Welsh Fairy Book by W. Jenkyn Thomas.<ref>Template:Cite book; Template:Cite book</ref>

Literature

File:Black Book of Carmarthen (f.4.r).jpg

Welsh poetry from the 13th-century Black Book of Carmarthen.

Wales has one of the oldest unbroken literary traditions in Europe<ref name="Davies464">Davies (2008) p. 464</ref> going back to the sixth century and including Geoffrey of Monmouth and Gerald of Wales, regarded as among the finest Latin authors of the Middle Ages.<ref name="Davies464" /> The earliest body of Welsh verse, by poets Taliesin and Aneirin, survive not in their original form, but in much-changed, medieval versions.<ref name="Davies464" /> Welsh poetry and native lore and learning survived through the era of the Poets of the Princes (Template:Circa–1280) and then the Poets of the Gentry (Template:Circa–1650). The former were professional poets who composed eulogies and elegies to their patrons while the latter favoured the cywydd metre.<ref name="Davies688-9">Davies (2008) pp. 688–689</ref> The period produced one of Wales's greatest poets, Dafydd ap Gwilym.<ref>Davies (2008) p. 191</ref> After the Anglicisation of the gentry the tradition declined.<ref name="Davies688-9" />

Despite the extinction of the professional poet, the integration of the native elite into a wider cultural world did bring other literary benefits.<ref name="Davies465">Davies (2008) p. 465</ref> Renaissance scholars such as William Salesbury and John Davies brought humanist ideals from English universities.<ref name="Davies465" /> In 1588 William Morgan became the first person to translate the Bible into Welsh.<ref name="Davies465" /> From the 16th century the proliferation of the 'free-metre' verse became the most important development in Welsh poetry, but from the middle of the 17th century a host of imported accentual metres from England became very popular.<ref name="Davies465" /> By the 19th century the creation of a Welsh epic, fuelled by the eisteddfod, became an obsession with Welsh-language writers.<ref name="Davies466">Davies (2008) p. 466</ref> The output of this period was prolific in quantity but unequal in quality.<ref name="Williams121">Template:Cite book</ref> Initially excluded, religious denominations came to dominate the competitions, with bardic themes becoming scriptural and didactic.<ref name="Williams121" />

Developments in 19th-century Welsh literature include Lady Charlotte Guest's translation into English of the Mabinogion, one of the most important medieval Welsh prose works of Celtic mythology. 1885 saw the publication of Rhys Lewis by Daniel Owen, credited as the first novel written in the Welsh language. The 20th century saw a move from the verbose Victorian Welsh style, with works such as Thomas Gwynn Jones's Ymadawiad Arthur.<ref name="Davies466" /> The First World War had a profound effect on Welsh literature with a more pessimistic style championed by T. H. Parry-Williams and R. Williams Parry.<ref name="Davies466" /> The industrialisation of south Wales saw a further shift with the likes of Rhydwen Williams who used the poetry and metre of a bygone rural Wales but in the context of an industrial landscape. The inter-war period is dominated by Saunders Lewis, for his political and reactionary views as much as his plays, poetry and criticism.<ref name="Davies466" />

The careers of some 1930s writers continued after World War Two, including those of Gwyn Thomas, Vernon Watkins, and Dylan Thomas, whose most famous work Under Milk Wood was first broadcast in 1954. Thomas was one of the most notable and popular Welsh writers of the 20th century and one of the most innovative poets of his time.<ref>Davies (2008) p. 861</ref> The attitude of the post-war generation of Welsh writers in English towards Wales differs from the previous generation, with greater sympathy for Welsh nationalism and the Welsh language. The change is linked to the nationalism of Saunders Lewis and the burning of the Bombing School on the Llŷn Peninsula in 1936.<ref>The Pocket Guide, p. 122.</ref> In poetry R. S. Thomas (1913–2000) was the most important figure throughout the second half of the 20th century. He "did not learn the Welsh language until he was 30 and wrote all his poems in English".<ref>Los Angeles Times, "Obituary", 27 September 2000</ref> Major writers in the second half of the 20th century include Emyr Humphreys (1919–2020), who during his long writing career published over twenty novels,<ref>Emyr Humphreys: Conversations and Reflections, ed. M. Wynn Thomas. University of Wales Press: Cardiff, 2002, p. 8.</ref> and Raymond Williams (1921–1988).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Museums and libraries

