WikiPedia Information About Wales
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Export/Wales
/_TheTownGuide/Index_Layout_Leaders_wiki_Process.xsl
{{pp-semi-vandalism
small=yes}}
{{about
the country}}
{{Infobox Country
native_name = ''Cymru''
conventional_long_name = Wales
common_name = Wales
image_flag = Flag of Wales 2.svg
national_motto = {{lang
cy
''Cymru am byth ''}}
(English language
English "Wales forever")
national_anthem = {{lang
cy
"''Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau''"}}
(English language
English "Land of my fathers")
image_map = Europe location WAL2.png
map_width = 250px
map_caption = {{map_caption
location=inset – orange)
in the United Kingdom (camel
region=Europe
the European continent
region_color=white}}
capital = Cardiff
Cardiff, ''Caerdydd''
image_Capital of Wales = Cardiff123.jpg
latd= 51
latm=29
latNS= N
longd=3
longm=11
longEW=W
largest_city = capital
image_caption = Southeast Cardiff Skyline
languages_type = National languages
languages = Welsh language
Welsh (indigenous), English language
English (most widely used)
demonym = Welsh people
Welsh, ''Cymry''
government_type = Constitutional monarchy
leader_title2 = First Minister of Wales (Welsh Assembly Government
Head of Welsh Assembly Government)
leader_name2 = Carwyn Jones Members of the National Assembly for Wales
AM
leader_title3 = Deputy First Minister for Wales
leader_name3 = Ieuan Wyn Jones Members of the National Assembly for Wales
AM
leader_title4 = Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
leader_name4 = Gordon Brown MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 2005
MP
leader_title5 = Secretary of State for Wales
Secretary of State (in the UK government)
leader_name5 = Peter Hain MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 2005
MP
leader_title1 = British monarchy
Monarch
leader_name1 = Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II
legislature = Parliament of the United Kingdom
UK Parliament
National Assembly for Wales
sovereignty_type = History of Wales#Wales and the Normans: 1067–1283
Unification
sovereignty_note =
established_event1 = {{nowrap
by Gruffydd ap Llywelyn}}[{{cite book]
last=Davies
first=John
authorlink =John Davies (historian)
title=A History of Wales
publisher=Penguin
year=1994
location=London
pages=100
isbn = 0-14-01-4581-8}}
established_date1 = 1056
area_rank =
area_magnitude = 1 E10
area_km2 = 20,779
area_sq_mi = 8,022
percent_water =
population_estimate = 3,004,6001
population_estimate_rank =
population_estimate_year = 2008
population_census = 2,903,085
population_census_year = 2001
population_density_km2 = 140
population_density_sq_mi = 361
population_density_rank =
GDP_PPP = US$85ǐ billion
GDP_PPP_rank =
GDP_PPP_year = 2006 (for national statistics)
GDP_PPP_per_capita = US$30,546
GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank =
GDP_nominal =
GDP_nominal_rank =
GDP_nominal_year =
GDP_nominal_per_capita =
GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank =
HDI =
HDI_rank =
HDI_year =
HDI_category =
currency = Pound sterling
currency_code = GBP
time_zone = GMT
utc_offset = 0
time_zone_DST = BST
DST_note =
utc_offset_DST = +1
cctld = .uk2
calling_code = 44
patron_saint = Saint David
David, ''Dewi''
footnote1 = Office for National Statistics – [htt p://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?ID=6 UK population grows to more than 60 million]
footnote2 = Also .eu, as part of the European Union.
ISO 3166-1 is Great Britain
GB, but .gb is unused.
}}
'''Wales''' {{Audio-IPA
en-us-Wales.ogg
/'we?lz/}} ({{lang-cy
Cymru}};[Also spelled "Gymru", "Nghymru" or "Chymru" in certain contexts, as Welsh is a language with initial mutations – see Welsh morphology.] pronounced {{Audio-IPA
Cymru.ogg
/'k?mr?/}}) is a country that is Countries of the United Kingdom
part of the United Kingdom,[[http://www. statistics.gov.uk/geography/uk_countries.asp The Countries of the UK] statistics.gov.uk, accessed 10 October 2008] Wales-England border
bordered by England to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west.
Wales has a population estimated at three million and is officially bilingual; both Welsh language
Welsh and English language
English have equal status and bilingual signs are the norm throughout the land.
For most people in Wales, English is their only language.
The once-steady decline in Welsh speaking has reversed over recent years, however, with Welsh speakers currently estimated to be around 20% of the population.[[http://www.byig- wlb.org.uk/English/welshlanguage/Pages/WhoaretheWelshspeakersWheredotheylive.aspx Welsh Language Board - Number of speakers]][[http ://www.britannia.com/celtic/wales/language.html Britannia - Go Britannia! Guide to Wales - Welsh Language Guide]]
During the British Iron Age
Iron Age and early medieval period, Wales was inhabited by the Celts
Celtic Britons (historical)
Britons.
A distinct Welsh people
Welsh national identity emerged in the centuries after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, and Wales is regarded as one of the modern Celtic nations today.[John Davies (historian)]
Davies, John, ''A History of Wales'', Penguin, 1994, "Welsh Origins", p.
