Gwent (county)

Gwent is a preserved county and a former local government county in south-east Wales. It was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, and was named after the ancient Kingdom of Gwent.

It consisted of most of the former administrative county of Monmouthshire and the county borough of Newport (both authorities which were considered until 1974 to be legally part of England although considered jointly with Wales for certain purposes), along with Brynmawr and Llanelly from Brecknockshire in Wales. Under the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, Gwent County Council was abolished on 1 April 1996.

Gwent remains as one of the preserved counties of Wales used for certain ceremonial purposes (such as lieutenancy), and it also survives in various titles, e.g., Gwent Police, Royal Gwent Hospital, Gwent Wildlife Trust, Coleg Gwent college and the Newport Gwent Dragons rugby team. It is sometimes used as a synonym for the historic county of Monmouthshire &mdash; for example the Gwent Family History Society describes itself as "The key to roots in the historic county of Monmouthshire".

The administrative area was divided into several districts: Blaenau Gwent, Islwyn, Monmouth, Newport and Torfaen.

The successor unitary authorities are:
 * City of Newport
 * Blaenau Gwent County Borough
 * Torfaen County Borough
 * Caerphilly County Borough, which also includes parts of Mid Glamorgan
 * Monmouthshire, which covers the eastern half of the traditional county of the same name

In 2003 the preserved county of Gwent expanded to cover the whole of Caerphilly County Borough ; the Gwent Police area had already be realigned to these boundaries in 1996. In 2007, the population of this enlarged area was estimated as 560,500, making it the most populous of the preserved counties.