Editing Wales (section)

===Language===
{{Main|Languages of Wales}}
{{see also|Welsh language|Welsh-speaking population}}[[File:Welsh speakers in the 2011 census.png|thumb|The proportion of respondents in the 2011 census who said they could speak Welsh|217x217px]]Welsh is an official language in Wales as legislated by the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011.<ref>{{cite web |title=Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 |url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/mwa/2011/1/contents |access-date= |work=[[legislation.gov.uk]] |publisher=[[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]] |quote=The Welsh language has official status in Wales. }}</ref> Both Welsh and English are also official languages of the Senedd.<ref>{{cite web |title=Official Languages Scheme |url=https://senedd.wales/NAfW%20Documents/About%20the%20Assembly%20section%20documents/ols/ols-en.pdf |website=Senedd.Wales}}</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">{{Cite web|url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/|title=Home - Office for National Statistics|website=www.ons.gov.uk}}</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>{{Cite web |title=Welsh Government {{!}} 2011 Census: First Results on the Welsh Language |url=http://wales.gov.uk/topics/statistics/headlines/population2012/121211/?lang=en |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131007223211/http://wales.gov.uk/topics/statistics/headlines/population2012/121211/?lang=en |archive-date=7 October 2013}}</ref>

According to the [[2021 United Kingdom census|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>{{cite web |title=Welsh language in Wales (Census 2021) |url=https://gov.wales/welsh-language-wales-census-2021-html |access-date=6 December 2022 |website=GOV.WALES |date=6 December 2022 }}</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">{{cite web |title=Welsh language data from the Annual Population Survey: July 2021 to June 2022 |url=https://gov.wales/welsh-language-data-annual-population-survey-july-2021-june-2022 |access-date=28 October 2022 |website=GOV.WALES |date=25 October 2022 }}</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> "[[Welsh English|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; {{Cite news |last=Hill |first=Claire |date=2 October 2006 |title=Why butty rarely leaves Wales |work=[[WalesOnline]] website |publisher=[[Media Wales|Media Wales Ltd]] |url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/tm_objectid=17853095&method=full&siteid=50082&headline=why-butty-rarely-leaves-wales-name_page.html |access-date=15 November 2010}}</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 [[Monolingualism|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 language|Polish]] the most common main language in Wales after English and Welsh, at 0.7 per cent of the population.<ref>{{cite web |title=What do the 2021 Census results tell us so far? |url=https://research.senedd.wales/research-articles/what-do-the-2021-census-results-tell-us-so-far/ |access-date=1 January 2023 |website=research.senedd.wales }}</ref>