Wales

Name and variations
Wales (in Welsh, "Cymru; pronounced IPA: /ˈkəmrɨ/, approximately "CUM-ree")" is one of the four constituent nations of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a nation in Europe.

History
After the collapse of the Roman Empire in Britain around 410, Wales divided into several kingdoms. Attempts by Anglo-Saxon tribes to invade these kingdoms failed due to fierce resistance and its mountainous terrain. An Anglo-Saxon king, Offa of Mercia (d. 796, is credited with having constructed a great earth wall, or dyke, along the border with his kingdom, to mark off a large part of Powys which he had conquered.

Following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the independence of Wales was gradually eroded. In 1282, Edward I of England defeated Llywelyn the Last (?-1282), Wales's last independent Prince, in battle. Edward constructed a series of great stone castles in order to keep the Welsh under control. The best known are at Caerphilly, Caernarfon, Conwy, and Harlech. Wales was legally annexed by the Laws in Wales Act 1535, in the reign of Henry VIII of England. The Wales and Berwick Act 1746 provided that all laws that applied to England would automatically apply to Wales (and Berwick, a town located on the Anglo-Scottish border) unless the law explicitly stated otherwise.

Geography
Wales is located on a peninsula in central-west Great Britain, and is bordered by the English counties of Cheshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the east, the Bristol Channel to the south, St George's Channel to the southwest, and the Irish Sea to the west and north.

The area of Wales is about 20,779 km2 (8,023 square miles). It is about 274 km (170 miles) long and 97 km (60 miles) wide. Wales has over 965 km (600 miles) of coastline. There are several islands off the Welsh mainland, the largest being Anglesey in the northwest.

Wales has a diverse landscape, which is mostly mountainous, particularly in the north and central regions. The highest mountains in Wales are in Snowdonia, and include Snowdon, which, at 1085 m (3,560 ft) is the highest peak in England and Wales. The 14 (or possibly 15) Welsh mountains over 3,000 feet high are known collectively as the Welsh 3,000s. The Brecon Beacons are in the south and are joined by the Cambrian Mountains in mid-Wales, the latter being given to the earliest geological period of the Paleozoic (Cambrian).

The five recognized cities in Wales are Bangor, Cardiff, Newport, St. David's, and Swansea.

Wales has thirteen traditional counties (or vice counties). They serve many cultural and geographic roles and were also the basis of local government in Wales from 1888 until 1974. Since then, local government has moved away from using traditional counties as the basis of administrative areas, creating eight non-metropolitan counties for administrative purposes. These in turn were replaced in 1996, by the current principal areas of Wales. The traditional counties, however, have remained the same throughout these administrative changes.

People
The main population and industrial areas are in South Wales, consisting of the cities of Cardiff, Swansea and Newport and surrounding areas. The population of Wales in the 2001 census was 2,903,085.

Notable rulers

 * Llywelyn the Last (?-1282)

Notable inhabitants

 * Richard Burton (1925-1984)
 * Timothy Dalton (b. 1946)
 * Anthony Hopkins (b. 1937)
 * Catherine Zeta-Jones (b. 1969)
 * Charles Stewart Rolls, (1877-1910)
 * George Everest (1790-1866)
 * Henry Morton Stanley (1841-1904)
 * Thomas Edward Lawrence (1888-1935) (Lawrence of Arabia)
 * Roger Williams (ca 1537-1595)
 * Shirley Bassey (b. 1937)
 * Charlotte Church (b. 1986)
 * Tom Jones (b. 1940)
 * Grace Williams (1906-1977)
 * Richard Price (1723-1791)
 * Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)
 * Thomas Vaughan (1621-1666)
 * Owen Glendower (Owain Glyndŵr) (ca 1359-ca 1416) (self-proclaimed Prince of Wales)
 * Michael Heseltine (b. 1933)
 * Francis Lewis (1713-1803) (signed American Declaration of Independence)
 * David Lloyd George (1863-1945) (UK Prime Minister)
 * Rowan Williams (b. 1950) (current Archbishop of Canterbury)
 * Dylan Thomas (1914-1953)
 * Geoffrey of Monmouth (ca 1100-ca 1154)

Religions
Christianity is the largest religion of Wales, with 72% of the population identifying themselves as such in the 2001 census. The Presbyterian Church of Wales, the largest denomination, separated from the Church of England in 1811. The Church in Wales is the next largest denomination, part of the Anglican Communion. It was disestablished by the British Government under the Welsh Church Act 1914. The Roman Catholic Church makes up 3% of the population. Non Christian religions making up less than 2% of the population. 18% of people declare no religion. The patron saint of Wales is Saint David, with St David's Day celebrated annually on 1 March.

LDS family history centers in Wales

 * List of Family History Centers in Wales

National libraries

 * National Library of Wales
 * Local Studies Department, Central Library St. David's Link Frederick Street Cardiff CF1 4DT Tel: 01222 382116 Email: brynjones@cardlib.demon.co.uk
 * Newport Reference Library, Central Library, John Frost Square Newport South Wales NP20 1PA Tel: 01633 211376 E- mail: reference.library@newport.gov.uk

Significant cemeteries

 * Memorial Inscriptions from the St Mary's Parish Church Conwy North Wales
 * Llandysul Churchyard Cemetery Ceredigion County, Dyfed, West Wales
 * St. Woolos Cemetery, Newport County, Wales. Risca Road/Bassaleg Road, Newport

Genealogy resources online

 * Familia - Links to libraries throughout Wales and the rest of the UK.
 * Association of Family History Societies of Wales
 * Digging Up Your Roots in Wales
 * UK National Archives "Getting Started" site for genealogists
 * The Church In Wales genealogy links

Contributors
Nhprman