Wales, part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, united politically, legally, and administratively with England and occupying a broad peninsula on the western side of the island of Great Britain. Wales also includes the island of Anglesey, which is separated from the mainland by the narrow Menai Strait. Wales is bounded on the north by the Irish Sea; on the east by the English counties of Cheshire, Shropshire, Hereford and Worcester, and Gloucester; on the south by Bristol Channel; and on the west by Saint George’s Channel and Cardigan Bay. The maximum north-south extent of the Welsh mainland is about 220 km (about 137 mi); in an east-west direction the distance varies between 60 and 155 km.
England - 47 boroughs, 36 counties*, 29 London boroughs**, 12 cities and boroughs***, 10 districts****, 12 cities*****, 3 royal boroughs******; Barking and Dagenham**, Barnet**, Barnsley, Bath and North East Somerset****, Bedfordshire*, Bexley**, Birmingham***, Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Bolton, Bournemouth, Bracknell Forest, Bradford***, Brent**, Brighton and Hove, City of Bristol*****, Bromley**, Buckinghamshire*, Bury, Calderdale, Cambridgeshire*, Camden**, Cheshire*, Cornwall*, Coventry***, Croydon**, Cumbria*, Darlington, Derby*****, Derbyshire*, Devon*, Doncaster, Dorset*, Dudley, Durham*, Ealing**, East Riding of Yorkshire****, East Sussex*, Enfield**, Essex*, Gateshead, Gloucestershire*, Greenwich**, Hackney**, Halton, Hammersmith and Fulham**, Hampshire*, Haringey**, Harrow**, Hartlepool, Havering**, Herefordshire*, Hertfordshire*, Hillingdon**, Hounslow**, Isle of Wight*, Islington**, Kensington and Chelsea******, Kent*, City of Kingston upon Hull*****, Kingston upon Thames******, Kirklees, Knowsley, Lambeth**, Lancashire*, Leeds***, Leicester*****, Leicestershire*, Lewisham**, Lincolnshire*, Liverpool***, City of London*****, Luton, Manchester***, Medway, Merton**, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Newcastle upon Tyne***, Newham**, Norfolk*, Northamptonshire*, North East Lincolnshire****, North Lincolnshire****, North Somerset****, North Tyneside, Northumberland*, North Yorkshire*, Nottingham*****, Nottinghamshire*, Oldham, Oxfordshire*, Peterborough*****, Plymouth*****, Poole, Portsmouth*****, Reading, Redbridge**, Redcar and Cleveland, Richmond upon Thames**, Rochdale, Rotherham, Rutland****, Salford***, Shropshire*, Sandwell, Sefton, Sheffield***, Slough, Solihull, Somerset*, Southampton*****, Southend-on-Sea, South Gloucestershire****, South Tyneside, Southwark**, Staffordshire*, St. Helens, Stockport, Stockton-on-Tees, Stoke-on-Trent*****, Suffolk*, Sunderland***, Surrey*, Sutton**, Swindon, Tameside, Telford and Wrekin****, Thurrock, Torbay, Tower Hamlets**, Trafford, Wakefield***, Walsall, Waltham Forest**, Wandsworth**, Warrington, Warwickshire*, West Berkshire****, Westminster***, West Sussex*, Wigan, Wiltshire*, Windsor and Maidenhead******, Wirral, Wokingham****, Wolverhampton, Worcestershire*, York*****; Northern Ireland - 24 districts, 2 cities*; Antrim, Ards, Armagh, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Banbridge, Belfast*, Carrickfergus, Castlereagh, Coleraine, Cookstown, Craigavon, Down, Dungannon, Fermanagh, Larne, Limavady, Lisburn, Derry*, Magherafelt, Moyle, Newry and Mourne, Newtownabbey, North Down, Omagh, Strabane; Scotland - 32 council areas; Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, The Scottish Borders, Clackmannanshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Dundee City, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, City of Edinburgh, Falkirk, Fife, Glasgow City, Highland, Inverclyde, Midlothian, Moray, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Orkney Islands, Perth and Kinross, Renfrewshire, Shetland Islands, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, Stirling, West Dunbartonshire, Eilean Siar (Western Isles), West Lothian; Wales - 11 county boroughs, 9 counties*, 2 cities and counties**; Isle of Anglesey*, Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Cardiff**, Ceredigion*, Carmarthenshire*, Conwy, Denbighshire*, Flintshire*, Gwynedd, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouthshire*, Neath Port Talbot, Newport, Pembrokeshire*, Powys*, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Swansea**, Torfaen, The Vale of Glamorgan*, Wrexham
The people of Wales, like those of Britain in general, are descendants of various stocks, including Celts, Scandinavians, and Romans. The population of Wales is 2,921,000 (1996 estimate). The population density was approximately 141 persons per sq km (364 per sq mi). About three-quarters of the population is concentrated in the mining centers in the south.