File:National Library of Wales.jpg

The National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth

Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales was founded by royal charter in 1907 as the National Museum of Wales. It operates at seven sites: National Museum Cardiff, St Fagans National History Museum, Big Pit National Coal Museum, National Wool Museum, National Slate Museum, National Roman Legion Museum, and the National Waterfront Museum. Entry to all sites is free.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The National Library of Wales, based in Aberystwyth, houses important collections of printed works, including the Sir John Williams Collection and the Shirburn Castle collection,<ref name="Davies594">Davies (2008) p. 594</ref> as well as art collections including portraits and photographs, ephemera and Ordnance Survey maps.<ref name="Davies594" />

Visual arts

Template:Main Template:See also Works of Celtic art have been found in Wales.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In the Early Medieval period, the Celtic Christianity of Wales was part of the Insular art of the British Isles. A number of illuminated manuscripts from Wales survive, including the 8th-century Hereford Gospels and Lichfield Gospels. The 11th-century Ricemarch Psalter (now in Dublin) is certainly Welsh, made in St David's, and shows a late Insular style with unusual Viking influence.<ref>Template:Cite book; Template:Cite book</ref>

Some Welsh artists of the 16th–18th centuries tended to leave the country to work, moving to London or Italy. Richard Wilson (1714–1782) is arguably the first major British landscapist; although more notable for his Italian scenes, he painted several Welsh scenes on visits from London. By the late 18th century, the popularity of landscape art grew and clients were found in the larger Welsh towns, allowing more Welsh artists to stay in their homeland. Artists from outside Wales were also drawn to paint Welsh scenery, at first because of the Celtic Revival.<ref>Template:Cite web; Template:Cite web</ref>

File:The Bard (1774).jpeg

The Bard, 1774, by Thomas Jones (1742–1803).

An Act of Parliament in 1857 provided for the establishment of a number of art schools throughout the United Kingdom, and the Cardiff School of Art opened in 1865. Graduates still very often had to leave Wales to work, but Betws-y-Coed became a popular centre for artists, and its artists' colony helped to form the Royal Cambrian Academy of Art in 1881.<ref>Template:Cite web; Template:Cite news</ref> The sculptor Sir William Goscombe John made works for Welsh commissions, although he had settled in London. Christopher Williams, whose subjects were mostly resolutely Welsh, was also based in London. Thomas E. Stephens<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Andrew Vicari had very successful careers as portraitists, based respectively in the United States and France.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Welsh painters gravitated towards the art capitals of Europe. Augustus John and his sister Gwen John lived mostly in London and Paris. However, the landscapists Sir Kyffin Williams and Peter Prendergast lived in Wales for most of their lives, while remaining in touch with the wider art world. Ceri Richards was very engaged in the Welsh art scene as a teacher in Cardiff and even after moving to London; he was a figurative painter in international styles including Surrealism. Various artists have moved to Wales, including Eric Gill, the London-Welshman David Jones, and the sculptor Jonah Jones. The Kardomah Gang was an intellectual circle in Swansea, centred on the poet Dylan Thomas and the poet and artist Vernon Watkins, which also included the painter Alfred Janes.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

South Wales had several notable potteries, one of the first important sites being the Ewenny Pottery in Bridgend, which began producing earthenware in the 17th century.<ref name="Davies701">Davies (2008) pp. 701–702</ref> In the 18th and 19th centuries, with more scientific methods becoming available, more refined ceramics were produced: this was led by the Cambrian Pottery (1764–1870, also known as "Swansea pottery"), and later Nantgarw Pottery near Cardiff, which was in operation from 1813 to 1820 making fine porcelain, and then utilitarian pottery from 1833 until 1920.<ref name="Davies701" /> Portmeirion Pottery, founded in 1960 by Susan Williams-Ellis (daughter of Clough Williams-Ellis, creator of the Italianate village of Portmeirion, Gwynedd) is based in Stoke-on-Trent, England.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

National symbols and identity

File:Welsh Dragon (Y Ddraig Goch).svg

The red dragon, a popular symbol in Wales.

