GWENT

county of southeastern Wales. It was created in 1974 from the former county of Monmouthshire (except the Rhymney Valley), the county borough of Newport, and small areas of the former county of Breconshire. The administrative seat of the county is Cwmbrn (q.v.). Gwent has five administrative districts: Blaenau Gwent, Islwyn, Monmouth, Newport, and Torfaen. Gwent was one of the major divisions of Celtic Wales. Despite the anomalous status of the former county of Monmouthshire and the tendency to refer to Wales and Monmouthshire as if they were separate, this part of the principality is now regarded as an integral part of Wales, although only a tiny minority of the inhabitants still speak the Welsh language. The heart of the county is the plain of Gwent, in the basin of the River Usk, which widens to include an undulating coastal plain along the Severn Estuary. To the west are the deep, incised valleys, with intervening plateau uplands, of the eastern rim of the South Wales coalfield, and to the east the equally incised valley of the River Wye and its flanking hill country. To the north, the county includes a fringe of the mountainous Brecon Beacons National Park. Gwent was and still is the gateway between England and South Wales. The Romans built a military headquarters and major fortress at Caerleon (Isca). Similarly, the Normans erected castles, characteristic of the Welsh Marches (border country), in particular at Chepstow and Monmouth; but the Welsh culture and way of life were preserved in the hills. In the 20th century, Gwent's border location has made it the focus of motorway links between South Wales and Birmingham and London, and a modern road bridge (1967) connects it with the Bristol area across the Severn. Economically, the county reveals contrasts and, to some degree, competition between agriculture and industry. The Usk River valley and the coastal fringe are important for dairying; market gardening is practiced near Newport and Abergavenny, and sheep are raised on the uplands. The better farmland of the plain, however, is under increasing pressure for residential and commercial development to accommodate commuters. Industry was formerly confined to the valleys and the Coal Measures, which yield good bituminous coal. There, the early ironworks and collieries were later joined by aluminum smelting and other heavy industries. Today, light industries, notably nylon, textiles, electronics, and foodstuffs, have brought diversification, especially on the plain. The massive Llanwern steelworks (1961), immediately east of Newport, has accentuated the pressures upon agricultural land. Rapid economic development has brought both prosperity and new challenges. Coastal development has been at the expense of the older industrial areas in the inland valleys, and there have been attempts to compensate for this trend by diverting funds toward industrial readjustment in the valleys. Newport is the largest town and dominates the county, but Cwmbrn, Wales's first new town, was selected as the administrative seat. Area 531 square miles (1,376 square km). Pop. (1992 est.) 449,300.