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Area | Capital
| Climate | Culture
| Currency | Government
| Highest Mountain | International
Code | Internet Domain | Life
Expectancy | National Emblems | National
Sport | Neighbouring Countries | Neighbouring
Seas and Oceans | Newspapers | Official
Languages | Patron Saint
| Population | Radio
| Religion | Television
| Topography | Other
Amazing Facts
Area:
20,764 sq km (just over 8,000 sq miles)
Wales measures 160 miles long by 60 miles wide, the greater part
being 600ft above sea level (our holiday cottages are 492 feet above
sea level). It is over six times smaller than England and over three
times smaller than Scotland or Ireland. However, Wales is very mountainous
and Welsh people like to think that if someone was to iron the countryside
with a gigantic iron, Wales would end up bigger than most other
countries! Despite its relatively small size, the phrase "an
area the size of Wales" is frequently to be found in newspapers
and on TV & radio news bulletins as a means of demonstrating
the sheer scale of an issue. There is even a "Wales-o-meter"
on the internet which tells you how big something is compared to
the size of Wales - a useful tool that can be used to impress your
colleagues and amaze the general public.
Capital:
Cardiff has been the capital of Wales since 1955 and styles itself
as Europe's youngest capital. It's population is around 320,000.
For more information on the Welsh capital, link to our Cardiff
Tourism Guide.
Climate:
Wales has a temperate climate. This means that there are few extremes.
The summer months (June,
July and August) are generally the sunniest and driest months. During
the winter (December,
January and February) temperatures rarely drop below zero. They're
normally between five and seven degrees. A coat and a good jumper
is usually all that's required when the weather is a bit 'iffy'.
For more information see our Guide
to the Weather in Wales.
Culture:
Welsh culture and tradition is celebrated at a festival called the
Eisteddfod which is one of the oldest and largest cultural festivals
in Europe. It is a competitive festival seeking to embrace all aspects
of Welsh Culture, much of which lies rooted in Celtic history. Even
before the Celts had written language (which they acquired in the
sixth century) they exhibited a passion for rhetoric, story telling
and music. A good description by the Wales Tourist Board appears
on the excellent data-wales.co.uk website
"....The present form of
the eisteddfod is a nineteenth century creation. Wales at that time
was a country where the national language and culture lacked patronage
because the property owning gentry had become Anglicised. The medieval
meeting of the bards called an eisteddfod was revived as a means
of attracting patronage for Welsh cultural activity. At first competitions
were confined to poetry composition and harp playing but today choir
singing, bands, acting, recitation, fiction writing, painting and
much more is judged at an eisteddfod."
"There are two important annual eisteddfodau
in Wales. The first is the National Eisteddfod which is held in
North and South Wales in alternate years at the beginning of August.
The ceremonies of this Eisteddfod are carried out by the Gorsedd
of Bards which is an association of people interested in Welsh literature
and music. The International Eisteddfod takes place in Llangollen
where dancers, singers and choirs from every part of the world converge
to take part in this global festival of music. The Llangollen Eisteddfod
usually takes place in July."
Currency:
1 Pound Sterling (£ or GBP) = 1 Pence
It was decided that from 1984, British £1 coins would feature
different reverse designs for each of the four parts of the United
Kingdom. All £1 coins dated 1985 feature on the reverse the
Welsh Leek.
Government:
Constitutional monarchy
The Act of Union in 1536 "incorporated, united and annexed"
Wales to England and meant that English law and government ruled
in Wales. Almost 500 years later and Wales is still governed from
London. However, in 1997 a referendum on limited devolution was
held in Wales which resulted in the establishment of a Welsh Assembly
in Cardiff. This means that the people of Wales now have greater
control over their own affairs. Elections to this new institutions
were held in May 1999. The Welsh Assembly has 60 members, directly
elected every four years. It has many responsibilities, including
the ability to amend laws passed by Parliament which affect Welsh
areas.
Highest
Mountain: Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) 3,650ft / 1,085m
The Welsh name from Snowdon is Yr Wyddfa which means burial place
and a legend suggests that the cairn at the top marks the grave
of Rhita Fawr a particularly fierce giant who had a cloak made out
of the beards of all the kings he'd killed. Snowdon is the highest
mountain in England and Wales.