Wales is regarded as a modern Celtic nation which contributes to its national identity,<ref name=":4">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="kochnation">Template:Cite book</ref> with Welsh artists regularly appearing at Celtic festivals.<ref>Template:Cite web; Template:Cite web</ref> The red dragon is the principal symbol of national identity and pride, personifying the fearlessness of the Welsh nation.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite web</ref> The dragon is first referenced in literature as a symbol of the people in the Historia Brittonum. Vortigern (Template:Langx), King of the Celtic Britons, is interrupted while attempting to build a fort at Dinas Emrys. He is told by AmbrosiusTemplate:Efn to dig up two dragons beneath the castle. He discovers a red dragon representing the Celtic Britons, and a white dragon representing Anglo-Saxons. Ambrosius prophesies that the Celtic Britons will reclaim the island and push the Anglo-Saxons back to the sea.<ref name="HistoriaBrittonum">Historia Brittonum by Nennius (translated by J. A. Giles)</ref>

As an emblem, the red dragon of Wales has been used since the reign of Cadwaladr, King of Gwynedd from around 655 AD, and appears prominently on the national flag of Wales, which became an official flag in 1959.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The banner of Owain Glyndŵr is associated with Welsh nationhood; it was carried into battle by Welsh forces during Glyndŵr's battles against the English, and includes four lions on red and gold.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The standard is similar to the arms of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (Llywelyn the Last), the last Prince of Wales before the conquest of Wales by Edward I of England. The design may also be influenced by the arms of Glyndŵr's parents, both of whom had lions in their arms. Owain Glyndŵr Day is celebrated on 16 September in Wales and there have been calls to make it a national bank holiday.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":13">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Prince of Wales's feathers is also used in Wales: it consists of three white feathers emerging from a gold coronet, and the German motto Ich dien (I serve). Several Welsh representative teams, including the Welsh rugby union, and Welsh regiments in the British Army, including the Royal Welsh, use the badge or a stylised version of it.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Efn

On 1 March, Welsh people celebrate Saint David's Day, commemorating the death of the country's patron saint in 589.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It is not a recognised bank holiday although there have been calls to make it so.<ref name=":8">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":52">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":6">Template:Cite web</ref> The day is celebrated by schools and cultural societies across Wales, and customs include the wearing of a leek or a daffodil, which are two national emblems of Wales. Children also wear the national costume.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The origins of the leek can be traced to the 16th century, while the daffodil became popular in the 19th century, encouraged by David Lloyd George.<ref name="Davies189">Davies (2008) p. 189</ref> This is attributed to confusion (or association) between the Welsh for leeks, Template:Lang, and that for daffodils, Template:Lang or St. Peter's leeks.<ref name="ONS Cymru" /> A report in 1916 gave preference to the leek, which has appeared on British pound coins.<ref name="Davies189" /> Other Welsh festivals include Mabsant when parishes would celebrate the patron saint of their local church, although this is now rarely observed,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and a more modern celebration, Dydd Santes Dwynwen (St Dwynwen's Day), observed on 25 January in a similar way to St Valentine's Day.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

"Template:Lang" (Template:Langx) is the de facto, national anthem of Wales and is played at events such as football or rugby matches involving the Wales national team, as well as the opening of the Senedd and other official occasions.<ref>Template:Cite web; Template:Cite news</ref> "Template:Lang" ("Wales forever") is a popular Welsh motto.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Another Welsh motto "Y Ddraig Goch Ddyry Cychwyn" ("the red dragon inspires action") has been used on the Royal Badge of Wales when it was created in 1953.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Sport

File:Millennium Stadium (aerial view).jpg

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

More than 50 national governing bodies regulate and organise their sports in Wales.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Most of those involved in competitive sports select, organise and manage individuals or teams to represent their country at international events or fixtures against other countries. Wales is represented at major world sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup, Rugby World Cup, Rugby League World Cup and the Commonwealth Games. At the Olympic Games, Welsh athletes compete alongside those of Scotland, England and Northern Ireland as part of a Great Britain team. Wales has hosted several international sporting events.<ref name="walessportsevents">Template:Cite news</ref> These include the 1958 Commonwealth Games,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the 1999 Rugby World Cup, the 2010 Ryder Cup and the 2017 UEFA Champions League Final.<ref name=walessportsevents/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Although football has traditionally been the more popular sport in North Wales, rugby union is seen as a symbol of Welsh identity and an expression of national consciousness.<ref>Davies (2008) p. 782</ref> The Wales national rugby union team takes part in the annual Six Nations Championship and has also competed in every Rugby World Cup, hosting the tournament in 1999. The five professional sides that replaced the traditional club sides in major competitions in 2003 were replaced in 2004 by the four regions: Cardiff Blues, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The Welsh regional teams play in the United Rugby Championship,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the Heineken Champions Cup if they qualify<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the European Rugby Challenge Cup, again dependent on qualification.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Rugby league in Wales dates back to 1907. A professional Welsh League existed from 1908 to 1910.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Wales has had its own football league, the Welsh Premier League, since 1992.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> For historical reasons, five Welsh clubs play in the English football league system: Cardiff City, Swansea City, Newport County, Wrexham, and Merthyr Town.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The country has produced a considerable number of footballers who have played at international level.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> At UEFA Euro 2016, the Wales national team achieved their best ever finish, reaching the semi-finals.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In international cricket, Wales and England field a single representative team, administered by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), called the England cricket team, or simply 'England'.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Occasionally, a separate Wales team play limited-overs competitions. Glamorgan County Cricket Club is the only Welsh participant in the England and Wales County Championship.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Wales has produced notable participants of individual sports including snooker,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> track and field,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> cycling,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and boxing.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Media

