Geographical regions and cities

Wales is a small country, bounded on the north by the Irish Sea, by the St George’s Channel on the west and on the south by the Bristol Channel. Wales is approximately 242 km. from north to south. Its total population is 2.8 million people.

Geographically Wales may be considered part of highland Britain; the Cumbrian Mountains occupy most of the land. It is an area of high mountains, deep valleys, waterfalls and lakes. The climate is rather mild.

As in Scotland, most people in Wales live in one small part of it. In the Welsh case, it is the south-east of the country that is most heavily populated. The south and east have been more industrialized. It is the only part of Britain with a high proportion of industrial villages. Coal mining in south Wales has now almost entirely ceased and, as elsewhere, the transition to other forms of employment has been slow and painful.

Wales is divided into thirteen counties, and in the South there are three industrial counties – Glamorgan, Monmouth and Carmarthen.Glamorgan is the biggest, with nearly one-half of the total population of Wales. Its main industries are coal-mining, iron and steel, and engineering.

During the industrial revolution of the 18^th and 19^th centuries, the valleys of South Wales became the iron and steel capital of the world. The small villages that grew up around the pits and steel works developed their own special character. When people speak of life in the valleys they are usually thinking of a particular Welsh way of life where families stay very close together and villagers are very proud of their traditions. In particular the valleys are famous for producing male voice choirs, and rugby-players.

The Rhymney and the Rhondda are two of the best-known South Wales valleys. Standing high on the hillsides, you can look down and see the lines of terraced houses on the riverbanks. Some pits are now open to the public so that visitors can see for themselves just what the life of a miner is like.

The Brecon Beaconsis an area of mountains in south Wales. It is popular with tourists who like walking and enjoying the attractive scenery.

The west coast, Mid Wales and North Wales are wild and beautiful. Agriculture is the main occupation in Mid Wales and North Wales. North Wales has several impressive castles built by English kings. Mid Wales is rather sparsely populated. There are many fishing ports along the coast. Welsh is the everyday language of much of the north and west.

There are three National Parks in Wales which cover approximately one-fifth of the whole country. These parks are protected by law because of their natural beauty, but ordinary people still live and work there. The most famous of the parks is Snowdoniain the north-west. The highest mountain range in Wales is in this area, with several peaks. The highest, Snowdon, is 3,560 feet (1085 m.).

You can reach the summit on foot or by the Snowdon mountain railway, which is 7 km. long, and was built in the 19^th century. It is very popular with tourists.

Many people travel to the parks each year for special holidays. These include a large number of outdoor activities such as walking, climbing, and riding, or water sports such as canoeing and fishing. People camp and live without all the usual comforts at home.

There are many lakes in the Snowdon country. To the north-west of this area is the Isle of Anglesey, which is a remnant of a very ancient land mass. It is joined to the mainland by both road and rail bridges. The first station in Anglesey after crossing the bridge, which is a technical masterpiece, designed by Stephenson, is famous as having the longest name of any place in the world: LLANFAIRPWILLGWYNGYLLGOGERYCHWYRNDROBWLLANTYSILIOGOGOGOCH.The local people are proud of this extraordinary name, and can even repeat it to you from memory, but the railway and ordinance survey authorities firmly refuse to recognize more than the first two syllables, and so it is officially known as Lanfair P. G.

Anglesey still remains the corn-growing country.

The only big towns in Wales are along the south coast: Cardiff, Swansea and Newport.

Cardiffis the capital city of Wales, in the south-east of the country. It is governed by a unitary authority.

A Roman fort was founded here in the 1^st century AD.

The ancient capital of Wales is Caernarfon. It is famous for its 13^th-century castle. The British monarch’s eldest son was traditionally crowned there. In 1969 at a ceremony there Prince Charles became officially ‘the Prince of Wales’.

Cardiff has been the official capital of Wales since 1955. There has been a community here for hundreds of years, but it began to grow quickly and to become prosperous during the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. Cardiff rose to importance with the coal mining and iron industries. Cardiff became a major industrial town and an important port. However, when these industries began to decline, Cardiff suffered too. Today, the docks are much smaller, but the city is now expanding as a commercial and administrative centre. Financially and industrially, Cardiff is the most important city in Wales. It is an attractive and interesting place to live in, with good communications, plenty of parks and a varied population which includes nearly 10 000 university and college students.

As a tourist, you may want to visit the castle, dating back to Roman times, and Llandaff cathedral, the National Museum of Wales. If you like music, there is the famous national concert hall, St David’s Hall, or the New Theatre, which is the home of the Welsh National Opera Company.

Of course, there is a modern shopping centre.

Swansea is an important container port on the south coast of Wales. It was a major centre of the Welsh coal, metal and shipbuilding industries. As these industries became less important towards the end of the 20^th century the city was developed as a tourist centre.

Date: 2016-03-03; view: 1184