The major cities of Wales are Cardiff (population mid-1996, 315,000), the capital, principal seaport, and shipbuilding center; Swansea (230,000), a seaport and center of the tin-plate industry; and Newport (137,000).
The earliest inhabitants of Wales, like those of the rest of Britain, were a short, dark race, generally referred to as Iberians. These were succeeded by Celts, possibly first of the Gaelic division, although in the earliest historic times Wales, like Britain, was occupied by Cymric or Brythonic Celts. At the time of the coming of the Romans in 55 bc, the tribes of Wales represented a mixture of the primitive Iberians with the later invading Celts. They bore the general name of Cymry.
Between 1062 and 1064 Harold Godwinson (later Harold II) overran Wales with an English army after a struggle with Gruffydd ap Llewellyn, king of Gwynedd. William I, the Conqueror, forced recognition of his sovereignty from the Welsh princes, but they raided the English border, for protection of which the early Norman kings erected a number of feudal lordships with very extensive powers, the so-called lords of the marches. The marcher lords were a turbulent class and a source of trouble to the kings, but they served their purpose in holding the Welsh back. In 1136 the Welsh won a victory over Henry I, King of England, but were again reduced to homage by Henry II. Llewellyn ap Gruffydd, Prince of North Wales, sided with Simon de Montfort against Henry III, but later submitted to the king. In 1273, however, he refused to pay homage to the new English king, Edward I, who in 1276 invaded Wales and compelled Llewellyn to submit to humiliating terms.
In 1301 Edward I conferred on his oldest surviving son, later King Edward II, who was born in Caernarfon (Caernarvon), Wales, the title of Prince of Wales. This sufficiently satisfied the pride of the Welsh to keep them loyal for 100 years. It has become traditional for the firstborn son of each monarch to be given the title of Prince of Wales. The national spirit survived, however, and was nourished by the songs of the bards. When Henry IV seized the English throne, a revolt began in Wales, which, under the leadership of Owen Glendower in 1402, became formidable. Henry IV repeatedly invaded the country, but the revolt was not suppressed until the death of Glendower.
isolated by a rugged, mountainous terrain, the Welsh have retained more of the culture of their Celtic forebears than have either the Scots or the English. A strong feeling of national solidarity exists in Wales, and a nationalist revival has received some political support, to the point that representatives of the Welsh Nationalist Party serve in the House of Commons in London.
The Welsh are well known for their love of singing, and their hymns and folk songs are widely known throughout the world. Music plays a large part in the annual festival, the Royal National Eisteddfod, at which poetry reading and Welsh folk arts are also featured. The Eisteddfod is held each year in a different locality, and Welsh natives and those of Welsh descent from all over the world attend. The International Music Eisteddfod is also held annually in Llangollen.
for musical composition, in the modern sense, did not exist in Wales. The long and rich folk tradition, however, has been maintained throughout the rural districts especially, and, since 1906, the Welsh Folk Song Society has done valuable work in collecting and publishing this material. Choral singing, stemming from the religious revival of the late 18th century, is an extremely popular and characteristic part of Welsh musical life. Traditional instruments, especially the harp, are still played. Local and national music festivals play an important role in the cultural life of the region.
British society is increasingly middle class in numbers and outlook, and maintaining a high standard of living is a top priority. Material possessions, such as the family home, car, appliances, and clothes, are important, and many families take vacations abroad. The well-being of children is highly regarded, and British middle-class families often make substantial investments in order to provide the best education and life-enriching opportunities for their children.
British houses are made with concrete blocks or concrete-like building materials because the dampness of the climate causes wood to rot. Central heating is now widespread; previously, individual fires or heating devices were used.
