Wales

Wales Cymru (Welsh)
Flag Royal Badge
Anthem: de facto;[1] "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" ("Land of My Fathers")
Location of Wales (dark green) – in Europe (green & dark grey) – in the United Kingdom (green)
Status	Country
Capital and largest city	Cardiff 51°29′N 3°11′W / 51.483°N 3.183°W / 51.483; -3.183
Official languages	English Welsh
Ethnic groups (2021)[2]	List 93.8% White 2.9% Asian 1.6% Mixed 0.9% Black 0.9% other
Religion (2021)[2]	List 46.5% no religion 43.6% Christianity 2.2% Islam 0.4% Hinduism 0.3% Buddhism 0.1% Sikhism 0.1% Judaism 0.5% other 6.3% not stated
Demonym(s)	Welsh (Cymraeg)
Sovereign state Legal jurisdiction	United Kingdom England and Wales
Government	Devolved parliamentary legislature within a parliamentary constitutional monarchy
• Monarch	Charles III
• First Minister	Eluned Morgan
• Deputy First Minister	Huw Irranca-Davies
Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Secretary of State	Jo Stevens
• House of Commons	32 MPs (of 650)
Legislature	Senedd
Formation
• Unified by Gruffydd ap Llywelyn	1057[3]
• Statute of Rhuddlan	3 March 1284[4]
• Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542	1543[5]
• Welsh Language Act 1967	27 July 1967[6]
• Devolution	1 July 1999[a][7]
Area
• Total[c]	21,218 km2 (8,192 sq mi)[8]
• Land[b]	20,737 km2 (8,007 sq mi)[9]
Population
• 2022 estimate	3,131,640[9]
• 2021 census	3,107,494[2]
• Density	151/km2 (391.1/sq mi)[9]
GVA	2022 estimate
• Total	£74.5 billion
• Per capita	£23,804[10]
GDP (nominal)	2022 estimate
• Total	£85.4 billion
• Per capita	£27,274[11]
HDI (2022)	0.910[12] very high
Currency	Pound sterling (GBP; £)
Time zone	UTC+0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy (AD)
Drives on	left
Calling code	+44
ISO 3166 code	GB-WLS
Internet TLD	.wales .cymru[d]

Wales (Welsh: Cymru [ˈkəmrɨ] ^ⓘ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic Sea to the south-west. As of 2021^[update], it had a population of 3.2 million.^[2] It has a total area of 21,218 square kilometres (8,192 sq mi) and over 2,700 kilometres (1,680 mi) of coastline.^[8] It is largely mountainous with its higher peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa), its highest summit.^[13] The country lies within the north temperate zone and has a changeable, maritime climate. Its capital and largest city is Cardiff.

A distinct Welsh culture emerged among the Celtic Britons after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, and Wales was briefly united under Gruffydd ap Llywelyn in 1055. After over 200 years of war, the conquest of Wales by King Edward I of England was completed by 1283, though Owain Glyndŵr led the Welsh Revolt against English rule in the early 15th century, and briefly re-established an independent Welsh state with its own national parliament (Welsh: senedd). In the 16th century the whole of Wales was annexed by England and incorporated within the English legal system under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Distinctive Welsh politics developed in the 19th century. Welsh Liberalism, exemplified in the early 20th century by David Lloyd George, was displaced by the growth of socialism and the Labour Party. Welsh national feeling grew over the century: a nationalist party, Plaid Cymru, was formed in 1925, and the Welsh Language Society in 1962. A governing system of Welsh devolution is employed in Wales, of which the most major step was the formation of the Senedd (Welsh Parliament, formerly the National Assembly for Wales) in 1998, responsible for a range of devolved policy matters.

At the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, development of the mining and metallurgical industries transformed the country from an agricultural society into an industrial one; the South Wales Coalfield's exploitation caused a rapid expansion of Wales's population. Two-thirds of the population live in South Wales, including Cardiff, Swansea, Newport, and the nearby valleys. The eastern region of North Wales has about a sixth of the overall population, with Wrexham being the largest northern city. The remaining parts of Wales are sparsely populated. Since decline of the country's traditional extractive and heavy industries, the public sector, light and service industries, and tourism play major roles in its economy. Agriculture in Wales is largely livestock-based, making Wales a net exporter of animal produce, contributing towards national agricultural self-sufficiency.

Both Welsh and English are official languages. A majority of the population of Wales speaks English. Welsh is the dominant language in parts of the north and west, with a total of 538,300 Welsh speakers across the entire country. Wales has four UNESCO world heritage sites, of which three are in the north.

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