54, ISBN 0-14-01-4581-8[{{cite web]
url=http://new.wales.gov.uk/n ews/archivepress/enterprisepress/einpress2002/749669/?lang=en
title=Welsh Assembly Government: Minister promotes Wales’ status as a Celtic nation
accessdate=2010-01-03
publisher=Welsh Assembly Government
date=2002-09-16
work=Welsh Assembly Government website}}[{{cite web]
title=Who were the Celts? ...
Rhagor
url =http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/rhagor/article/1939/
accessdate=2009-10-14
publisher=National Museum Cardiff
Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales
date=2007-05-04
work=Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales website}} In the 13th century, the defeat of Llywelyn the Last
Llewelyn by Edward I completed the Anglo-Norman conquest of Wales and brought about centuries of English occupation.
Wales was subsequently incorporated into England with the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542, creating the legal entity known today as England and Wales.
Distinctive Politics of Wales
Welsh politics developed in the 19th century, and in 1881 Sunday Closing (Wales) Act 1881
the Welsh Sunday Closing Act became the first legislation applied exclusively to Wales.
In 1955, Cardiff was proclaimed as the capital city and in 1999 the National Assembly for Wales was created, which holds responsibility for a range of Contemporary_Welsh_Law#Areas_to_legislate:_The_devolved_areas
devolved matters.
The capital Cardiff ({{lang-cy
Caerdydd}}) is the largest city in Wales with 317,500 people.
For a period it was the biggest coal port in the world[{{cite web]
title=BBC NEWS
Wales
Coal Exchange to 'stock exchange'
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/6586105.stm
accessdate=2008-10-11
publisher=BBC Wales
date=2007-04-26
work=BBC News Wales website}} and, for a few years before World War I, it handled a greater tonnage of cargo than either London or Liverpool.[{{cite web]
title=Rhagor
Cardiff - Coal and Shipping Metropolis of the World
url=http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/rhagor/article/?article_id=50
accessdate=2008-10-11
publisher=Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales
date=2007-04-18
work=Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales}} Two-thirds of the Welsh population live in South Wales, with another concentration in eastern North Wales.
Many Tourism in Wales
tourists have been drawn to Wales's "wild...
and picturesque" Geography of Wales
landscapes.[''The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales'', Cardiff: University of Wales Press 2008.]
p땰.[http://www.industry.visitwales.co.uk/server.php?show=nav�b00700e Fast facts: Home: Visit Wales - the Welsh Assembly Government's tourism team] From the late 19th century onwards, Wales acquired its popular image as the "land of song", attributable in part to the revival of the ''eisteddfod'' tradition.[The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales.]
Cardiff: University of Wales Press 2008 Actors, singers and other artists are celebrated in Wales today, often achieving international success.[[http://news .bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/5056236.stm Why the Welsh voice is so musical], ''BBC News'', 8 June 2006.]
Accessed 17 May 2008. Cardiff is the Media in Wales
largest media centre in the UK outside of London 6[[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7060486.stm Tongue tied], ''BBC News''.]
Accessed 17 May 2008
Llywelyn the Great founded the Principality of Wales in 1216.
Just over a hundred years after the Llywelyn the Last#Last campaign and death
Edwardian Conquest, in the early 15th century Owain Glyndwr briefly restored independence to what was to become modern Wales.[{{cite book
]
last=Gwynfor
first=Evans
title=Land of my Fathers
publisher=Y Lolfa Cyf., Talybont
year=1974
isbn=0 86243 265 0
pages=240 & 241}}[{{cite book
]
last=Gwynfor
first=Evans
title=The Fight for Welsh Freedom
publisher=Y Lolfa Cyf., Talybont
year=2000
isbn=0 86243 515 32
pages=87}} Traditionally the British Royal Family have bestowed the courtesy title of "Prince of Wales" upon the heir apparent of the reigning monarch.
Wales is sometimes referred to as the "Principality of Wales", or just the "principality",[{{cite book ]
title=Illustrated Encyclopedia of Britain
page=459
publisher=Reader's Digest
year=1999
location=London
isbn=0-276-42412-3
quote=A country and principality within the mainland of Britain ...
about half a million}}[{{cite book ]
title=The Oxford Illustrated Dictionary
page=949
publisher=Oxford University Press
year=1976
origyear=1975
location=Great Britain
quote=Wales (-lz).
Principality occupying extreme W.
of central southern portion of Gt Britain}} although this has no modern geographical or constitutional basis.
Etymology
{{See also
List of meanings of countries' names
History of the term Vlach}}
Wales
The English name '''''Wales''''' List of meanings of countries' names
originates from the Germanic languages
Germanic words ''Walh'' (singular) and ''Walha'' (plural), meaning "foreigner" or "stranger".
The Old English
Ænglisc-speaking Anglo-Saxons used the term ''Waelisc'' when referring to the Celts
Celtic Britons (historical)
Britons, and ''Wealas'' when referring to their lands.
The same etymology applies to ''walnut'' (meaning "foreign (Roman) nut") as well as the ''wall'' of Cornwall and Wallonia.
