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Gwynedd

A county and preserved county, Gwynedd is located in northwest Wales and includes the island of Anglesey. Its neighbors are the counties of Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey across the Menai Strait, and Ceredigion across the Dyfi River. Most of Snowdonia National Park and the beautiful Lln Peninsula can be found in the county of Gwynedd. Bangor is the city where Bangor University is located.

It is the second largest LGA in Wales by land area and one of the least densely populated. Most of the locals are fluent in Welsh. Local government areas of Gwynedd and Anglesey are included in the definition of Gwynedd, which also makes it one of the preserved counties of Wales. Culturally and historically named after the ancient kingdom of Gwynedd, the name Gwynedd can be used for the entirety of North Wales, including the territory once patrolled by the Gwynedd Constabulary. As of the 2011 Census, there were 121,874 people living in an area covering 2,535 square kilometers (979 square miles).

History

From the end of the Roman era until the 13th century, when it was conquered by England, Gwynedd was an independent kingdom. Present-day Gwynedd was formed as one of Wales's eight new counties on April 1, 1974, as a result of the Local Government Act of 1972. Denbighshire's parishes of Llanrwst, Llansanffraid Glan Conwy, Eglwysbach, Llanddoged, Llandysul, and Tir Ifan were included, as were all of Anglesey and Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire except for Edeirnion Rural District (which went to Clwyd).

The county was split up into Aberconwy, Arfon, Dwyfor, Meirionnydd, and Anglesey.

On 1 April 1996, the county of 1974 and its five districts were dissolved by the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, and its territory was split in two: the Isle of Anglesey became a unitary authority unto itself, and Aberconwy (including the former Denbighshire parishes) was transferred to the new Conwy County Borough. Since it encompasses a large portion of both Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire, the remaining part of the county was made into a principal area and given those names. The Council's first official act was to change its name to Gwynedd on April 2, 1996. The present day Gwynedd local government area is run by Gwynedd Council. The modern administration is a unitary one, so there are no longer any districts, but Arfon, Dwyfor, and Meirionnydd continue to function as area committees.

The county's pre-1996 borders were preserved for some reasons, including the Lieutenancy. Gwynedd and Anglesey are now both included in the preserved county after the boundary with Clwyd was revised in 2003 to reflect the current local government boundary. The county borough of Conwy is now completely located within Clwyd.

In 1950, the police departments of Anglesey, Caernarfonshire, and Merionethshire were merged to form the Gwynedd Constabulary. During the 1960s, the Gwynedd Constabulary merged with the county forces of Flintshire and Denbighshire, but the Gwynedd name remained. A local authority called Gwynedd was proposed to govern all of north Wales as part of one proposal to reform Welsh local government, but the final scheme split the region between Gwynedd and Clwyd. Therefore, the Gwynedd Constabulary was renamed the North Wales Police to avoid any possible confusion.

In 1951, the Snowdonia National Park was established. Due to the 1974 reorganization of local governments, the park is now entirely within Gwynedd and is administered by the Gwynedd County Council. The park's administration was split off from the Gwynedd council after the local government reorganization of 1996, and now operates under the jurisdiction of Conwy County Borough. Nine of the 18 members of the Snowdonia National Park Authority are still appointed by Gwynedd Council; three are appointed by Conwy County Borough Council; and the remaining six are appointed by the Welsh Government.

Economy

There are some prosperous and some struggling areas in the county's economy. Tourism is a major contributor to the economy, as many people come to the area to enjoy its many beaches and mountain scenery. From its northern coast to its southern district of Meirionnydd, a large portion of the county is contained within Snowdonia National Park. In contrast, year-round employment is scarce because tourism is a seasonal industry.

There are fewer people today making a living in agriculture than there were in the past, but the sector is still vital to the economy as a whole.

Slate production is the backbone of the traditional economy, but only a fraction of the workforce is currently employed in the industry.

Among the more recent developments are the television and music recording industries; the Sain record label is headquartered there.

Bangor University and the two FE colleges in the area, Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor and Coleg Menai (now a part of Grp Llandrillo Menai), contribute significantly to the local economy.

There is a higher concentration of Welsh speakers in Gwynedd than in any other region of Wales. There were 65.4% of people aged 3 and up who reported being able to speak Welsh in the 2011 Census. An estimated 83% of the county's Welsh speakers are native speakers, the highest rate among all Welsh counties. At 92.3%, those between the ages of 5 and 15 in Gwynedd are the age group with the highest proportion of native Welsh speakers.

While the percentage of Welsh speakers in Wales as a whole increased to 20.5% during that decade, the percentage of Welsh speakers in Gwynedd decreased, from 72.1% to 68.7%, during that same time period. According to the 2018 Annual Population Survey, if you live in Gwynedd and are three or older, there's a 78% chance that you can speak Welsh.

Wales, UK Description

Wales is a constituent unit of the United Kingdom that extends the island of Great Britain westward from its eastern border with the Republic of Ireland. Wales, renowned for its starkly rugged landscape, was one of Celtic Europe's most prominent political and cultural centers, and it retains aspects of its culture that are markedly different from those of its English neighbors. Wales was one of Celtic Europe's most prominent political and cultural centers, and it retains aspects of culture that are markedly different from those of its English neighbors.

