Wales is a small country situated west of the Midlands of England. It is part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which also comprises Scotland, England, and Northern Ireland. The geography of Wales is perhaps most associated with the National Park of Snowdonia, where the mountains rise to a peak of 1,085m at Mount Snowdon.

Welsh history includes its time as a Celtic nation before its domination by the English under Edward I.

Welsh politics includes strong demands for independence from the Westminster parliament, largely from the Plaid Cymru party.

The Welsh language is officially recognised and is gaining increasing importance, especially among young people.

The country is also well known for its love of rugby as a sport, and its skills there are matched in many other fields including athletics and football.

The Welsh flag is split in half horizontally, with white above and green below, and a red Welsh dragon on top of the green and white field.

I thought I might try a Welsh list for collecting articles about Wales which are fairly scattered around E2 at the moment. It's not intended to be comprehensive and I'll add more as I find them. I’ve tried to categorise them as well as possible – please let me know if there should be additions to this list.

Welsh nodes:

Welsh geography
Aberdare
Abergavenny
Aberystwyth
Anglesey
Bala
Beaumaris
Betws-y-Coed
Brecon Beacons
Caerleon
Caernarfon
Caerphilly
Cardiff
Clwyd
Criccieth
Denbigh
Dyfed
Fishguard
Llanddewi Brefi
Llandudno
Llanelli
Llanfairpwllgwyngyll
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
Llangollen
Machynlleth
Merthyr Tydfil
Mid Glamorgan
Montgomery
Newport
Pembroke
Pontypridd
Porthcawl
Porthmadog
Preserved Counties of Wales
Pwllheli
Rhayader
Snowdon
Snowdonia
South Glamorgan
Swansea
Tenby
Tryfan
River Usk
Usk
Wales
Welsh counties:
West Glamorgan
Wrexham

Welsh history
King Arthur
Bleddyn ap Cynfyn
Celtic Nations
Chepstow Castle
Gruffudd ap Cynan
Edward I
Maen Chwyfan
Owen Glendower
owain glyndwr
Gwynllwg
Medieval kingdoms of Wales
Merlin
Prince of Wales
Pwyll penduc Dyfed
The Shiring of Wales
Wales after Gruffudd ap Llywelyn
Welsh history

Welsh government and politics
Devolution
Devolution in Wales
National Assembly for Wales
Neil Kinnock
Nationalist
Sons of Glendower
Dafydd Wigley

Welsh entertainment, art and literature
BBC 2W
Max Boyce
Richard Burton
Catatonia
Charlotte Church
Roald Dahl
Ioan Gruffudd
Anthony Hopkins
Ivor the engine
Catherine Zeta-Jones
Tom Jones
mabinogi
Mabinogion
Manic Street Preachers
Marilyn Manson
Red Book of Hergest
Super Furry Animals
Stereophonics
Dylan Thomas
Trwynau Coch
Henry Vaughan
Welsh Rap
White Book of Rhydderch
Young Marble Giants

Welsh language
Ceffyl-Dwr
Cymraeg
Cymru
Cymry
Dim Bendith
Hedd Wyn
Hen Wlad fy Nhadau
mwng
P-Celtic
Pleidiol wyf I'm gwlad
tatws rhost
This Is The Song That's Going To Save The Language (NOT)
Torra fy ngwallt yn hir
welch
Welsh
Welsh Alphabet
Welsh surnames
The 'Y' schwa

Welsh culture
bards
bray harp
celts
daffodils
dragons
druids
Land of my Fathers
leeks
Taliesin
Welsh Mythology

Welsh sport
Gareth Edwards
Ryan Giggs
Barry John
League of Wales
Newport Rugby Football Club
Rugby
Rugby League
Rugby Union
Rugby World Cup
Six Nations Rugby Championship

Welsh Universities and Colleges
Atlantic College
Lampeter University
University of Wales, Bangor
University of Wales, Aberystwyth

Miscellaneous
an area the size of Wales
A Tourist Guide to Wales
Bron-y-aur Stomp Led Zeppelin song about a Welsh village
Cambria
Cardiff Railway Company
Centre for Alternative Technology
Chippie Alley
The Devil Went Down to Newport
Glamorgan Sausages
Kicking the Bar
Red Dragon
Red Dragon of Wales
The Welsh Triads
Welsh honey cakes

Quick Facts

Capital:     Cardiff (pop. 306,600)
Population:  2,946,200 (1993 est.)
Area:        8000sq miles
Currency:    £ 
Languages:   English  - Official
             Welsh    - Official (18.5%)
Government:  Parliamentary Democracy
Status:      Part of the United Kingdom

About Wales

Wales is located on the island of Great Britain, just to the west of England, and to the east, across the Irish Sea, from Ireland. BBC Wales describes its geography thusly:

Wales has a varied geography with strong contrasts. In the south, flat coastal plain gives way to valleys, then to ranges of hills and mountains in mid and north Wales. There are three national parks and five areas of outstanding natural beauty, which cover a quarter of the land mass of Wales. 80% of the land is dedicated to agriculture, ranging from crops to livestock. The largest mountains in the north are part of the Snowdonia range, with the largest mountain being Snowdon at 1,085 metres. There are over 1300 kilometres of coastline ranging from long flat sandy beaches to towering cliffs.

-- From BBC Wales - About Wales - FAQs. http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/about/geographyfaq.shtml. Jan 30, 2003.

Wales' economy has never been incredible. A primarily agrarian economy was supplanted by an Industrial Revolution fueled mining jag (though mining has been documented in Wales from as early as 1000 BC). The agrarian economy continues (some 79% of the land in Wales is still used for farming),and though the mining has waned (the easiest to mine deposits of coal and other minerals have been played, and the wounds to the landscape have been repaired), it still continues to be the centerpiece to the Welsh economy.

More recently, through initiatives such as Cymru Al-Rein (see: http://www.cymruarlein.wales.gov.uk/), Wales has been trying to move towards a digital economy. Though the Welsh landscape has been resistant to transportation enhancements such as trains, roads, and tunnels, it is not very much harder to wire than any other place on earth (and substantially easier than, say, India, since you can reasonably run wires to London, which has substantial uplink capability). A digital revolution is much likelier in Wales than an industrial one.

Wales has a long history of human habitation, extending back at least ten thousand years. For most of this time, the Welsh have been fighting against occupation by, or been occupied by, one group of invaders or another. Ironically, the Welsh call themselves Cymry - the name "Welsh" was used to refer to foreigners and was applied to them by their invaders.


Sources:

http://www.data-wales.co.uk/. Data Wales index and search page. Jan 28, 2003.

"Wales." Factmonster.
© 2002 Family Education Network.
28 Jan. 2003 http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0777807.html.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/europe/wales/. Lonely Planet World Guide. Jan 28, 2003.

http://www.cymruarlein.wales.gov.uk/ictimportant/summary.htm. Cymru Ar-lein: The National Assembly's Information Age Strategic Framework For Wales. Feb 7, 2003.

http://216.31.193.173/ewsoe/english/summary.htm A Working Environment For Wales - Executive Summary. Feb 7, 2003.

http://www.britannia.com/history/ British History. Feb 7, 2003.

Short disclaimer: I am no Welshman, nor have I spent much time in England. Therefor I make no commentary on these facts. If you notice an inaccuracy or misrepresentation, please drop s_alanet a /msg. Thanks.

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