Old Church Slavonic also borrowed the term from the Germanic, and it is the origin of the names Wallachia and its people, the Vlachs.[{{cite book]
last =Davies
first=John
authorlink =John Davies (historian)
title = A History of Wales
publisher =Penguin
year =1994
location =London
pages =71
isbn =0-14-01-4581-8}}[{{cite book]
last=Tolkien
first=John Ronald Reuel
authorlink =J.
R.
R.
Tolkien
title=Angles and Britons: O'Donnell Lectures
publisher=University of Wales Press
year=1963
location=Cardiff
pages=English and Welsh, an O'Donnell Lecture delivered at Oxford on Oct.
21, 1955
nopp=true}}[{{cite web]
last = Gilleland
first = Michael
title = Laudator Temporis Acti: More on the Etymology of Walden
work = Laudator Temporis Acti website
publisher = Michael Gilleland
date = 2007-12-12
url = http://laudatorte mporisacti.blogspot.com/2007/12/more-on-etymology-of-walden.html
accessdate = 2008-10-29}}
Cymru
The modern Welsh name for themselves is ''Cymry'', and '''Cymru''' is Welsh language
Welsh for "Land of the Cymry".
The Etymology
etymological origin of ''Cymry'' is from the (reconstructed) British language (Celtic)
Brythonic word ''combrogi'', meaning "compatriots", in the sense of "fellow countrymen".[{{Citation
]
last=Davies
first=John
author-link=John Davies (historian)
year=1990
contribution=
title=A History of Wales
edition=First
publisher=Penguin Group
publication-date=1993
publication-place=London
page=71
isbn=0-713-99098-8
}}, ''A History of Wales'', 400–800.
The use of the word ''Cymry'' as a self-designation derives from the Sub-Roman Britain
post-Roman Era relationship of the Welsh with the Brythonic-speaking peoples of northern England and southern Scotland, the peoples of ''Hen Ogledd
Yr Hen Ogledd'' ({{lang-en
The Old North}}).
In its original use, it amounted to a self-perception that the Welsh and the "Men of the North" were one people, exclusive of all others.[{{Citation
]
last=Lloyd
first=John Edward
author-link=John Edward Lloyd
year=1911
contribution=Note to Chapter VI, the Name "Cymry"
contribution-url=http://books.google.com/books?id=NYwNAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA191
title=A History of Wales from the Earliest Times to the Edwardian Conquest
volume=I
edition=Second
publisher=Longmans, Green, and Co.
publication-date=1912
publication-place=London
pages=191 – 192
url=
}} In particular, the term was not applied to the Cornish people
Cornish or the Breton people
Breton peoples, who are of similar heritage, culture, and language to both the Welsh and the Men of the North.
The word came into use as a self-description probably before the 7th century.[{{Citation
]
last=Phillimore
first=Egerton
author-link=
year=1891
editor-last=Phillimore
editor-first=Egerton
editor-link=
contribution=Note (a) to The Settlement of Brittany
contribution-url=http://books.google.com/books?id=M35QO0vor-EC&pg=PA97
title=Y Cymmrodor
volume=XI
publisher=Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion
publication-date=1892
publication-place=London
pages=97 – 101
url=
}} It is attested in a praise poem to Cadwallon ap Cadfan written c.
633.[{{Citation
]
last=Davies
first=John
author-link=John Davies (historian)
year=1990
contribution=
title=A History of Wales
edition=First
publisher=Penguin Group
publication-date=1993
publication-place=London
page=71
isbn=0-713-99098-8
}}, ''A History of Wales'', 400–800.
The poem contains the line: 'Ar wynep Kymry Cadwallawn was'.
In Welsh literature the word ''Cymry'' was used throughout the Middle Ages to describe the Welsh, though the older, more generic term ''Brythoniaid'' continued to be used to describe any of the Britons (historical)
Britonnic peoples (including the Welsh) and was the more common literary term until c.
1100.
Thereafter ''Cymry'' prevailed as a reference to the Welsh.
Until circa 1560 ''Cymry'' was used indiscriminately to mean either the people (Cymry) or their homeland (Cymru).[
The Latinisation]
Latinised form of the name is Cambria.
Outside of Wales this form survives as the name of Cumbria in North West England, which was once a part of ''Yr Hen Ogledd''.
It is used in geology to represent a geological period (the Cambrian) and in evolutionary studies to represent the period when most major groups of complex animals appeared (the Cambrian explosion).
This form also appears at times in literary references, perhaps most notably in the pseudohistory
pseudohistorical ''Historia Regum Britanniae'' of Geoffrey of Monmouth, where the character of Camber (legendary king)
Camber is described as the eponymous King of Cymru.
It has occasionally been suggested, both in outdated historical sources and by some modern writers, that the Cymry were somehow linked to the 2nd century BC Cimbri or to the 7th century BC Cimmerians because of the phonetic similarity.
Such suggestions have long been dismissed by scholars on etymological and other grounds.[{{Citation
]
last=Hubert
first=Henri
author-link=Henri Hubert
last2=Mauss
first2=Marcel
author2-link=Marcel Mauss
year=1934
contribution=What the Celts Were
title=The Rise of the Celts
publisher=K.