Wales has an irregular coastline with many bays, the largest of which is Cardigan Bay. Except for narrow, low-lying coastal regions, mainly in the south and west, Wales is almost entirely mountainous. The principal range is the Cambrian Mountains, which extend north and south through central Wales. Other major highland areas are the Brecon Beacons in the southeast and the Snowdon massif, in the northwest, which reaches an elevation of 1,085 m (3,560 ft), the greatest in England and Wales. The Dee River, which rises in Bala Lake, the largest natural lake in Wales, and flows through northern Wales and England, is the principal river. In the south numerous rivers flow through steep valleys, including the Usk, Wye, Teifi, and Towy.
England, like most of the island of Great Britain, was heavily forested, chiefly with oak and beech in the lowlands and pine and birch in the mountainous areas. Woodlands now constitute about 8 percent of the total land area. Various types of fruit trees are cultivated, including the cherry, apple, and plum. A common shrub is a species of furze known locally as gorse. Numerous varieties of wildflowers are also found. An estimated 30,000 animal species live in Britain, although many have limited distribution and are on the endangered list. Britain has many smaller mammals, and the larger ones tend to be gentle. The only surviving large mammals are red deer, which live in the Scottish Highlands and in Exmoor in southwestern England, and roe deer, found in the woodlands of Scotland and southern England. Semiwild ponies also inhabit Exmoor and the Shetland Islands. At one time wild boars and wolves roamed Britain, but they were hunted to extinction.
About 80 percent of the land in Wales is used for agricultural purposes. In general the raising of livestock, mainly beef and dairy cattle and sheep, is more important than crop cultivation. Crops include barley, oats, potatoes, and hay. Forests cover about 12 percent of the land, and government reforestation programs are gradually increasing the area. The fishing industry is concentrated along the Bristol Channel.
Many aspects of the economy of Scotland are covered in the article on the United Kingdom. The currency of Britain is the legal tender of Scotland. Both agriculture and industry are important in the economy of Scotland. The chief exports are petroleum and natural gas and manufactured goods, especially burlap, clothing, machinery, textiles, and whiskey. The chief imports are food and iron. The center of Scottish trade unionism is the Scottish Trades Union Congress, with an affiliated membership of more than 980,000.
Britain had the world’s leading economy: Its overseas trade thrived, its standard of living rose steadily, and its citizens pioneered industrial innovations. With the growth of the economies of other nations in the 20th century, the British economy remained relatively strong. It has continued to grow, and Britain remains a major producer of industrial goods and provider of services, as well as a center of world trade and finance. In the 20th century, Britons saw their per capita disposable income triple, an accomplishment all the more remarkable considering Britain’s size and limited natural resources. The skills and ingenuity of Britain’s highly trained workers, managers, and entrepreneurs have enabled the British economy to function well and provide for its large population.
The UK, a leading trading power and financial center, deploys an essentially capitalistic economy, one of the quartet of trillion dollar economies of Western Europe. Over the past two decades the government has greatly reduced public ownership and contained the growth of social welfare programs. Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanized, and efficient by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with only 1% of the labor force. The UK has large coal, natural gas, and oil reserves; primary energy production accounts for 10% of GDP, one of the highest shares of any industrial nation. Services, particularly banking, insurance, and business services, account by far for the largest proportion of GDP while industry continues to decline in importance. The economy has grown steadily, at just above or below 3%, for the last several years. The BLAIR government has put off the question of participation in the euro system until after the next election, in June of 2001; Chancellor of the Exchequer BROWN has identified some key economic tests to determine whether the UK should join the common currency system, but it will largely be a political decision. A serious short-term problem is foot-and-mouth disease, which by early 2001 had broken out in nearly 600 farms and slaughterhouses and had resulted in the killing of 400,000 animals.
general assessment: technologically advanced domestic and international system
domestic: equal mix of buried cables, microwave radio relay, and fiber-optic systems
international: 40 coaxial submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 10 Intelsat (7 Atlantic Ocean and 3 Indian Ocean), 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region), and 1 Eutelsat; at least 8 large international switching centers
English is the official language of the United Kingdom and is the first language of the vast majority of its citizens. The use of language is extremely important to Britain’s class structure. Some educated English people, regardless of their class origin, strive to free themselves of regional or local accents in order to sound like educated English-speaking people. Some people in England regard regional accents and slang as substandard.
