Wales[a]
Wales i/ˈweɪlz/ (Welsh: Cymru; Welsh pronunciation: [ˈkəm.rɨ]) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain,[2] bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It had a population in 2011 of 3,064,000, and has a total area of 20,779 km2 (8,023 sq mi). Wales has over 1,200 km (750 mi) of coastline, and is largely mountainous, with its highest peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa), its highest summit. The country lies within the north temperate zone, and has a changeable, maritime climate.
Welsh national identity emerged among the Celtic Britons after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, and Wales is regarded as one of the modern Celtic nations. Llywelyn ap Gruffydd's death in 1282 marked the completion of Edward I of England's conquest of Wales, though Owain Glyndŵr briefly restored independence to what was to become modern Wales, in the early 15th century. The whole of Wales was annexed by England, and incorporated within the English legal system, under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542. Distinctive Welsh politics developed in the 19th century. Welsh Liberalism, exemplified in the early 20th century by Lloyd George, was displaced by the growth of socialism and the Labour Party. Welsh national feeling grew over the century; Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925 and the Welsh Language Society in 1962. Established under the Government of Wales Act 1998, the National Assembly for Wales holds responsibility 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 nation; the south Wales coalfield's exploitation causing a rapid expansion of Wales' population. Two-thirds of the population now live in south Wales, mainly in and around Cardiff (the capital), Swansea and Newport, and in the nearby valleys. Today, with the country's traditional extractive and heavy industries either gone or in decline, Wales' economy depends on the public sector, light and service industries, and tourism. Wales' 2010 Gross Value Added (GVA) was £45.5 billion (£15,145 per head); 74.0 per cent of the average for the UK total, the lowest GVA per head in Britain.
Although Wales shares a close political and social history with the rest of Great Britain, and almost everyone speaks English, the country has retained a distinct cultural identity and is officially bilingual. Over 560,000 Welsh language speakers live in Wales, where it is spoken by a majority of the population in parts of the north and west. From the late 19th century onwards, Wales acquired its popular image as the "land of song", attributable in part to the eisteddfod tradition. At international sporting events, such as the FIFA World Cup, Rugby World Cup and the Commonwealth Games, Wales is represented by national teams, though at the Olympic Games, Welsh athletes compete as part of a Great Britain team. Rugby union is seen as a symbol of Welsh identity and an expression of national consciousness.
Welsh people[b]
The Welsh people (Welsh: Cymry) are an ethnic group and nation native to Wales and associated with the Welsh language. The Welsh language was once the predominant language spoken throughout Wales. Indeed, Old Welsh was historically also spoken throughout most of the British mainland. Whilst Welsh remains as the predominant language in parts of Wales, most notably in the northern and western regions, in recent years the English has become the most widely-spoken language in Wales.
John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain,[11] although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have been spoken in Wales far longer. The term Welsh people applies to people from Wales and people of Welsh ancestry perceiving themselves or being perceived as sharing a cultural heritage and shared ancestral origins.[12] Today Wales is a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of people living in Wales are British citizens.
An analysis of the geography of Welsh surnames commissioned by the Welsh Government found that 718,000 people, or nearly 35% of the Welsh population, have a family name of Welsh origin, compared with 5.3% in the rest of the United Kingdom, 4.7% in New Zealand, 4.1% in Australia, and 3.8% in the United States, with an estimated 16.3 million people in the countries studied having Welsh ancestry.[13]
@ Adar o'r unlliw, ehedant i'r unlle.
Translation: Birds of the same colour fly to the same place.
Notes
[1]^ Also .eu, as part of the European Union. ISO 3166-1 is GB, but .gb is unused.
[2]^ The earliest instance of Lloegyr occurs in the early 10th century prophetic poem Armes Prydein. It seems comparatively late as a place name, the nominative plural Lloegrwys, "men of Lloegr", being earlier and more common. The English were sometimes referred to as an entity in early poetry (Saeson, as today) but just as often as Eingl (Angles), Iwys (Wessex-men), etc. Lloegr and Sacson became the norm later when England emerged as a kingdom. As for its origins, some scholars have suggested that it originally referred only to Mercia – at that time a powerful kingdom and for centuries the main foe of the Welsh. It was then applied to the new kingdom of England as a whole (see for instance Rachel Bromwich (ed.), Trioedd Ynys Prydein, University of Wales Press, 1987). "The lost land" and other fanciful meanings, such as Geoffrey of Monmouth's monarch Locrinus, have no etymological basis. (See also Discussion, article 40)
[11]^ Davies, John (1994) A History of Wales. Penguin: p.54; ISBN 0-14-014581-8.
[12]^ The Welsh people: chapters on their origin, history and laws by Sir John Rhys, Sir David Brynmor Jones. 1969
[13]^ "The Welsh diaspora: Analysis of the geography of Welsh names". Retrieved 17 October 2009.
[a] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wales
[b] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_people
[c] http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Welsh_proverbs
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