geography of wales

Geography of Wales

Overview

Hungary is almost 5 times bigger than Wales. Wales (or Cymru in Welsh) is the western peninsula and political division (principality - altough the Prince of Wales has no role in the governance of Wales) of Great Britain. Wales has been politically united with England since 1536, but ruled by England since 1284. The capital is Cardiff (Caerdydd). Wales is bounded by the Irish Sea (North), the Bristol Channel (South), England (East), Cardigan Bay and St. George's Channel (West). Across the Menai Strait is the Welsh island of Anglesey (Sir Ynys Môn). The maximum north-south length of the country is about 220 km; its width in an east-west direction varies between 60 and 155 km.

Around one-quarter of Wales is above 305 m (1,000 ft) and its highest peak is in the north, Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) rises to 1,085 m. The Cambrian Mountains, which has an average elevation of 610 m and extends North to South, occupies about two thirds of the country. Other major highland areas are the Snowdon Mountain in the northwest and, in the south, the ranges of the Brecon Beacons and the Black Mountains. The 14 Welsh mountains over 3,000 (915 m) feet high are known collectively as the 'Welsh 3,000s'. The lowland area is confined mainly to the relatively narrow coastal belts and the valley floors. The Welsh coastline consists of many bays (the largest is Cardigan Bay), beaches, peninsulas and cliffs. About two-thirds of the population of Wales live in the south-eastern part of the country, consisting of the cities of Cardiff, Swansea and Newport and surrounding areas.

The climate of Wales is Atlantic maritime, that means it never gets very hot or very cold. Even in the winter a raincoat and sweater will usually cope with the worst that the weather has to offer. On the whole, Wales is cloudier than England, because of the hilly nature of the terrain and the closeness to the Atlantic Ocean. Snowdonia is the wettest part of Wales (with average annual totals exceeding 3,000 mm, but coastal areas and the east receive less than 1,000 mm a year comparable with the South-Western part of Hungary). Over Wales the mean annual temperature at low altitudes is around 10 °C, similar to Hungary.

The Seven Wonders of Wales

...is a traditional list of seven geographic and cultural landmarks in Wales. The anonymous nursery rhyme listing the so-called seven wonders of Wales was probably written by an English visitor to North Wales sometime in the late 18th or early 19th century.

Pistyll Rhaeadr and Wrexham steeple,

Snowdon's mountain without its people,

Overton yew trees, St Winefride wells,

Llangollen bridge and Gresford bells.

Many would argue with his choice of so-called wonders. They are all found in the same general area, near Chester, handily situated on the English-Welsh border. They can be visited in a day or two:

1. Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa), the highest mountain in Wales: 1,085 m (3,560 ft)

2. Pistyll Rhaeadr, Wales's tallest waterfall, at 240 ft (75 m)

3. Gresford bells, the bells in the medieval church of All Saints at Gresford

4. Overton yew trees, ancient trees in the churchyard of St Mary's at Overton-on-Dee

5. Wrexham steeple, a 16th century tower of St. Giles Church in Wrexham

6. Llangollen bridge, built in 1347 over the River Dee. It is said to be the first stone bridge over the River Dee.

7. St Winefride's Well, a pilgrimage site at Holywell in Flintshire

Economy

It ranks as the smallest of the four economies of the United Kingdom in terms of GDP, though by some measurements it ranks above that of Northern Ireland. The modern Welsh economy is dominated by the service sector. Services contribute about two thirds of the GDP. The manufacturing sector contributes the other third, whilst Agriculture, forestry and fishing contribute 1-2%. About 80 % of the land in Wales is used for agricultural purposes. In general the raising of beef and dairy cattle and sheep is more valuable than crop cultivation. Forests cover about 12 % of the land, and government reforestation programs are gradually increasing the area. The fishing industry is concentrated along the Bristol Channel.

The Welsh economy, which was traditionally based on coal and steel, experienced some major changes during the 20th century. Wales now has a more varied range of manufacturing industries, including many at the forefront of technology, and a growing number involved in e-commerce. However, the steel industry remains important. Wales is an important centre for consumer and office electronics, automotive components, chemicals and materials, aerospace, and food and drink. In the service sector, tourism and leisure services are significant - estimates indicate that more than 10 million tourist trips are made to Wales per year - while call centre activity is becoming more important and widespread. A key feature of the economy has been the volume of investment from overseas companies and from elsewhere in the UK.

Cardiff

...is the capital (315,000; 2003 est.) of Wales, on the Taff River near its mouth on the Bristol Channel. The city's story begins with the Romans, who invaded Britain in AD43. The capital takes its name from the Roman general Aulus Didius – Caer Didi means "Fort of Didius". The Romans pulled out in the 5th century AD.

England was overrun by Saxons and the Welsh coast was raided by Vikings (King Swein Forkbeard of Denmark left a permanent "I was here" at the city of Swein’s Eye – that’s Swansea).

Within 20 years of the Battle of Hastings, the Normans were marching on Wales. In 1091 a Norman baron, Robert FitzHamon began work on Cardiff Castle and a small settlement grew up around it. This was an English town in a hostile Welsh territory.

Owain Glyndwr razed Cardiff in 1404 during the Welsh War of Independence.

By the Elizabethan times Cardiff was a lawless, 'pirate-infested' port. In 1608 King James I granted a Royal Charter and by the 18th century it was a sleepy town of 1,500 people around the decaying castle.

The Industrial Revolution changed everything. In the 1790s the local gentry, the Butes, built the Glamorganshire Canal to join Cardiff with Merthyr Tydfil, followed by the first Cardiff dock in 1839.

Cardiff became the biggest coal-exporting port in the world. At its peak in 1913, more than 13 million tons of coal left here. Cardiff was granted city status in 1905 by Edward VII and in 1955 it was proclaimed capital of Wales.

Today, Cardiff is one of Europe’s most dynamic capital cities, constantly surprising visitors with its grace, space and 'cosmopolital buzz'.

Modern industries include retailing, services, engineering, oil and gasoline distribution, and food processing. Studios of the British Broadcasting Corp. are located in Cardiff, which is also the centre of the Welsh-language broadcasting industry.

From the top left corner:

Norman Keep; The Bay; The Wales Millenium Centre;

The Old Pier Head Building (home of The Welsh Assembly until 2006) in Cardiff bay

vocabulary:

yew tree	tiszafa
pilgrimage site	zarándokhely

sources:

National Statistics, UK 2002, The Official Yearbook of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Wikipedia, Wales; Cardiff

Microsoft Encarta

Cardiff City Council

BBC Cymru Wales

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