Editing Wales (section)

===Population history===
{{historical populations
| title = Population of Wales
| 1536
| 278,000
| 1620
| 360,000
| 1770
| 500,000
| 1801
| 587,000
| 1851
| 1,163,000
| 1911
| 2,421,000
| 1921
| 2,656,000
| 1939
| 2,487,000
| 1961
| 2,644,000
| 1991
| 2,811,865
| 2001
| 2,910,200
| 2011
|3,063,456
| 2021
| 3,107,500
| footnote = Estimated (pre-1801);<br/>census (post-1801)<ref>{{cite book |first=John |last=Davies |title=A History of Wales|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ogTq2KRuu9IC&pg=PT257 258–259, 319] |date=1993 |publisher=Penguin UK |isbn=978-0-14-192633-9}}; {{Cite web |title=200 Years of the Census in ... Wales: Census 2001 |url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/bicentenary/pdfs/wales.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090319202324/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/bicentenary/pdfs/wales.pdf |archive-date=19 March 2009}}</ref><br/> 2001 census<ref>{{Cite web |title=Census 2001: Population by area, ethnicity and gender |url=https://statswales.gov.wales/Catalogue/Equality-and-Diversity/Ethnicity/Census-2001/Population-by-Area-Ethnicity-Gender |access-date=28 June 2022 |website=statswales.gov.wales |archive-date=25 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220925114446/https://statswales.gov.wales/Catalogue/Equality-and-Diversity/Ethnicity/Census-2001/Population-by-Area-Ethnicity-Gender |url-status=dead }}</ref><br/>2021 census<ref name="2021 census">{{Cite web |date=28 June 2022 |title=Population and household estimates, Wales: Census 2021 – Office for National Statistics |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/bulletins/populationandhouseholdestimateswales/census2021 |access-date=28 June 2022 |website=www.ons.gov.uk}}</ref>
}}
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 in Wales|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>{{Cite web |title=Industrial Revolution |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/storyofwelsh/content/industrialrevolution.shtml |access-date=17 October 2009 |publisher=BBC}}; {{cite web|author=LSJ Services [Wales] Ltd |url=http://www.therhondda.co.uk/living/population.html |title=Population ''therhondda.co.uk''. Retrieved 9 May 2006 |publisher=Therhondda.co.uk |access-date=17 October 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080520075715/http://www.therhondda.co.uk/living/population.html |archive-date = 20 May 2008}}</ref> including [[Welsh Italians|Italians]], who migrated to South Wales.<ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC Wales&nbsp;– History&nbsp;– Themes&nbsp;– Italian immigration |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/themes/society/migration_italian.shtml |access-date=17 October 2009 |publisher=BBC}}</ref> Wales also received immigration from various parts of the British [[Commonwealth of Nations]] in the 20th century, and [[Black British people|African-Caribbean]] and [[British Asian|Asian]] communities add to the ethnocultural mix, particularly in urban Wales. Many of these self-identify as Welsh.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Socialist Unity &#124; Debate & analysis for activists & trade unionists |url=http://www.socialistunity.com/?p=1587 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111018050201/http://www.socialistunity.com/?p=1587 |archive-date=18 October 2011 |access-date=10 October 2016}}</ref>

