Flintshire (historic)

Flintshire is one of thirteen and a former administrative county of, mostly based on Wales north-east coast.

Flintshire was notable as having one of the few large (an area known as ) to survive most of the 20th century.

The administrative county of Flintshire was abolished under the on, , becoming part of the new county of. The exclaves became part of district - other parts formed the districts of,  and. A principal area named was formed in 1996 under the, consisting only of the Alyn and Deeside and Delyn districts - the Wrexham Maelor parts now form part of  county borough, with the former Rhuddlan district forming part of the  principal area.

Geography
The traditional county does not have the same boundaries as administrative Flintshire; in particular it has a large called, it also includes ,  and  which are now administered by , as well as  and , now administered as part of Wrexham county borough. Other exclaves of Flintshire included the manors of, Abenbury Fechan and Bryn Estyn, all on the outskirts of Wrexham, and also a small part of the parish of around the Boat Inn. These were all completely surrounded by. Additionally, a small part of Flintshire, including the village of Sealand, was isolated across the River Dee when its course was changed to improve navigation.

The county was formed in under the terms of the  and included  formerly parts of  and :



It also included the Lordships of, , and.

Geography
Flintshire is a maritime county bounded to the north by the, to the northeast by the Dee estuary, to the east by and to the south and southwest by. The Maelor Saesneg, was bounded on the northwest by, on the northeast by , and on the south by.

Flintshire is the smallest historic county in Wales. The coast along the Dee estuary is heavily developed by industry and the north coast much developed for. The Clwydian Mountains occupy much of the west of the county. The highest point is (1,820 feet / 554 metres). The chief towns are, , , , , , , and. The main rivers are the (the estuary of which forms much of the coast) and the. The main industries are manufacturing of aircraft components (Airbus), engines (Toyota), paper (Shotton Paper), steel processing (Corus), agriculture and tourism.

Places of special interest include castles in Flint, Hawarden, Rhuddlan and Ewloe, and Wepre Country Park, Connah's Quay.