Paul, Trench, Trubner
publication-date=1934
publication-place=London
page=25 – 26
isbn=0-8196-0183-7
}}[{{Citation
]
year=2005
last=
first=
contribution=Cimbri and Teutones
editor-last=Koch
editor-first=John T.
editor-link=
title=Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia
publisher=ABL-CLIO
publication-date=2006
publication-place=
page=437
isbn=9781851094400
}}
History
{{main
History of Wales}}
Prehistoric origins
{{See also
Prehistoric Wales}}
File:BrynCelliDdu3.jpg
right
thumb
250px
Bryn Celli Ddu, a late Neolithic chambered tomb on Anglesey.
Wales has been inhabited by Human
modern humans for at least 29,000 years.[{{cite web]
title=Channel 4 - News - Red Lady skeleton 29,000 years old
url=http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/s cience_technology/red+lady+skeleton+29000+years+old/979762
accessdate=2008-10-30 : ''see'' Red Lady of Paviland
publisher=Channel 4 - News
date=2007-10-30
work=Channel 4 website}} Although continuous human habitation dates from the end of the last ice age (between 12,000 and 10,000 Before Present (BP)), when mesolithic hunter-gatherers from Central Europe began to Human migration
migrate to Great Britain.
Wales was free of glaciers by about 10,250 BP and people would have been able to walk between Continental Europe and Great Britain until between about 7,000 and 6,000 BP, before the post glacial rise in sea level led to Great Britain becoming an island, and the Irish Sea forming to separate Wales and Ireland.[{{cite book]
last=Davies
first=John
authorlink =John Davies (historian)
title=A History of Wales
publisher=Penguin
year=1994
location=London
pages=4 - 6
isbn = 0-14-01-4581-8}}[{{cite web]
title=Overview: From Neolithic to Bronze Age, 8000–800 BC (Page 1 of 6)
url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/h istory/ancient/british_prehistory/overview_british_prehistory_01.shtml
accessdate=2008-08-05
publisher=BBC
date=2006-09-05
work=BBC History website}}
John Davies (historian)
John Davies has theorised that the story of Cantre'r Gwaelod's drowning and tales in the Mabinogion, of the waters between Wales and Ireland being narrower and shallower, may be distant folk memories of this time.[{{cite web]
title=Genes link Celts to Basques
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/1256894.stm
accessdate=2008-08-05
publisher=BBC
date=2001-04-03
work=BBC News website}}
These Neolithic Colonisation
colonists integrated with the indigenous people, gradually changing their lifestyles from a nomadic life of hunting and gathering, to become settled farmers—the Neolithic Revolution.[{{cite web]
title=GGAT 72 Overviews
url=http://www.ggat.org.uk/cadw/cadw_reports/pdfs/GGAT%2072%20Overviews.pdf
PDF
p.
47
accessdate=2008-12-30
publisher=Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust
year=2003
work=A Report for Cadw by Edith Evans BA PhD MIFA and Richard Lewis BA}} They cleared the forests to establish pasture and to cultivate the land, developed new technologies such as ceramics and textile production, and they built cromlechs such as Pentre Ifan, Bryn Celli Ddu and Parc Cwm long cairn between about 5500 BP and 4th millennium BC
6000 BP, about 1,000 to 1,500 years before either Stonehenge or The Egyptian Great Pyramid of Giza was completed.[{{cite web]
title=Stones of Wales - Pentre Ifan Dolmen
url=ht tp://www.stonepages.com/wales/pentreifan.html
accessdate=2008-11-17
publisher=Paola Arosio/Diego Meozzi
year=2003
work=Stone Pages website}}[{{cite web]
title=Stones of Wales - Bryn Celli Ddu Burial chamber
url=http://www.stonepages.com/wales/bryncelliddu.html
accessdate=2008-11-17
publisher=Paola Arosio/Diego Meozzi
year=2003
work=Stone Pages website}}[{{cite web]
title=Parc le Breos Burial Chamber; Parc CWM Long Cairn
url=http://www.coflein.gov.uk/pls/portal/coflein.w_details?inumlink=6052756
accessdate=2008-10-24
publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales
year=2006
work=The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales website}}[{{cite web]
title=BBC Wales - History - Themes Prehistoric Wales: The Stone Age
url=http://www. bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/themes/periods/prehistoric02.shtml
accessdate=2008-10-24
publisher=BBC
year=2008
work=BBC Wales website}}[{{cite web]
title=Your guide to Stonehenge, the World's Favourite Megalithic Stone Circle
url=htt p://www.stonehenge.co.uk/history.htm
accessdate=2008-08-05
publisher=Longplayer SRS Ltd (trading as www.stonehenge.co.uk)
year=2008
work=Stonehenge.co.uk website}}
In common with people living all over Great Britain, over the following centuries the people living in what was to become known as Wales assimilated immigrants and exchanged ideas of the Bronze Age and Iron Age Celts
Celtic cultures.
