1.
Counties of the United Kingdom
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The counties of the United Kingdom are subnational divisions of the United Kingdom, used for the purposes of administrative, geographical and political demarcation. The older term shire was historically equivalent to country, in Scotland shire was the only term used until after the Act of Union 1707. Since the early 19th century, counties have been adapted to new administrative and political requirements. In some areas of England and Wales, counties still perform the functions of local government. In other parts of the United Kingdom, especially within metropolitan areas, they have been replaced with alternative unitary authorities. Today, these by and large have replaced the historic county corporate entities granted self-governance with county government powers, the names of these regions are often well known, even famous seen in older historic geographic, political, and literary referents. The whole of England is divided into 48 ceremonial counties, which are known as geographic counties. Many of these counties have their basis in the 39 historic counties whose origins lie in antiquity, outside Greater London and the Isles of Scilly, England is also divided into 83 metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties. These correspond to areas used for the purposes of local government, as of April 2009,27 such counties are divided into districts and have a county council. Most ceremonial counties correspond to a metropolitan or non-metropolitan county of the same name, the current arrangement is the result of incremental reform, from 1974 to 1996 the metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties corresponded directly with the ceremonial counties. From 1889 to 1974 areas with county councils were known as administrative counties, there are six counties in Northern Ireland. In order of landmass these are, Tyrone, Antrim, Down, Londonderry, a mnemonic to help remember these counties is FAT-LAD. The six historic counties of Northern Ireland are no longer in use for administrative purposes, combined with the boroughs of Belfast and Derry, the counties do serve for organisational purposes within government, and often with private businesses and sporting clubs. The counties of Northern Ireland are all within the province of Ulster. The regions and districts were abolished in 1996, under the Local Government etc. Act 1994, in favour of unitary Scottish council areas, the counties of Ross and Cromarty were merged to form Ross and Cromarty. One region and various districts, created in 1975, had similar to those of earlier counties. Two of the three islands areas—Orkney and Shetland—have boundaries identical to those of earlier counties, Scotland has also registration counties, which are in current use
2.
Local government in Wales
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For local government purposes, Wales has since 1 April 1996 been divided into 22 single-tier principal areas. The elected councils of these areas are responsible for the provision of all government services, including education, social work, environmental protection. Below these there are also elected community councils to which responsibility for specific aspects of the application of local policy may be devolved. The Queen appoints a Lord Lieutenant to represent her in each of the eight preserved counties of Wales, subdivisions of Wales created for such purposes as the provision of police and emergency services and the organization of the National Health Service are made up of combinations of principal areas. There are six cities in total in Wales, in addition to the three areas with city status, the communities of Bangor, St Davids and St Asaph also have the status. City status is granted by letters patent, the status was, however, not officially recognised for many years. When city status was restored to St Davids in 1994, St Asaph town council submitted a petition for the same purpose, the petition was refused as, unlike St Davids, there was no evidence of any charter or letters patent in the past conferring the status. Applications for city status in competitions in 2000 and 2002 were unsuccessful, There are 22 principal areas in Wales. They came into being on 1 April 1996 by virtue of the Local Government Act 1994, eleven are named as counties, including the Cities and Counties of Cardiff and Swansea, and eleven are styled as county boroughs. In 2002 Newport was granted city status, and the county borough is now styled as the City of Newport, Welsh language forms are given in parentheses, except where there is no English equivalent. Locations of each council headquarters are indicated by yellow markers, the current names of certain unitary authority areas are different from those specified in the Local Government Act 1994. Elections planned for 2012 were delayed until 2013, the historic counties of Wales are ancient subdivisions of Wales, used for various functions for several hundred years. The oldest date from 1138 By 1066 the whole of England had been divided into counties, the first counties, Cardiganshire and Carmarthenshire, were established in the 1240s. In 1284 the Principality of Gwynedd was divided into three counties, Anglesey, Caernarvonshire and Merionethshire and this can be regarded as an arrangement imposed on Wales by the English during the last years of Prince Llywelyn II. Before the end of the century, Flintshire had also become a county, the formation of counties was completed under the Act of Union 1536, which created Pembrokeshire, Montgomeryshire, Denbighshire, Radnorshire, Glamorganshire, Brecknockshire and Monmouthshire. These 13 counties were the main subdivisions of Wales from 1889 until the implementation in 1974 of the Local Government Act 1972. At the lowest level of subdivision in Wales are the communities. They may have elected community councils which perform a number of roles, such as providing local facilities, community councils are the equivalent of English parish councils
3.
