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Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and whose physical geography is characterised by a varied coastline and a largely upland interior. It is bordered by England to its east, the Irish Sea to its north and west, and the Bristol Channel to its south. It has a total area of and is about from north to south and at least wide. It comprises 8.35 percent of the land of the United Kingdom. It has a number of offshore islands, by far the largest of which is Anglesey. The mainland coastline, including Anglesey, is about in length. As of 2014, Wales had a population of about 3,092,000; Cardiff is the capital and largest city and is situated in the urbanised area of South East Wales.
Wales has a complex geological history which has left it a largely mountainous country. The coastal plain is narrow in the north and west of the country but wider in the south, where the Vale of Glamorgan has some of the best agricultural land. Exploitation of the South Wales Coalfield during the Industrial Revolution resulted in the development of an urban economy in the South Wales Valleys, and the expansion of the port cities of Newport, Cardiff and Swansea for the export of coal. The smaller North Wales Coalfield was also developed at this time, but elsewhere in the country, the landscape is rural and communities are small, the economy being largely dependent on agriculture and tourism. The climate is influenced by the proximity of the country to the Atlantic Ocean and the prevailing westerly winds; thus it tends to be mild, cloudy, wet and windy.
Physical geography
thumb|200px|right|The summit of [[Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales]]
thumb|200px|right|Depiction of the Vale of Towy, Carmarthenshire
Wales is located on the western side of central southern Great Britain. To the north and west is the Irish Sea, and to the south is the Bristol Channel. The English counties of Cheshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire lie to the east. The large island of Anglesey lies off the northwest coast, separated from mainland Wales by the Menai Strait, and there are a number of smaller islands.
The Cambrian Mountains run from northeast to southwest and occupy most of the central part of the country. These are more rounded and undulating, clad in moorland and rough, tussocky grassland. In the south of the country are the Brecon Beacons in central Powys, the Black Mountains (Y Mynyddoedd Duon) spread across parts of Powys and Monmouthshire in southeast Wales and, confusingly, Black Mountain (Y Mynydd Du), which lies further west on the border between Carmarthenshire and Powys.
The Welsh lowland zone consists of the north coastal plain, the island of Anglesey, part of the Llŷn Peninsula, a narrow strip of coast along Cardigan Bay, much of Pembrokeshire and southern Carmarthenshire, the Gower Peninsula and the Vale of Glamorgan. Cardigan Bay is the largest bay in the country and Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake) the largest lake at . Other large lakes include Llyn Trawsfynydd at , Lake Vyrnwy at , Llyn Brenig at , Llyn Celyn at and Llyn Alaw at . Bala Lake lies in a glacial valley blocked by a terminal moraine, but the other lakes are reservoirs created by impounding rivers, to provide drinking water, hydroelectric schemes or flood defences, and many are also used recreationally.
Geology
thumb|right|Geologic map of Wales
The geology of Wales is complex and varied. The earliest outcropping rocks are from the Precambrian era, some 700 Mya, and are found in Anglesey, the Llŷn peninsula, southwestern Pembrokeshire and in places near the English border. During the Lower Palaeozoic, as seas periodically flooded the land and retreated again, thousands of metres of sedimentary and volcanic rocks accumulated in a marine basin known as the Welsh Basin. Rocks found in a quarry near to the village Llangynog, Carmarthenshire, in 1977 contain some of the Earth's oldest fossils which date from the Ediacaran period, 564 million years ago, when Wales was part of the micro-continent Avalonia.
During the early and middle Ordovician period (485 to 460 Mya), volcanic activity increased. One large volcanic system, which was centred around what is now Snowdon, emitted an estimated of debris. Another volcano formed Rhobell Fawr near Dolgellau. During this period, great accumulations of sand, gravel and mud were deposited further south in Wales, and these gradually consolidated. Some of the volcanic ash fell in the sea and formed great banks, where unstable masses sometimes slid into deeper water, creating submarine avalanches. This caused great turbidity in the sea, after which the particles began to settle out according to particle size. The strata thus formed are called turbidites, and these are common in central Wales, being particularly obvious in the sea cliffs around Aberystwyth.