The population in 1972 stood at 2.74&nbsp;million and remained broadly static for the rest of the decade. However, in the early 1980s, the population fell due to net [[Human migration|migration]] out of Wales. Since the 1980s, net migration has generally been inward, and has contributed more to [[population growth]] than [[Sub-replacement fertility|natural change]].<ref name="Overview">{{Cite web |title=Wales's Population: A Demographic Overview 1971–2005 |url=http://new.wales.gov.uk/docrepos/40382/40382313/statistics/population/pop-2007/wales-pop2005/wales-pop2005-e1.pdf?lang=en |access-date=29 August 2017 |website=New.wales.gov.uk}}{{dead link|date=November 2023|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> The resident population of Wales in 2021 according to the [[2021 United Kingdom census|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">{{Cite web |year=2012 |title=2011 Census: Population Estimates for the United Kingdom, 27 March 2011 |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_292378.pdf |access-date=19 December 2012 |publisher=Office for National Statistics}}</ref> Wales accounted for 5.2 per cent of the [[Demographics of the United Kingdom|population of England and Wales]] in 2021. [[List of cities in Wales|Wales has seven cities]]: Cardiff, Newport, Swansea, Wrexham, [[Bangor, Gwynedd|Bangor]], [[St Asaph]] and [[St Davids]]. (The last two of these have [[city status in the United Kingdom]] despite their small populations.)<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 June 2019 |title=This is Wales: Cities in Wales |url=https://www.wales.com/about/location-climate/welsh-cities |access-date=4 May 2020}}</ref> Wrexham, north Wales's largest settlement, became Wales's newest and seventh city in September [[Platinum Jubilee Civic Honours|2022]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Record number of city status winners announced to celebrate Platinum Jubilee |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/record-number-of-city-status-winners-announced-to-celebrate-platinum-jubilee |access-date=28 June 2022 |website=GOV.UK }}; {{cite web |date=5 September 2022 |title=Crown Office {{!}} The Gazette |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/4154400 |access-date=5 September 2022 |website=www.thegazette.co.uk |publisher=[[The London Gazette]] |quote=THE QUEEN has been pleased by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm dated 1 September 2022 to ordain that the County Borough of Wrexham shall have the status of a City.}}</ref>

{{Largest cities
| nonav = y
| country     = Wales
| stat_ref    = [[Office for National Statistics]] 2011 Census<ref>{{United Kingdom district population citation}}</ref>
| list_by_pop = List of towns and cities in Wales by population
| div_name    = Council area
| div_link    =
| city_1 = Cardiff | div_1 = Cardiff Council{{!}}City & County of Cardiff | pop_1 = 335,145 | img_1 = Cardiff Castle and Millennium Stadium.jpg
| city_2 = Swansea | div_2 = City and County of Swansea Council{{!}}City & County of Swansea | pop_2 = 239,000 | img_2 = Meridian Tower Swansea Skyline.jpg
| city_3 = Newport, Wales{{!}}Newport | div_3 = Newport City Council{{!}}Newport City | pop_3 = 128,060 | img_3 = Newportciviccentre.jpg
| city_4 = Wrexham | div_4 = Wrexham County Borough | pop_4 = 61,603 | img_4 = Wrexham - geograph.org.uk - 163421.jpg
| city_5 = Barry, Wales{{!}}Barry | div_5 = Vale of Glamorgan | pop_5 = 54,673
| city_6 = Neath | div_6 = Neath Port Talbot | pop_6 = 50,658
| city_7 = Cwmbran | div_7 = Torfaen | pop_7 = 46,915
| city_8 = Bridgend | div_8 = Bridgend County Borough| pop_8 = 46,757
| city_9 = Llanelli | div_9 = Carmarthenshire | pop_9 = 43,878
| city_10 = Merthyr Tydfil | div_10 = Merthyr Tydfil | pop_10 = 43,820
| city_11 = Caerphilly | div_11 = Caerphilly County Borough | pop_11 = 41,402
| city_12 = Port Talbot | div_12 = Neath Port Talbot | pop_12 = 37,276
| city_13 = Pontypridd | div_13 = Rhondda Cynon Taf | pop_13 = 30,457
| city_14 = Aberdare | div_14 = Rhondda Cynon Taf | pop_14 = 29,748
| city_15 = Colwyn Bay| div_15 = Conwy County Borough | pop_15 = 29,405
| city_16 = Pontypool| div_16 = Torfaen | pop_16 = 28,334
| city_17 = Penarth| div_17 = Vale of Glamorgan | pop_17 = 27,226
| city_18 = Rhyl| div_18 = Denbighshire | pop_18 = 25,149
| city_19 = Blackwood, Wales{{!}}Blackwood| div_19 = Caerphilly County Borough | pop_19 = 24,042
| city_20 = Maesteg | div_20 = Bridgend County Borough | pop_20 = 18,888
}}