By the time of the Roman conquest of Britain
Roman invasion of Britain the area of modern Wales had been divided among the tribes of the Deceangli, Ordovices, Cornovii (Midlands)
Cornovii, Demetae and Silures for centuries.[{{cite book]
last=Davies
first=John
authorlink =John Davies (historian)
title=A History of Wales
publisher=Penguin
year=1994
location=London
page=17
isbn = 0-14-01-4581-8}}
Colonisation
{{See also
Roman Britain
Roman Wales
Sub-Roman Britain}}
The first documented history of the area that would become Wales was in AD 48.
Following attacks by the Silures of southeast Wales, in AD 47 and 48, the Roman Empire
Roman historian Tacitus recorded that the governor of the new Roman province of Britannia "received the submission of the Deceangli" in north-east Wales.[{{cite book]
last=Davies
first=John
authorlink =John Davies (historian)
title=A History of Wales
publisher=Penguin
year=1994
location=London
pages=26 & 27
isbn = 0-14-01-4581-8}}
A string of Roman forts was established across what is now the South Wales region, as far west as Carmarthen (''Caerfyrddin''; {{lang-la
Maridunum}}), and gold was mined at Dolaucothi Gold Mines
Dolaucothi in Carmarthenshire.
There is evidence that the Romans progressed even farther west.
They also built the Roman legionary fortress at Caerleon ({{lang-la
Isca Augusta
Isca Silurum}}), of which the magnificent amphitheatre is the best preserved in Britain.
The Romans were also busy in northern Wales, and the mediaeval Welsh tale ''Breuddwyd Macsen Wledig'' (dream of Macsen Wledig) claims that Magnus Maximus (''Macsen Wledig''), one of the last western Roman Emperors, married Elen or Helen, the daughter of a Welsh chieftain from Segontium Roman Fort
Segontium, present-day Caernarfon.[For the original Middle Welsh text see, Ifor Williams (ed.), ''Breuddwyd Maxen'' (Bangor, 1920).]
Discussion of the tale and its context in M.P.
Charlesworth, ''The Lost Province'' (Gregynog Lectures series, 1948, 1949). It was in the 4th century during the Roman occupation that Christianity was introduced to Wales.
After the Roman withdrawal from Britain in 410, much of the lowlands were overrun by various Germanic tribes.[[http://news.nationa lgeographic.com/news/2006/07/060721-england.html Ancient Britain Had Apartheid-Like Society, Study Suggests].]
National Geographic News.
July 21, 2006. However, kingdom of Gwynedd
Gwynedd, kingdom of Powys
Powys, kingdom of Deheubarth
Dyfed and Seisyllg, Glywysing
Morgannwg, and Kingdom of Gwent
Gwent emerged as independent Welsh successor states.
They endured, in part because of favourable geographical features such as uplands, mountains, and rivers and a resilient society that did not collapse with the end of the Roman civitas.
This tenacious survival by the Romano-Britons and their descendants in the western kingdoms was to become the foundation of what we now know as Wales.
With the loss of the lowlands, England's kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria, and later Wessex, wrestled with Powys, Gwent, and Gwynedd to define the frontier between the two peoples.
Having lost much of what is now the West Midlands (region)
West Midlands to Mercia in the sixth and early seventh centuries, a resurgent late-seventh-century Powys checked Mercian advancement.
Aethelbald of Mercia, looking to defend recently acquired lands, had built Wat's Dyke.
According to John Davies, this endeavour may have been with Powys king Elisedd ap Gwylog's own agreement, however, for this boundary, extending north from the valley of the River Severn to the Dee estuary, gave Oswestry ({{lang-cy
Croesoswallt}}) to Powys.[{{cite book]
last =Davies
first =John
authorlink =John Davies (historian)
title = A History of Wales
publisher = Penguin
year = 1993
location = London
pages = 65–66
isbn = 0-14-01-4581-8}} King Offa of Mercia seems to have continued this consultative initiative when he created a larger earthwork, now known as Offa's Dyke (Welsh: ''Clawdd Offa'').
Davies wrote of Cyril Fox's study of Offa's Dyke:
{{quotation
In the planning of it, there was a degree of consultation with the kings of Powys and Gwent.
On the Long Mountain near Trelystan, the dyke veers to the east, leaving the fertile slopes in the hands of the Welsh; near Rhiwabon, it was designed to ensure that Cadell ap Brochwel retained possession of the Fortress of Penygadden." And for Gwent Offa had the dyke built "on the eastern crest of the gorge, clearly with the intention of recognizing that the River Wye and its traffic belonged to the kingdom of Gwent.[David Hill and Margaret Worthington, ''Offa's Dyke: history and guide'', Tempus, 2003, ISBN 0-7524-1958-7] Offa's Dyke largely remained the frontier between the Welsh and English, though the Welsh would recover by the 12th century the area between the River Dee, Wales
Dee and the Conwy known then as the Perfeddwlad.
By the eighth century, the eastern borders with the Anglo-Saxons had broadly been set.
Following the successful examples of Cornwall in 722 and Brittany in 865, the Britons of Wales made their peace with the Vikings and asked the Norsemen to help the Britons fight the Anglo-Saxons of Mercia to prevent an Anglo-Saxon conquest of Wales.
In AD 878 the Britons of Wales unified with the Vikings of Denmark to destroy an Anglo-Saxon army of Mercians.
