Approximate extent of North Wales
'North Wales' (known in some archaic texts as 'Northgalis') is the northernmost unofficial region of
Wales, bordered to the south by
Mid Wales and to the east by
England.
It comprises the
island of
Anglesey, the
Llŷn peninsula and the
Snowdonia mountain range, together with the catchments of the
Rivers
Conwy,
Clwyd and
Dee.
Traditionally, most of North Wales was covered by the
kingdom of Gwynedd.
The region is currently made up of the following
administrative areas:
★ the
county borough of
Wrexham (''Wrecsam'')
★ the
county of
Flintshire (''Sir y Fflint'')
★ the county of
Denbighshire (''Sir Ddinbych'')
★ the county borough of
Conwy
★ the county of
Gwynedd
★ the county of the
Isle of Anglesey (''Ynys Môn'')
However, "
North Wales" could be used to describe the northern half of
Wales, which would also include the northern parts of
Powys and
Ceredigion.
The area is mostly rural with many
mountains and valleys. This, in combination with its coast (on the
Irish Sea), has ensured that
tourism is the principal industry.
Farming, which was once the principal economic force in the area, is now much reduced in importance. The average income per capita of the local population is the lowest in the
United Kingdom and much of the region has
EU Objective 1 status
[1].
The majority of the settlements in North Wales are along the coast, including some popular resorts, such as
Rhyl,
Llandudno and
Pwllheli. The
A55 expressway links these towns with the north of
England and the port of
Holyhead for ferries to
Ireland; few routes connect North Wales with
South Wales. There are two cathedral cities —
Bangor and
St. Asaph, and a number of mediaeval castles (e.g.:
Harlech,
Caernarfon,
Beaumaris,
Conwy).
North Wales has a somewhat separate identity to the rest of Wales. Its dialect of the
Welsh language differs to that of
South Wales in some ways; for example ''llefrith'' is used in some areas instead of ''llaeth'' for "milk"; a simple sentence such as ''go upstairs now'' would be ''Dos i fyny'r grisiau rwan'' in North Wales, where it would be ''Cer lan y stâr nawr'' in the South. Colloquially, a person from North Wales (especially one who speaks with this dialect or accent) is known as a ''North Walian'', or a ''gog'' (from the Welsh ''gogledd'', meaning "north").
For many purposes Wales can be divided into only three regions, North Wales,
South Wales and
West Wales. In this scenario the boundary between North Wales and West Wales is marked by the Ceredigion - Powys border. Powys itself is divided with the Traditional County of
Brecknockshire being included in South Wales with
Montgomeryshire included in North Wales.
Related Constituencies
North Wales was a
European Parliament constituency until 1999.
Currently, there is
an electoral region for the
National Assembly for Wales with the name (used, in parallel with the smaller ''constituencies'', to elect top-up members under the
Additional Member System), which covers the North-East of Wales (specifically the entire area of the former pre-1996 county of
Clwyd) as well as the Northern-most coastal areas of north-western Wales; the rest of North Wales is covered by
Mid and West Wales (National Assembly for Wales electoral region).
See also
★
North Wales Police
★
North Wales Fire and Rescue Service
External links
★
Ancient Tenures of North Wales PDF book by Alfred Neobard Palmer published in 1910
★
Things to do in North Wales
★
Snowdon Route Walking Guide at Snowdon.com
★
Images of North Wales Photographs of North Wales
★ www.rob-photography.com
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