Conservative and Unionist Party [Iain Duncan SMITH]; Democratic Unionist Party (Northern Ireland) [Rev. Ian PAISLEY]; Labor Party [Anthony (Tony) Blair]; Liberal Democrats [Charles KENNEDY]; Party of Wales (Plaid Cymru) [Ieuan Wyn JONES]; Scottish National Party or SNP [John SWINNEY]; Sinn Fein (Northern Ireland) [Gerry ADAMS]; Social Democratic and Labor Party or SDLP (Northern Ireland) [John HUME]; Ulster Unionist Party (Northern Ireland) [David TRIMBLE]
The United Kingdom is a parliamentary monarchy—that is, the head of state is a monarch with limited powers. Britain’s democratic government is based on a constitution composed of various historical documents, laws, and formal customs adopted over the years. Parliament, the legislature, consists of the House of Lords, the House of Commons, and the monarch, also called the Crown. The House of Commons is far more influential than the House of Lords, which in effect makes the British system unicameral, meaning the legislature has one chamber. The chief executive is the prime minister, who is a member of the House of Commons. The executive branch also includes Her Majesty’s Government, commonly referred to simply as “the government.” The government is composed of ministers in the Cabinet, most of whom are members of the House of Commons; government departments, each of which is responsible to a minister; local authorities; and public corporations. Because the House of Commons is involved in both the legislative and executive branches of the British government, there is no separation of powers between executive and legislature as there is in the United States.
Legal system: common law tradition with early Roman and modern continental influences; no judicial review of Acts of Parliament; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations; British courts and legislation are increasingly subject to review by European Union courts
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); Heir Apparent Prince CHARLES (son of the queen, born 14 November 1948)
head of government: Prime Minister Anthony C. L. (Tony) BLAIR (since 2 May 1997)
cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the prime minister
elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; the prime minister is the leader of the majority party in the House of Commons (assuming there is no majority party, a prime minister would have a majority coalition or at least a coalition that was not rejected by the majority)
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament comprised of House of Lords (consists of approximately 500 life peers, 92 hereditary peers and 26 clergy) and House of Commons (659 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms unless the House is dissolved earlier)
elections: House of Lords - no elections (some proposals for further reform include elections); House of Commons - last held 7 June 2001 (next to be held by NA May 2006)
election results: House of Commons - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Labor 412, Conservative and Unionist 166, Liberal Democrat 52, other 29
note: in 1998 elections were held for a Northern Ireland Parliament (because of unresolved disputes among existing parties, the transfer of power from London to Northern Ireland came only at the end of 1999 and was rescinded in February 2000); in 1999 there were elections for a new Scottish Parliament and a new Welsh Assembly
Judicial branch: House of Lords (highest court of appeal; several Lords of Appeal in Ordinary are appointed by the monarch for life); Supreme Courts of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland (comprising the Courts of Appeal, the High Courts of Justice, and the Crown Courts); Scotland's Court of Session and Court of the Justiciary
International organization Member
AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, C, CCC, CDB (non-regional), CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECA (associate), ECE, ECLAC, EIB, ESA, ESCAP, EU, FAO, G- 5, G- 7, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, MONUC, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, SPC, UN, UN Security Council, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNOMIG, UNRWA, UNTAET, UNU, UPU, WCL, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO, ZC
1902 act also established scholarships for secondary education. An education act passed in 1944 and administered by the newly created Ministry of Education established free and compulsory secondary education up to age 15; this was increased to age 16 in 1973. An education reform act in 1988 allowed individual schools to control their own affairs and budgets, free from LEAs, and to receive grants directly from the government. It also established a controversial national curriculum, which was simplified in 1994 after complaints about its complexity. Legislation pertaining to education is laden with controversies because of education’s importance in Britain.
Military branches: Army, Royal Navy (includes Royal Marines), Royal Air Force
Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 14,599,199 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 12,139,930 (2001 est.)
Northern Ireland issue with Ireland (historic peace agreement signed 10 April 1998); Gibraltar issue with Spain; Argentina claims Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas); Argentina claims South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; Mauritius and the Seychelles claim Chagos Archipelago (UK-administered British Indian Ocean Territory); Rockall continental shelf dispute involving Denmark and Iceland; territorial claim in Antarctica (British Antarctic Territory) overlaps Argentine claim and partially overlaps Chilean claim; disputes with Iceland, Denmark, and Ireland over the Faroe Islands continental shelf boundary outside 200 NM
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