Editing Powys (section)

== Geography ==
{{further|List of places in Powys}}
Powys covers the historic counties of [[Montgomeryshire]] and [[Radnorshire]], most of [[Brecknockshire]], and part of [[Denbighshire (historic)|historic Denbighshire]]. With an area of about {{convert|2000|sqmi|km2}}, it is now the largest administrative area in Wales by land and area ([[Dyfed]] was until 1996 before several [[Preserved counties of Wales|former counties]] created by the [[Local Government Act 1972]] were abolished). It is bounded to the north by [[Gwynedd]], [[Denbighshire]] and [[Wrexham County Borough]]; to the west by [[Ceredigion]] and [[Carmarthenshire]]; to the east by [[Shropshire]] and [[Herefordshire]]; and to the south by [[Rhondda Cynon Taf]], [[Merthyr Tydfil County Borough]], [[Caerphilly County Borough]], [[Blaenau Gwent]], [[Monmouthshire]] and [[Neath Port Talbot]].

The largest towns are [[Newtown, Powys|Newtown]], [[Ystradgynlais]], [[Brecon]], [[Welshpool]], [[Llandrindod Wells]] and [[Knighton, Powys|Knighton]]. Powys has the lowest [[population density]] of all the principal areas of Wales. Most of Powys is mountainous, and most roads and railways are relatively slow.

Just under a third of the residents have Welsh linguistic skills: Welsh speakers are concentrated mainly in the rural areas both in and around [[Machynlleth]], [[Llanfyllin]] and [[Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant]] (where [[William Morgan (Bible translator)|William Morgan]] first translated the whole Bible into Welsh in 1588) in Montgomeryshire, and the industrial area of Ystradgynlais in the southwest of Brecknockshire. In Radnorshire, the language survived into the 20th century west of Rhayader with a few native speakers from Nantmel parish surviving into the 20th century too. The [[2021 United Kingdom census|2021 census]] recorded that 16.4% of the population were able to speak the Welsh language, a decline from 18.6% in [[2011 United Kingdom census|2011]] and 21% in [[2001 United Kingdom census|2001]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=How life has changed in Powys: Census 2021 |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/censusareachanges/W06000023/|access-date=2023-06-03 |website= |language=en}}</ref><ref>[[Welsh Language Board]], (disbanded 2012), [https://www.webarchive.org.uk/wayback/archive/20120330013353/http://www.byig-wlb.org.uk/english/publications/pages/publicationitem.aspx?puburl=%2fenglish%2fpublications%2fpublications%2f332.doc Archived version of the statistics page, 30 March 2012]</ref>