Like Cornwall in 722, this decisive defeating of the Saxons gave Wales some decades of peace from Anglo-Saxon attack.
In 1063, the Welsh prince Gruffydd ap Llywelyn made an alliance with Norwegian Vikings against Mercia which, as in AD 878 was successful, and the Saxons of Mercia defeated.
As with Cornwall and Brittany, Viking aggression towards the Saxons/Franks ended any chance of the Anglo-Saxons/Franks conquering their Celtic neighbours.
Medieval Wales
File:Northwales2.JPG
thumb
right
280px
Principality
Principalities in north Wales 1267–1276.
{{See also
Norman invasion of Wales
Wales in the Late Middle Ages}}
The southern and eastern lands lost to English settlement became known in Welsh as ''Lloegyr'' (Modern Welsh ''Lloegr''), which may have referred to the kingdom of Mercia originally, and which came to refer to England as a whole.[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.), ''Welsh Triads
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) The Germanic tribes who now dominated these lands were invariably called ''Saeson'', meaning "Saxons".
The Anglo-Saxons called the Romano-British 'Walha', meaning 'Romanised foreigner' or 'stranger'.
In Welsh literature
Armes Prydain, written in about 930, the words ''Cymry'' and ''Cymro'' are used as often as 15 times.
It was not until about the 12th century however, that ''Cymry'' began to overtake ''Brythoniaid'' in their writings.
File:Dolwyddelan Castle2.jpg
thumb
left
250px
Dolwyddelan Castle, built by Llywelyn ab Iorwerth in the early 13th century to watch over one of the valley routes into Gwynedd.
From the year 800 onwards, a series of dynastic marriages led to Rhodri the Great
Rhodri Mawr's (r.
844–877) inheritance of Gwynedd and Powys.
His sons in turn would found three principal dynasties (Aberffraw for Gwynedd, Dinefwr for Deheubarth, and Mathrafal for Powys), each competing for hegemony over the others.
Rhodri's grandson Hywel Dda (r뜴–950) founded Deheubarth out of his maternal and paternal inheritances of Dyfed and Seisyllwg, ousted the Aberffraw dynasty from Gwynedd and Powys, and codified Welsh law in 930, finally going on a pilgrimage to Rome (and allegedly having the Law Codes blessed by the Pope).
Maredudd ab Owain (r랊–999) of Deheubarth (Hywel's grandson) would, (again) temporarily oust the Aberffraw line from control of Gwynedd and Powys.
Maredudd's great-grandson (through his daughter Princess Angharad) Gruffydd ap Llywelyn (r–1063) would conquer his cousins' realms from his base in Powys, and even extend his authority into England.
Historian John Davies (historian)
John Davies states that Gruffydd was ''"the only Welsh king ever to rule over the entire territory of Wales...
Thus, from about 1057 until his death in 1063, the whole of Wales recognised the kingship of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn.
For about seven brief years, Wales was one, under one ruler, a feat with neither precedent nor successor."''[{{cite book]
last =Davies
first =John
authorlink =John Davies (historian)
title = A History of Wales
publisher = Penguin
year = 1993
location = London
pages = 100
isbn = 0-14-01-4581-8}} Owain Gwynedd (1100–1170) of the Aberffraw line was the first Welsh ruler to use the title ''princeps Wallensium'' (prince of the Welsh), a title of substance given his victory on the Berwyn Mountains, according to John Davies (historian)
John Davies.[{{cite book]
last =Davies
first =John
authorlink =John Davies (historian)
title = A History of Wales
publisher = Penguin
year = 1993
location = London
pages = 128
isbn = 0-14-01-4581-8}}
File:Owain Glyndwr at Cardiff City Hall.jpg
right
thumb
180px
Sculpture of Owain Glyndwr (c.
1354 or 1359 – c.
1416), the last native Welsh person to hold the title Prince of Wales.
The Aberffraw dynasty would surge to pre-eminence with Owain Gwynedd's grandson Llywelyn the Great
Llywelyn Fawr (the Great) (b–1240), wrestling concessions out of the Magna Carta in 1215 and receiving the fealty of other Welsh lords in 1216 at the council at Aberdyfi, becoming the first Prince of Wales.
His grandson Llywelyn the Last
Llywelyn II also secured the recognition of the title ''Prince of Wales'' from Henry III of England
Henry III with the Treaty of Montgomery in 1267.
Later however, a succession of disputes, including the imprisonment of Llywelyn's wife Eleanor de Montfort
Eleanor, daughter of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester
Simon de Montfort, culminated in the first invasion by Edward I of England
Edward I.
File:Caernarfon Castle 1994.jpg
thumb
left
Caernarfon Castle
As a result of military defeat, the Treaty of Aberconwy exacted Llywelyn's fealty to England in 1277.
Peace was short lived and with the 1282 Llywelyn the Last#Last campaign and death
Edwardian conquest the rule of the Welsh princes permanently ended.
With Llywelyn's death and his brother prince Dafydd ap Gruffydd
Dafydd's execution, the few remaining Welsh Peers
Welsh lords did homage for their lands to Edward I.