Wales is a "country very strongly defended by high mountains, deep valleys, extensive woods, rivers, and marshes; insomuch that from the time the Saxons took possession of the island, the remnants of the Britons retiring into these regions could never be completely subdued either by the English or the Normans," the medieval chronicler Giraldus Cambrensis (Gerald of Wales) had topography, history, and current events in mind. When Wales was finally subdued in 1536, it was formally admitted to the kingdom of England by the Act of Union of that year. Despite the fact that many of their compatriots worked at home to preserve cultural traditions and the Welsh language, which experienced a renaissance in the late twentieth century, Welsh engineers, linguists, musicians, writers, and soldiers made significant contributions to the development of the larger British Empire. With the support of the Welsh electorate, the British government granted Wales a measure of autonomy in 1997 by establishing the Welsh Assembly, which assumed decision-making authority over the vast majority of local matters.

Despite the decline of coal mining, which had been the country's economic mainstay for much of the twentieth century, Wales had developed a diversified economy, particularly in the cities of Cardiff and Swansea, while the countryside, which had been reliant on small farming, had attracted a large number of retirees from England. During the twentieth century, tourism developed into an economic mainstay, bringing tourists to Wales' stately parks and castles, as well as cultural events celebrating the country's celebrated musical and literary traditions, many of whom were descendants of Welsh expatriates. While facing constant change, Wales continues to strive for greater independence while also establishing its own distinct identity within an increasingly integrated European Union.

Geographical Description of Wales

Located in the United Kingdom, Wales is bordered on the north by the River Dee and Liverpool Bay, on the west by Irish Sea, on the south by Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel, and on the east by the country of England. Anglesey (Môn), the largest island in England and Wales and the largest in the United Kingdom, is located off the northwest coast of the country and is connected to the mainland by road and rail bridges. Wales' varied coastline stretches for approximately 600 miles and is rich in natural resources (970 km). Northern and southern borders are approximately 130 miles (210 kilometers) apart, and the country's east-west width varies significantly, reaching 90 miles (145 kilometers) in the north, narrowing to approximately 40 miles (65 kilometers) in the center, and widening again to more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) in the south. 

Mountains, plateaus, and hills were deeply dissected by glaciers during the Pleistocene Epoch (approximately 2,600,000–11,700 years ago), including the north–south trending Cambrian Mountains, which are a region of plateaus and hills that are themselves fragmented by rivers. Glaciers carved much of the Welsh landscape during the Pleistocene Epoch (approximately 2,600,000–11,700 years ago) into In the south, the Brecon Beacons rise to 2,906 feet (886 metres) at Pen y Fan, and in the northwest, Snowdonia rises to 3,560 feet (1,085 metres) at Snowdon, the highest peak in Wales. Snowdonia's spectacular scenery is enhanced by stark and rugged rock formations, many of which are volcanic in origin, whereas the Beacons' scenery is characterized by softer contours and more gentle slopes. Uplands are surrounded by a series of steep-sided coastal plateaus that range in elevation from approximately 100 to 700 feet on the seaward side of the peninsula (30 to 210 metres). The sea has pounded many of them into spectacular step-like cliffs, which are now popular tourist attractions. Other plateaus give way to coastal flats that are derived from estuaries.

In traditional classifications, Wales is divided into six distinct regions: the rugged central heartland, the northern Welsh lowlands and Isle of Anglesey county, the Cardigan coast (Ceredigion county), the southwest lowlands, the industrial south of Wales, and the Welsh borderland. Located on the border of the counties of Powys, Denbighshire, and Gwynedd, the heartland spans the length of Wales, stretching from the Brecon Beacons in the south to Snowdonia in the north. It is home to two national parks named after mountain ranges in the region. The coastal lowlands, which include Gwynedd's Lleyn Peninsula (Penrhyn Lln) and Anglesey, are located to the north and northwest of the country.

The Cardigan Bay coastline, which lies to the west of the heartland in the county of Ceredigion, is characterized by numerous cliffs and coves, as well as pebble and sand-filled beaches, and is a popular tourist destination. Southwest of the heartland, the counties of Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire are located. The land rises eastward from St. David's Head, through moorlands and uplands, to reach a height of 1,760 feet (536 metres) in the Preseli Hills. South Wales extends south of the heartland on an enormous coalfield that has been mostly depleted over the years. The Welsh border region with England, located to the east of the heartland, is predominantly agricultural, with occasional wooded hills and mountainous moorland interspersed throughout.

Wales's Economy

The Welsh economy, in general, reflects the national trends and patterns of the United Kingdom as a whole. While Wales employs a greater proportion of people in agriculture and forestry, manufacturing, and government than any other country in the world, it provides fewer jobs in financial and business services than any other. Wales' gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and employment rates are significantly lower than the national average in the United Kingdom, despite the fact that foreign investment is active in Welsh manufacturing, particularly in high-technology sectors. For the purpose of improving living conditions in areas of western and southern Wales, the European Union has committed substantial development assistance to those areas.