Climate
Wales has a maritime climate, the predominant winds being southwesterlies and westerlies blowing in from the Atlantic Ocean. This means that the weather in Wales is in general mild, cloudy, wet and windy. The country's wide geographic variations cause localised differences in amounts of sunshine, rainfall and temperature. Rainfall in Wales varies widely, with the highest average annual totals in Snowdonia and the Brecon Beacons, and the lowest near the coast and in the east, close to the English border. Throughout Wales, the winter months are significantly wetter than the summer ones. Snow is comparatively rare near sea level in Wales, but much more frequent over the hills, and the uplands experience harsher conditions in winter than the more low-lying parts.
The mean annual temperatures in Wales are about on the coast and in low-lying inland areas. It becomes cooler at higher altitudes, with a mean decrease in annual temperatures of approximately for each of increased altitude. Consequently, the higher parts of Snowdonia experience mean annual temperatures of .
In order of area planted, the arable crops grown in Wales were: foods for stock-feeding, spring barley, wheat, maize, winter barley, other cereals for combining, oilseed rape, potatoes and other crops. The grassland was predominantly permanent pasture, with only 10% of the grassland being under five years old.
Natural resources
Vast quantities of coal were mined in Wales during the Industrial Revolution and the earlier part of the twentieth century, after which coal stocks dwindled and the remaining pits became uneconomical as foreign coal became available at low prices. The last deep pit in Wales closed in 2008.
Ironstone outcrops along the northern edge of the South Wales Coalfield were extensively worked for the production of iron and were important in the initiation of the Industrial Revolution in South Wales.
Lead, silver and to a lesser extent zinc were mined in the upland areas of the rivers Ystwyth and Rheidol and in the headwaters of the River Severn for centuries and smaller deposits were also mined at Pentre Halkyn in Flintshire during the Roman occupation of Britain.
Copper was a major export from Parys Mountain on Anglesey which was, at its height, the largest copper mine in the world.
thumb|right|[[Penrhyn Quarry in about 1900]]
Slate quarrying has been a major industry in North Wales. The Cilgwyn Quarry was being worked in the 12th century, but later Blaenau Ffestiniog became the centre of production.
thumb|right|The [[Dinorwig Power Station lower reservoir, a 1,800 MW pumped-storage hydroelectric scheme, one of the largest such schemes in Europe]]
With its mountainous terrain and ample rainfall, water is one of Wales's most abundant resources. The country has many man-made reservoirs and exports water to England as well as generating power through hydroelectric schemes.
Wind is another resource that Wales has in abundance. Gwynt y Môr is one of several offshore wind farms off the coast of the North Wales mainland and Anglesey, and is the second largest such wind farm in the world.
Political geography
Border between Wales and England
The modern border between Wales and England was largely defined by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542, based on the boundaries of medieval Marcher lordships. According to the Welsh historian John Davies:
<blockquote>Thus was created the border between Wales and England, a border which has survived until today. It did not follow the old line of Offa's Dyke nor the eastern boundary of the Welsh dioceses; it excluded districts such as Oswestry and Ewias, where the Welsh language would continue to be spoken for centuries, districts which it would not be wholly fanciful to consider as Cambria irredenta. Yet, as the purpose of the statute was to incorporate Wales into England, the location of the Welsh border was irrelevant to the purposes of its framers.</blockquote>
The boundary has never been confirmed by referendum or reviewed by a Boundary Commission. The boundary line very roughly follows Offa's Dyke from south to north as far as a point about from the northern coast, but then swings further east. It has a number of anomalies, but some were ironed out by the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844. For instance, it separates Knighton from its railway station, and divides the village of Llanymynech where a pub straddles the line.
Local government
Wales is divided into 22 unitary authorities, which are responsible for the provision of all local government services, including education, social work, environmental and road services. Below these in some areas there are community councils, which cover specific areas within a council area. The unitary authority areas are known as "principal areas". The King appoints Lords Lieutenant to represent him in the eight preserved counties of Wales.