International Code:
+44
Internet domain:
.co.uk
Life
Expectancy: 76 years (men), 81 years (women) (UN)
National
Emblems: Dragon, Daffodil, Leek
The national flag of Wales is The Red Dragon (Welsh: Y Ddraig Goch).
It consists of a red dragon, passant, on a green and white field.
The red dragon has been associated with Wales for centuries; indeed,
the flag is sometimes claimed to be the oldest national flag still
in use, though the origin of the adoption of the dragon symbol is
now lost in history and myth. The Welsh Flag is the only flag of
the constituent countries of the UK not to be used in the Union
Jack.
The daffodil and the leek are also famous emblems
of Wales. The leek had been recognised as the emblem of Wales since
the middle of the 16th century. Its association with Wales can in
fact be traced back to the battle of Heathfield in 633 AD, when
St. David persuaded his countrymen to distinguish themselves from
their Saxon foes by wearing a leek in their caps. Nowadays, the
leek is worn on March 1 (St. David's Day—the Welsh national
holiday) and at international rugby matches. The daffodil is also
a Welsh national emblem because its Welsh name is translated as
a type of leek.
National Sport:
Rugby Union
The main sports in Wales are rugby union, football and cricket.
The Welsh are obsessed with rugby and the biggest game of the year
is when Wales take on England in the Six Nations Championship which
also includes Scotland, Ireland, France and Italy. For it's size,
Wales has a remarkable record in this competition, winning the competition
outright over twenty times. The governing body is the Welsh
Rugby Union.
Most of the Welsh football team play in England's
Premier League. Wales have qualified for the World Cup only once
(1958 in Sweden) and the most famous Welsh player of all time is
John Charles, thought by many to be one of the greatest players
of all time along with the likes of Pele, Cruyff and di Stefano.
The governing body is the Football
Association of Wales.
Welsh cricketers play for the England and Wales
cricket team (often shortened to just England). The governing body
is the England and
Wales Cricket Board.
Neighbouring
Countries: England
Neighbouring Seas and Oceans:
Atlantic, Irish Sea
Wales's coastline is almost 750 miles long (1,200 Km).
Newspapers:
Western Mail, Wales on Sunday
Official
Languages: Welsh, English
English is the main day-to day language of the majority of people
in Wales. However, around a fifth of the population are also Welsh
speakers (The 2001 census gives a figure of 20.5% up from 18.5%
in 1991).
Patron
Saint
Wales's patron saint is Dewi Sant, St. David. He was a monk who
lived on bread, water, herbs and leeks and died on 1 March 589 and
was buried in what is today St. David's Cathedral, the oldest cathedral
settlement in Britain.
Per
capita GNP: £10,071 (1998)
Over 60% of the population live in an area where the GDP
is below 75% of the average for the European Union. The GDP for
Wales as a region is 20% below the UK average. Average
earnings lag the UK average by about 10%.
Population:
2,952,500
This is just under 5% of the population of the United Kingdom. Almost
two thirds of the population of Wales is concentrated in the south-east
and north-east urban/industrial parts of Wales which account for
just one sixth of the total land area.
Radio:
BBC Radio Wales/Cymru
The national radio station for Wales is BBC Radio Wales (882AM or
93.9FM) which broadcasts news and information, current affairs,
farming and talk programmes. Its Welsh language equivalent is BBC
Radio Cymru (96.8FM). There are also local stations e.g. The City
of Swansea has Swansea Sound (1170AM) which plays classic hits of
the eighties and nineties and The Wave (96.4FM which plays contemporary
hits).
Religion:
The 2001 census states that Wales is 72%
Christian, 18% have no religion, 8% did not state a religion on
the form and the remaining 2% are other religions.
Television:
BBC Wales, ITV1 Wales, S4C
BBC Wales (BBC Cymru in Welsh) is the regional branch of the British
Broadcasting Corporation for Wales. Based at Broadcasting House
in Cardiff. ITV1 Wales was created in the 1950s as a commercial
competitor to the publicly funded BBC. S4C (Sianel Pedwar Cymru
- 'Channel Four Wales') is a Welsh-language television channel which
was established in response to demands for a channel to cater for
the Welsh-speaking population in Wales.
Topography:
Wales has extensive tracts of high plateau with mountain ranges
deeply dissected by river valleys radiating from the centre of the
upland area. The lowland area is confined mainly to the relatively
narrow coastal belts and the valley floors.
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