SOUTH GLAMORGAN

county of South Wales, created in 1974 from the city of Cardiff and the south lowland part of the former county of Glamorgan, together with a small part of the former Monmouthshire. The administrative seat is Cardiff (q.v.). South Glamorgan has two administrative districts (Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan) and covers an area of 161 square miles (416 square km). The county includes the lower sections of the basins of the Rivers Rhymney, Taff, and Ely and the basin of the River Thaw south of Cowbridge. The southern portion of the Vale of Glamorgan (Bro Morgannwg), the Vale proper, lies south of Cowbridge and entirely within the county of South Glamorgan. It comprises a coastal platform at a general height of about 200 feet (60 m), with a smooth surface, often terminating abruptly in cliffs at the coast. Along other sections of the coast, however, there are sand dunes, and east of Cardiff marshes predominate. The Normans built substantial fortifications at Cardiff and Cowbridge, and in the Vale of Glamorgan proper they practiced the manorial system. Cardiff is the focus of the county. Road and rail networks converge on the city, which has been formally acknowledged as the Welsh capital since 1956. Before the railway age and related port development, the market town of Cowbridge was the chief centre, but since then Cardiff has grown to a position of total dominance. Despite the more recent decline of the Welsh coal trade and the closing of the East Moor steelworks in 1978, Cardiff's waterfront has continued to be an industrial area. Waterfront industries are also a feature of the port of Barry, farther south. New transportation links with the Bristol area have emphasized the industrial potential of Cardiff and its region. The Vale of Glamorgan has fertile agricultural land that is characterized by heavy loams. Dairying is the main agricultural activity in the county. The villages have often grown around the nucleus of a church, after the fashion of the English village, while the farms form separate units of settlement. The names of the villages are often Anglicized. As well as villages connected with agriculture, there are several commuter settlements in the county. On the coast, the resorts (Barry Island in particular) cater to a substantial holiday trade. Pop. (1986 est.) 395,700.