File:Filming "Torchwood" in Cardiff (2).jpg

A number of BBC productions, such as Doctor Who and Torchwood, have been filmed in Wales.

Wales became the UK's first digital television nation in 2010.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> BBC Cymru Wales is the national broadcaster,<ref name="BBC amdanyn nhw">Template:Cite web</ref> producing both television and radio programmes in Welsh and English.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It has also produced programmes such as Life on Mars, Doctor Who and Torchwood for BBC's network audience across the United Kingdom.<ref name="BBC amdanyn nhw" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> ITV, the UK's main commercial broadcaster, has a Welsh-orientated service branded ITV Cymru Wales.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> S4C began broadcasting in 1982. Its output was mostly in Welsh at peak hours, but shared English-language content with Channel 4 at other times. Since the digital switchover the channel has broadcast exclusively in Welsh.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> BBC Radio Cymru is the BBC's Welsh-language radio service, which broadcasts throughout Wales.<ref name="BBC amdanyn nhw" /> A number of independent radio stations broadcast in the Welsh regions, predominantly in English. In 2006, several regional radio stations broadcast in Welsh: output ranged from two two-minute news bulletins each weekday (Radio Maldwyn) to over 14 hours of Welsh-language programmes weekly (Swansea Sound) to essentially bilingual stations such as Heart Cymru and Radio Ceredigion.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Most of the newspapers sold and read in Wales are national newspapers available throughout Britain. The Western Mail is Wales's only print national daily newspaper.<ref name="BBC papurau">Template:Cite news</ref> Wales-based regional daily newspapers include the Daily Post (which covers North Wales), the South Wales Evening Post (Swansea), the South Wales Echo (Cardiff), and the South Wales Argus (Newport).<ref name="BBC papurau" /> Y Cymro is a Welsh-language newspaper, published weekly.<ref name="Mercator">Template:Cite web</ref> Wales on Sunday is the only Welsh Sunday newspaper that covers the whole of Wales.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Books Council of Wales is the Welsh-Government-funded body tasked with promoting Welsh literature in Welsh and English.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The BCW provides publishing grants for qualifying English- and Welsh-language publications.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Around 650 books are published each year, by some of the dozens of Welsh publishers.<ref name="Llyfrau">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Wales's main publishing houses include Gomer Press, Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, Honno, the University of Wales Press and Y Lolfa.<ref name="Llyfrau"/> Journals with a Welsh focus include Cambria (a Welsh affairs magazine published bi-monthly in English),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Planet, and Poetry Wales.<ref>Template:Cite web; Template:Cite web</ref> Welsh-language magazines include the current affairs titles Golwg ("View"), published weekly, and Barn ("Opinion"), published monthly.<ref name="Mercator" /> Y Wawr ("The Dawn") is published quarterly by Merched y Wawr, the national organisation for women.<ref name="Mercator" /> Y Traethodydd ("The Essayist"), a quarterly publication by the Presbyterian Church of Wales, first appeared in 1845 and is the oldest Welsh publication still in print.<ref name="Mercator" />

Cuisine

File:Cawl Cymreig.jpg

Cawl, a traditional meat and vegetable dish from Wales.