In the Office for National Statistics Area Classification, local authorities are clustered into groups based in the six main census dimensions (demographic, household composition, housing, socio-economic, employment and industry sector). Most of the local authorities in mid and west Wales are classified as part of the 'Coastal and Countryside' supergroup. Most of the south Wales authorities, Flintshire and Wrexham are in the 'Mining and Manufacturing' supergroup; Cardiff is part of the 'Cities and Services' supergroup and the Vale of Glamorgan is part of 'Prospering UK'.
Social geography
A number of historians of Wales have questioned the notion of a single, cohesive Welsh identity. For example, in 1921, Alfred Zimmern, the inaugural professor of international relations at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, argued that there was "not one Wales, but three": archetypal 'Welsh Wales', industrial or 'American Wales', and upper-class 'English Wales'. Each represented different parts of the country and different traditions. In 1985, political analyst Dennis Balsom proposed a similar 'Three Wales model'. Balsom's regions were the Welsh-speaking heartland of the north and west, Y Fro Gymraeg; a consciously Welsh but not Welsh-speaking 'Welsh Wales' in the South Wales Valleys and a more ambivalent 'British Wales' making up the remainder, largely in the east and along the south coast. The division reflects, broadly, the areas where Plaid Cymru, Labour, and the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats respectively enjoyed the most political support.
Topography has traditionally limited the integration between North and South Wales, with the two halves virtually functioning as separate economic and social units in the preindustrial era, with successive British Government transport policy doing little to rectify it. Today, the main road and rail links run east-west, although there was once a north-south rail link that pressure groups are attempting to reinstate. By the interwar years, industry in South Wales was increasingly linked to Avonside and the English Midlands, and that in north Wales to Merseyside.
Liverpool was often called "the capital of north Wales" in the late 19th and early 20th century. With 20,000 Welsh-born people living on either side of the Mersey in 1901, the city had an array of Welsh chapels and cultural institutions; hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1884, 1900 and 1929 and gave rise to several leading figures in Welsh life in the 20th century. The Liverpool Daily Post became, effectively, the daily newspaper for north Wales. The decline of Liverpool after the Second World War and changing patterns of Welsh migration, caused the Welsh presence to diminish. In the 1960s, the flooding of the Tryweryn Valley to provide the city with water soured relations with many people in Wales. The main population and industrial areas in Wales are in South Wales, specifically Cardiff, Swansea and Newport and the adjoining South Wales Valleys. Cardiff is the capital city and had a population of around 346,000 at the 2011 census. This was followed by the unitary authorities of Swansea (239,000), Rhondda Cynon Taf (234,400), Carmarthenshire (183,800), Caerphilly (178,800), Flintshire (152,500), Newport (145,700), Neath Port Talbot (139,800), Bridgend (139,200) and Wrexham (134,800). Cardiff was the most heavily populated area in Wales with 2,482 people per square kilometre (6,428 per sq mile) while Powys had just 26.
A high proportion of the Welsh population lives in smaller settlements: nearly 20% live in villages of less than 1,500 persons compared with 10% in England. Wales also has a relatively low proportion of its population in large settlements: only 26% live in urban areas with a population over 100,000; in comparison, nearly 40% of the English population live in urban areas larger than the largest in Wales. Another feature of the settlement pattern in Wales is the share of the population living in the sparsest rural areas: 15% compared with only 1.5% in England.
Communications
Communications within Wales are influenced by the topography and the mountainous nature of the country: the main rail and road routes between South and North Wales loop to the east and pass largely through England. The only motorway corridor in Wales is the M4 motorway from London to South Wales, entering the country over the Second Severn Crossing, passing close to Newport, Cardiff and Swansea and extending as far west as the Pont Abraham services before continuing northwest as the A48 to Carmarthen. The M48 motorway parallels the M4 between Aust and Magor via Chepstow. The A40 is a major trunk road connecting London to Fishguard via Brecon and Carmarthen. The A487 coast road links Cardigan with Aberystwyth, and the A44 links Aberystwyth with Rhayader, Leominster and Worcester. The main trunk road in North Wales is the A55 dual carriageway road from Chester past St Asaph and Abergele, continuing along the coast to Bangor, crossing Anglesey and terminating at Holyhead. The A483 runs from Swansea to Chester passing Llandovery, Llandrindod Wells, Oswestry (in England) and Wrexham.