Llywelyn's head was then carried through London on a spear; his baby daughter Gwenllian ferch Llywelyn
Gwenllian was locked in the priory at Sempringham, where she remained until her death fifty four years later.[[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/786625.stm "Tribute to lost Welsh princess", bbc.co.uk] date 12 June 2000, URL retrieved on 5 March 2007]
To help maintain his dominance, Edward constructed a series of great stone castles.
Beaumaris Castle
Beaumaris, Caernarfon Castle
Caernarfon, and Conwy Castle
Conwy were built mainly to overshadow the Welsh royal home and headquarters Garth Celyn, Aber Garth Celyn, on the north coast of Gwynedd.
After the failed revolt in 1294–5 of Madog ap Llywelyn – who styled himself prince of Wales in the so-called Penmachno Document – there was no major uprising until that led by Owain Glyndwr a century later, against Henry IV of England.
In 1404 Owain was reputedly crowned Prince of Wales in the presence of emissaries from France, Spain and Scotland; he went on to hold parliamentary assemblies at several Welsh towns, including Machynlleth.
The rebellion was ultimately to founder, however, and Owain went into hiding in 1412, with peace being essentially restored in Wales by 1415.
Although the English conquest of Wales took place under the 1284 Statute of Rhuddlan, a formal Union did not occur until 1536,
Nationalist revival
Image:cymdeithas-logo.svg
thumb
150px
right
Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg logo ({{lang-en
The Welsh Language Society}})
{{see also
History of Plaid Cymru}}
In the 20th century, Wales saw a revival in its national status.
Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925, seeking greater autonomy or independence from the rest of the UK.
In 1955, the term England and Wales became common for describing the area to which English law applied, and Cardiff was proclaimed as capital city of Wales.
Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg ({{lang-en
The Welsh Language Society}}) was formed in 1962, in response to fears that the language may soon die out.
Nationalism grew, particularly following the flooding of the Tryweryn valley in 1965 to create a reservoir supplying water to the English city of Liverpool.
Despite 35 of the 36 Welsh Members of Parliament (MPs) voting against the bill, with the other abstaining, Parliament still passed the bill and the village of Capel Celyn was drowned, highlighting Wales's powerlessness in her own affairs in the face of the numerical superiority of English MPs in the Westminster Parliament.[{{cite web]
title=BBC - Liverpool - Features - Flooding Apology
url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/co ntent/articles/2005/10/17/feature_welsh_reservoir_feature.shtml
accessdate=2008-10-18
publisher=BBC Wales
date=2005-10-19
work=BBC website}} In 1966 the Carmarthen Parliamentary seat was won by Gwynfor Evans at a by-election, Plaid Cymru's first Parliamentary seat.[{{cite book
]
last=Gwynfor
first=Evans
authorlink =Gwynfor Evans
title=The Fight for Welsh Freedom
publisher=Y Lolfa Cyf., Talybont
year=2000
isbn=0 86243 515 32
pages=152}}
Both the Free Wales Army and Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru
Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru (MAC) ({{lang-en
Welsh Defence Movement}}) were formed as a direct result of the Tryweryn destruction,[{{cite book
]
last=Clews
first=Roy
title=To Dream of Freedom - The story of MAC and the Free Wales Army
publisher=Y Lolfa Cyf., Talybont
year=1980
isbn=0 86243 586 2
pages=15, 21 & 26–31}} conducting campaigns from 1963.
In the years leading up to the investiture of Charles, Prince of Wales
Prince Charles as Prince of Wales in 1969, these groups were responsible for a number of bomb blasts—destroying water pipes, tax and other offices, and part of a dam being built for a new English backed project in Clywedog, Montgomeryshire.[{{cite book
]
last=Clews
first=Roy
title=To Dream of Freedom - The story of MAC and the Free Wales Army
publisher=Y Lolfa Cyf., Talybont
year=1980
isbn=0 86243 586 2
pages=22, 59, 60 & 216}} In 1967, the Wales and Berwick Act 1746 was repealed for Wales, and a legal definition of Wales, and of the boundary with England was stated.
File:Cofiwch Dryweryn.jpg
left
thumb
300px
Unofficial graffiti memorial to Capel Celyn, Tryweryn ({{lang-en
Remember Tryweryn}}) at Llanrhystud, near Aberystwyth[{{cite web]
title=BBC News - Wales - Mid Wales - Dam graffiti wall set to be saved
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/mid/6056566.stm
accessdate=2009-06-21
publisher=BBC News
date=2006-10-17
work=BBC News website}}
A referendum on the creation of an assembly for Wales in 1979 (see Wales referendum, 1979) led to a large majority for the "no" vote.
However, in 1997 a referendum on the same issue secured a "yes", although by a very narrow majority.
The National Assembly for Wales (''Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru'') was set up in 1999 (as a consequence of the Government of Wales Act 1998) and possesses the power to determine how the central government budget for Wales is spent and administered (although the UK parliament reserves the right to set limits on the powers of the Welsh Assembly).
The 1998 Act was amended by the Government of Wales Act 2006 which enhanced the Assembly's powers, giving it legislative powers akin to the Scottish Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly.
Following the 2007 Assembly election, the One Wales Government was formed under a coalition agreement between Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Labour Party, under that agreement, a convention is due to be established to discuss further enhancing Wales's legislative and financial autonomy.
