Caernarfonshire

Caernarfonshire (Sir Gaernarfon), also spelt as Caernarvonshire and Carnarvonshire is one of the thirteen and a former administrative county of.

The administrative county of Caernarfonshire was abolished under the, becoming part of the new county of , split between the districts of , and part of. Since 1996 and the it has been represented in the principal areas of Gwynedd (which took the first two districts), and  (which took the latter district).

Geography
The county is bounded to the north by the, to the east by , to the south by and , and to the west by  and the , which separates it from. It has an area of 1,462 km². The surface is largely mountainous. A large part of the lies in the county including, the highest mountain in  at 1,085 m. The  is less mountainous and contains many bays and sandy beaches. is a major site for nesting seabirds. The runs north along the eastern boundary, with  and  to the north-east across the Conwy estuary being included in the county for historical reasons.

Principal towns are, , , , Llandudno, and. , particularly on the coast,, and  are the main industries, though the latter now only employs a small percentage of the workforce.

History
The county was originally created under the terms of the in  and included the i of:

and the  of:
 * (the northern portion of )

During the the population increased steadily, from 46,000 in the 1801 census to 137,000 in the 1901 census (figures given for the ). 

The created an elected Carnarvonshire county council in 1889, taking over functions from Caernarvonshire's. The covered by the county council had identical borders to the geographic county. The administrative county was formally renamed Caernarvonshire on,.

The of  was a detached  of the county. On, Llysfaen was transferred to the county of.

The county was subdivided into a number of units:
 * There were four s. Two had been reformed by the : Carnarvon (renamed in ) and, and two had been later incorporations:  (incorporated in ), and  (incorporated ).

The rest of the county was divided into and s by the. These were the successors to s.
 * There were initially six urban districts:, , , , and Ynyscynhaiarn. In   urban district was formed and in  Ynyscynhaiarn was renamed.
 * Six rural districts were formed in :, , , , and . These were reorganised by a  in : A new  rural district was formed by the merger of Conway and Geirionydd rural districts, and Glaslyn rural district was divided between Lleyn and Gwyrfai rural districts and Criccieth and Portmadoc urban districts. Other county district boundaries were also adjusted.

Under the the administrative county of Caernarfonshire was abolished on,. Caernarfonshire was largely split between the three districts of, and , both in the new county of  along with  and. Since the came into force on,  the county has been divided between the  of  to the west and  to the east.

Places of interest

 * , nr. ;
 * , nr. ;
 * , nr. ;
 * , nr. ;
 * , nr. ;
 * , nr. ;