Traditional Welsh dishes include laverbread (made from Porphyra umbilicalis, an edible seaweed), bara brith (fruit bread), cawl (a lamb stew), cawl cennin (leek soup), and Welsh cakes.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Cockles are sometimes served as a traditional breakfast with bacon and laverbread.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Although Wales has its own traditional food and has absorbed much of the cuisine of England, Welsh diets now owe more to the countries of India, China and the United States. Chicken tikka masala is the country's favourite dish, while hamburgers and Chinese food outsell fish and chips as takeaways.<ref name="Davies293">Davies (2008) p.293</ref>

Performing arts

Music and festivals

File:Sir Tom Jones at The Queen's Birthday Party (cropped-2).jpg

Singer Tom Jones

Wales, "the land of song", is notable for its solo artists, its male voice choirs and its harpists.<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> The annual National Eisteddfod is the country's main performance festival. The Llangollen International Eisteddfod provides an opportunity for the singers and musicians of the world to perform. The Welsh Folk Song Society publishes collections of historical songs and tunes.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Traditional instruments of Wales include the telyn deires (triple harp), fiddle, crwth (bowed lyre) and the pibgorn (hornpipe).<ref>Davies (2008) pp. 179, 281, 353, 677</ref> Male voice choirs emerged in the 19th century, formed as the tenor and bass sections of chapel choirs, and embraced the popular secular hymns of the day.<ref name="Davies532">Davies (2008), p. 532.</ref> Welsh congregations and choirs were known for singing in a rousing four-voice style, becoming characteristic of the country.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Many of the historic choirs survive in modern Wales, singing a mixture of traditional and popular songs.<ref name="Davies532" />

The BBC National Orchestra of Wales performs in Wales and internationally. The Welsh National Opera is based at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay, while the National Youth Orchestra of Wales was the first of its type in the world.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Wales has a tradition of producing notable singers in both the classical and pop arenas,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> as well as some popular bands.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Welsh folk music scene has enjoyed a resurgence in the 21st century.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Drama

File:Catherine Zeta-Jones VF 2012 Shankbone 2.jpg

Catherine Zeta-Jones, born in Swansea

The earliest surviving Welsh plays are two medieval miracle plays, Y Tri Brenin o Gwlen ("The three Kings from Cologne") and Y Dioddefaint a'r Atgyfodiad ("The Passion and the Resurrection").<ref>Davies (2008) p. 222</ref> A recognised Welsh tradition of theatre emerged during the 18th century, in the form of an interlude, a metrical play performed at fairs and markets.<ref>Davies (2008) p. 223</ref> Drama in the early 20th century thrived, but the country established neither a Welsh National Theatre nor a national ballet company.<ref name="Davies192" /> After the Second World War, the substantial number of amateur theatre companies reduced by two-thirds.<ref name="Davies224">Davies (2008) p. 224</ref> Competition from television in the mid-20th century led to greater professionalism in the theatre.<ref name="Davies224" /> Plays by Emlyn Williams and Alun Owen and others were staged, while Welsh actors, including Richard Burton and Anthony Hopkins, were establishing international reputations.<ref name="Davies224" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Wales has also produced some well-known comedians.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Dance

File:Traditional Welsh dance and dress, Senedd, St David's Day 2009 Gwisgoedd a dawnsio traddodiadol Gymreig, Senedd, Dydd Gŵyl Dewi 2009 (3678719264).jpg

Welsh dancer at the Senedd building

Traditional dances include Welsh folk dancing and clog dancing. The first mention of dancing in Wales is in a 12th-century account by Giraldus Cambrensis, but by the 19th century traditional dance had all but died out due to religious opposition.<ref name="Davies192">Davies (2008) p. 192</ref> In the 20th century a revival was led by Lois Blake (1890–1974).<ref name="Davies192" /> Clog dancing was preserved and developed by Hywel Wood (1882–1967) and others who perpetuated the art on local and national stages.<ref name="Davies193">Davies (2008) p. 193</ref> The Welsh Folk Dance Society was founded in 1949.<ref name="Davies193" /> Contemporary dance grew out of Cardiff in the 1970s.<ref name="Davies193" /> The National Dance Company Wales, formed in 1983, is now resident at the Wales Millennium Centre.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• List of movements in Wales
• Outline of Wales

References

Citations Template:Reflist

Sources

• Census 2001, 200 Years of the Census in ... Wales (2001)
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book

External links

• Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament
• BBC Wales
• Template:Osmrelation
• VisitWales.com. The official international guide to places to stay and things to do in Wales.
• Gathering the Jewels – Welsh Heritage and Culture
• Photographs of Wales on Geograph Britain and Ireland
• Further historical information and sources at GENUKI