thumb|left|The [[A55 road|A55 running alongside the North Wales Coast Line]]
The South Wales Main Line links London Paddington with Swansea, entering Wales through the Severn Tunnel. Other main line services from the Midlands and the North of England join this at Newport. Branch lines serve the South Wales Valleys, Barry, and destinations beyond Swansea which include the ferry terminals at Fishguard and Pembroke Dock. The Heart of Wales Line links Llanelli with Craven Arms in Shropshire. The Cambrian Line crosses the centre of Wales, with trains from Shrewsbury to Welshpool, Aberystwyth and Pwllheli. The North Wales Coast Line links Crewe and Chester to Bangor and Holyhead, from where there is a ferry service to Ireland. Passengers can change at Shotton for the Borderlands Line, which links Wrexham with Bidston on the Wirral Peninsula, and at Conwy for the Conwy Valley Line to Blaenau Festiniog. The Shrewsbury–Chester line between Chester and Shrewsbury in England, passes through Wrexham, Chirk and Ruabon in Wales.
Cardiff Airport is the only airport in Wales which offers international scheduled flights. Destinations available include other parts of the United Kingdom, Ireland and parts of continental Europe. The airport is also used for charter flights on a seasonal basis. In 2018, around 1.6 million passengers used the airport. Several ferry services operate between Welsh ports and Ireland: Holyhead to Dublin; Fishguard to Rosslare; Pembroke Dock to Rosslare; and Swansea to Cork.
Protected areas
thumb|right|The [[Pembrokeshire Coast Path near Ceibwr Bay]]
Wales has three designated national parks. Snowdonia National Park in northwestern Wales was established in 1951 as the third national park in Britain, following the Peak District and the Lake District. It covers of the mountains of Snowdonia and has of coastline. The Pembrokeshire Coast National Park was established the following year to protect the spectacular coastal scenery of West Wales. It includes Caldey Island, the Daugleddau estuary and the Preseli Hills, as well as the entire length of the Pembrokeshire Coast Path. The Brecon Beacons National Park was established five years later and extends across the southern part of Powys, the northwestern part of Monmouthshire, parts of eastern Carmarthenshire and the northern parts of several South Wales Valleys county boroughs. In each case, the national park authority acts as a special purpose local authority and exercises planning control over residential and industrial development in the park. The authorities have a duty to conserve the natural beauty of the area, and to promote opportunities for members of the public to enjoy and appreciate the park's special qualities.
Wales also has five Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. These differ from National Parks in that the local authorities have a duty to conserve and enhance the natural beauty of the landscape but do not have an obligation to promote the enjoyment of the public. Partnerships established to administer AONBs do not have control over planning, responsibility for which remains with the constituent local authorities. In 1956, the Gower Peninsula became the first designated AONB in Britain. Other AONBs are: the coast of Anglesey; the Llŷn Peninsula; the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley; and the Wye Valley, part of which is in England.
Wales has many waterfalls, including some of the most striking in the United Kingdom. One such is the Pistyll Rhaeadr near the village of Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant. It is formed as a mountain stream drops over a cliff and changes character to a lowland river, the Afon Rhaeadr. The site was designated by the Countryside Council for Wales as the 1000th Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wales, because of its importance to an understanding of Welsh geomorphology. The 19th-century English author George Borrow remarked of the waterfall, "I never saw water falling so gracefully, so much like thin, beautiful threads, as here."
See also
Wales
- Regions of Wales
- Geology of Wales
- Coastline of Wales
- List of Blue Flag Beaches of Wales
- List of islands of Wales
- Little England beyond Wales
Other
- Geography of the United Kingdom
- Geography of England
- Geography of Scotland
- Geography of Ireland