WALES

Welsh Cymru component of the United Kingdom that forms a westward extension of the island of Great Britain. Wales is bounded by the Dee estuary and Liverpool Bay to the north, the Irish Sea to the west, the Severn estuary and the Bristol Channel to the south, and England to the east. Anglesey (Mn), the largest island in England and Wales, lies off the northwestern coast and is linked to the mainland by road and rail bridges. The varied coastline of Wales measures about 600 miles (970 km); the country stretches some 130 miles (210 km) from north to south, and its east-west width varies, reaching 90 miles (145 km) across in the north, narrowing to about 40 miles (65 km) in the centre, and widening again to more than 100 miles (160 km) across the southern portion. The capital and main commercial and financial centre is Cardiff. The Act of Union of 1536, which finally and effectively linked England and Wales, delineated an administrative boundary loosely following the line of Offa's Dyke-a defensive earthwork built by King Offa of Mercia in the 8th century AD-generally running from north to south through the region where the upland massif of Wales gives way to the lower western Midlands of England. Though not strictly a natural frontier, it separates distinctive cultural regions, and the borderland zone through which it runs has its own manifest character. Although geographic connections have intimately linked the destiny of Wales to that of Britain, Wales has remained historically and culturally associated with other Celtic regions on the western fringes of Europe. These factors have brought about cultural, social, and economic developments that are unique and often unstable, with effects that continue to permeate Welsh life. Partly owing to these contradictory influences, Wales exhibits many of the problems encountered by the smaller nations of the world, although it does not have a similarly independent status. Area 8,015 square miles (20,758 square km). Pop. (1998 est.) 2,933,500. Welsh Cymru component country of the United Kingdom-with England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. It occupies a peninsula jutting westward from England into the Irish Sea. On three sides the boundaries of Wales are natural, with the shores of Liverpool Bay and the River Dee's estuary to the north, the Irish Sea and St. George's Channel to the west, and the coastline of Bristol Channel and the River Severn's estuary on the south. The eastern boundary-that with England-is an administrative frontier created in 1536 as part of the Act of Union that linked England with Wales. For current history and for statistics on society and economy, see Britannica Book Of The Year. Additional reading Geography Harold Carter and H.M. Griffiths (eds.), National Atlas of Wales (1980, reissued 1989), provides wide-ranging coverage, with explanatory text in both English and Welsh. David Thomas (ed.), Wales: A New Study (1977), is a comprehensive volume, now somewhat out-of-date but still valuable. Eric H. Brown, The Relief and Drainage of Wales: A Study in Geomorphological Development (1960), examines the physiographic evolution of the Welsh landscape.Paul Cloke, Mark Goodwin, and Paul Milbourne, Rural Wales: Community and Marginalization (1997), addresses the changing and problematic nature of rural Wales. Noragh Jones, Living in Rural Wales (1993), gives a more personal account of social and cultural change. Urban and rural planning are discussed in Roderick Macdonald and Huw Thomas (eds.), Nationality and Planning in Scotland and Wales (1997). Harold Carter, The Towns of Wales, 2nd ed. (1966); and D. Huw Owen (ed.), Settlement and Society in Wales (1989), consider the growth, functions, and morphology of urban areas.Social and economic themes are profiled in David Dunkerley and Andrew Thompson (eds.), Wales Today (1999), a collection of essays; Ralph Fevre and Andrew Thompson (eds.), Nation, Identity, and Social Theory: Perspectives from Wales (1999); and Contemporary Wales: An Annual Review of Economic and Social Research. Language issues are analyzed in John Aitchison and Harold Carter, A Geography of the Welsh Language, 1961-1991 (1994), and in Language, Economy, and Society: The Changing Fortunes of the Welsh Language in the Twentieth Century, updated ed. (2000). Bridget Taylor and Katarina Thomson (eds.), Scotland and Wales: Nations Again? (1999), analyzes the effects of devolution on the contemporary political scene in Wales. History General historical surveys include Gwyn A. Williams, When Was Wales?: A History of the Welsh (1985); and Prys Morgan and David Thomas, Wales: The Shaping of a Nation (1984). The early period is examined in Colin Renfrew, Archaeology and Language: The Puzzle of Indo-European Origins (1987), reflecting recent scholarly thought; while T.G.E. Powell, The Celts, new ed. (1980), represents more traditional views. Important studies of Roman and post-Roman Wales include V.E. Nash-Williams, The Roman Frontier in Wales, 2nd ed., rev. by Michael G. Jarrett (1969), and The Early Christian Monuments of Wales (1950).The Middle Ages are covered in John Edward Lloyd, A History of Wales from the Earliest Times to the Edwardian Conquest, 2 vol. (1911; available also in many later editions), a classic work still not superseded; Wendy Davies, Wales in the Early Middle Ages (1982); and R.R. Davies, Conquest, Coexistence, and Change: Wales, 1063-1415 (1987). The key works for modern Welsh history are Glanmor Williams, Recovery, Reorientation, and Reformation: Wales, c. 1415-1642 (1987); Geraint H. Jenkins, The Foundations of Modern Wales: Wales 1642-1780 (1987); and Kenneth O. Morgan, Rebirth of a Nation: Wales, 1880-1980 (1981).Valuable specialist histories include Geraint H. Jenkins, Literature, Religion, and Society in Wales, 1660-1730 (1978); Ieuan Gwynedd Jones, Communities: Essays in the Social History of Victorian Wales (1987); and Kenneth O. Morgan, Wales in British Politics, 1868-1922, 3rd ed. (1980). Meic Stephens (ed.), The Oxford Companion to the Literature of Wales (1986), includes historical information on people. Pyrs Gruffudd Administration and social conditions Government National framework Foreign relations and many domestic matters for Wales are determined in London by the British government and Parliament's House of Commons, which includes 40 Welsh members; thus, the British prime minister is the head of state and chief executive. However, the National Assembly for Wales (Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru), established in Cardiff in 1999, has assumed several responsibilities, including urban and rural development, economic planning, health and welfare, culture, education, transportation, tourism, and environmental matters. Unlike the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly does not have the power to levy taxes or frame primary legislation, yet it can amend some acts of Parliament and allocate the spending of national funds within Wales. The 60-seat National Assembly consists of 40 members who are directly elected from the 40 parliamentary constituencies and an additional 20 members elected through proportional representation. The National Assembly elects a first secretary who leads the government with the aid of a cabinet of departmental secretaries. Justice and security Unlike Scotland, Wales has no separate justice system; criminal and civil cases are heard by magistrates' courts and by a circuit of the Crown Court. The Home Office in Whitehall, London, is responsible for police services in Wales, which are administered through local police headquarters or constabularies. The country has no independent defense forces, although three British army regiments are directly associated with Wales-the Welsh Guards, the Royal Welch Fusiliers, and the Royal Regiment of Wales.