A referendum on giving the Welsh assembly full law-making powers is promised "as soon as practicable, at or before the end of the assembly term (in 2011)" and both parties have agreed "in good faith to campaign for a successful outcome to such a referendum".[[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/6246428.stm BBC News ]
Wales
Details of Labour-Plaid Agreement]
Government and politics
{{Main article
Politics of Wales}}
{{see also
Politics of the United Kingdom
National Assembly for Wales election, 2007}}
File:Royal Badge of Wales new.svg
left
100px
thumb
Royal Badge of Wales.
Constitutionally, the United Kingdom is ''de jure'' a unitary state with one sovereign parliament and government in United Kingdom Parliament
Westminster.
Referenda held in Wales and Scotland in Welsh devolution referendum, 1997
1997 chose to establish a limited form of self-government in both countries.
In Wales, the consequent process of devolution began with the Government of Wales Act 1998, which created the National Assembly for Wales ({{lang
cy
''Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru''}}).[{{cite web]
title=UK Parliament -Parliament's role
url=http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/role.cfm
accessdate=2009-09-01
publisher=Parliament of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom Parliament
date=2009-06-29
work=United Kingdom Parliament website}} Powers of the Secretary of State for Wales were transferred to the devolved government on 1 July 1999, granting the Assembly responsibility to decide how the Westminster government's budget for devolved areas is spent and administered.[{{cite web]
title=Welsh Assembly Government:Devolution timeline
url=http://wales.gov.uk/about/10years/timeline/?lang=en
accessdate=2009-08-31
publisher=Welsh Assembly Government
year=2009
work=Welsh Assembly Government website}}
Devolved responsibilities include agriculture, economic development, education, health, housing, industry, local government, social services, tourism, transport, and the Welsh language.
The National Assembly is not a sovereign authority and has no Primary legislation
primary legislative powers, which the Westminster Government retains, but since the Government of Wales Act 2006 came into effect in 2007, the National Assembly can request powers to pass primary legislation as Assembly Measures on specific issues.
File:Senedd.JPG
250px
thumb
right
The Senedd (Welsh Assembly Building)
The Senedd building.
The Assembly consists of 60 members, known as "Member of the National Assembly for Wales
Assembly Members (AM)".
Forty of the AMs are elected under the Plurality voting system
First Past the Post system, with the other 20 elected via the Additional Member System via regional lists in 5 different regions.
The largest party elects the First Minister of Wales, who acts as the head of government.
The Welsh Assembly Government is the executive arm, and the Assembly has delegated most of its powers to the Assembly Government.
The new Assembly Building designed by Richard Rogers
Lord Rogers was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on Saint David's Day
St David's Day (1 March) 2006.
The First Minister of Wales is Carwyn Jones (since 2009), of the Labour Party (UK)
Labour Party, with 26 of 60 seats.[{{cite web ]
url=http://www.walesonline .co.uk/news/welsh-politics/welsh-politics-n ews/2009/12/09/carwyn-jones-officially-nominated-as-first-minister-91466-25357282/
title=WalesOnline - News - Politics - Politics News - Carwyn Jones officially nominated as First Minister
publisher= Welsh Media Ltd
date=2009-12-09
accessdate=2009-12-09
work=WalesOnline website}} After the National Assembly for Wales election, 2007 Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru
Plaid Cymru; The Party of Wales, which favours Welsh independence from the rest of the United Kingdom entered into a coalition partnership to form a stable government with the "historic" One Wales agreement.
As the second largest party in the Assembly with 14 out of 60 seats, ''Plaid Cymru'' is led by Ieuan Wyn Jones, First Minister of Wales
Deputy First Minister of Wales.
The Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales
Presiding Officer of the Assembly is Plaid Cymru member Dafydd Elis-Thomas
Lord Elis-Thomas.
Other parties include the Conservative Party (UK)
Conservative Party, currently the loyal opposition with 13 seats, and the Liberal Democrats (UK)
Liberal Democrats with six seats.
The "LibDems" had previously formed part of a coalition government with Labour in the first Assembly.
There is one independent member.
In the House of Commons of the United Kingdom
House of Commons – the lower house of the UK government – Wales is represented by 40 Member of Parliament
MPs (of 646) from List of Parliamentary constituencies in the United Kingdom#Wales
Welsh constituencies.
Labour represents 29 of the 40 seats, the Liberal Democrats hold four seats, Plaid Cymru three and the Conservatives three.[[http ://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/vote2005/html/region_10.stm Results: Wales] BBC News i June, 2005] A Secretary of State for Wales sits in the UK cabinet and is responsible for representing matters that pertain to Wales.
The Wales Office is a department of the United Kingdom government, responsible for Wales.
The Secretary of State for Wales is Paul Murphy (politician)
Paul Murphy, who replaced Peter Hain on 24 January 2008, after Hain had resigned over an investigation into undeclared donations to his Labour Party deputy leadership campaign.
Wales is also a distinct UK Wales (European Parliament consti
|
Barcelo Cardiff Angel Hotel
Floral Displays by Sarah Jan