Wales
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Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, and it had a population in 2011 of 3,063,456 and has a total area of 20,779 km2. Wales has over 1,680 miles of coastline and is mountainous, with its higher peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon. The country lies within the temperate zone and has a changeable. Welsh national identity emerged among the Celtic Britons after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, Llywelyn ap Gruffudds death in 1282 marked the completion of Edward I of Englands conquest of Wales, though Owain Glyndŵr briefly restored independence to Wales in the early 15th century. The whole of Wales was annexed by England and incorporated within the English legal system under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542, distinctive Welsh politics developed in the 19th century. Welsh Liberalism, exemplified in the early 20th century by Lloyd George, was displaced by the growth of socialism, Welsh national feeling grew over the century, Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925 and the Welsh Language Society in 1962. Established under the Government of Wales Act 1998, the National Assembly for Wales holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters, two-thirds of the population live in south Wales, mainly in and around Cardiff, Swansea and Newport, and in the nearby valleys. Now that the countrys traditional extractive and heavy industries have gone or are in decline, Wales economy depends on the sector, light and service industries. Wales 2010 gross value added was £45.5 billion, over 560,000 Welsh language speakers live in Wales, and the language is spoken by a majority of the population in parts of the north and west. From the late 19th century onwards, Wales acquired its popular image as the land of song, Rugby union is seen as a symbol of Welsh identity and an expression of national consciousness. The Old English-speaking Anglo-Saxons came to use the term Wælisc when referring to the Celtic Britons in particular, the modern names for some Continental European lands and peoples have a similar etymology. The modern Welsh name for themselves is Cymry, and Cymru is the Welsh name for Wales and these words are descended from the Brythonic word combrogi, meaning fellow-countrymen. The use of the word Cymry as a self-designation derives from the location in the post-Roman Era of the Welsh people in modern Wales as well as in northern England and southern Scotland. It emphasised that the Welsh in modern Wales and in the Hen Ogledd were one people, in particular, the term was not applied to the Cornish or the Breton peoples, who are of similar heritage, culture, and language to the Welsh. The word came into use as a self-description probably before the 7th century and it is attested in a praise poem to Cadwallon ap Cadfan c. 633. Thereafter Cymry prevailed as a reference to the Welsh, until c.1560 the word was spelt Kymry or Cymry, regardless of whether it referred to the people or their homeland. The Latinised forms of names, Cambrian, Cambric and Cambria, survive as lesser-used alternative names for Wales, Welsh
4.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
5.
Countries of the United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom comprises four countries, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Within the United Kingdom, a sovereign state, Northern Ireland, Scotland. England, comprising the majority of the population and area of the United Kingdom, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are not themselves listed in the International Organization for Standardization list of countries. However the ISO list of the subdivisions of the UK, compiled by British Standards, Northern Ireland, in contrast, is described as a province in the same lists. Each has separate governing bodies for sports and compete separately in many international sporting competitions. Northern Ireland also forms joint All-Island sporting bodies with the Republic of Ireland for most sports, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are dependencies of the Crown and are not part of the UK. Similarly, the British overseas territories, remnants of the British Empire, are not part of the UK, southern Ireland left the United Kingdom under the Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922. * Figures for GVA do not include oil and gas revenues generated beyond the UKs territorial waters, various terms have been used to describe England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Wales was described as the country, principality, and dominion of Wales, outside Wales, England was not given a specific name or term. The Laws in Wales Acts have subsequently been repealed, the Acts of Union 1707 refer to both England and Scotland as a part of a united kingdom of Great Britain The Acts of Union 1800 use part in the same way to refer to England and Scotland. The Northern Ireland Act 1998, which repealed the Government of Ireland Act 1920, the Interpretation Act 1978 provides statutory definitions of the terms England, Wales and the United Kingdom, but neither that Act nor any other current statute defines Scotland or Northern Ireland. Use of the first three terms in other legislation is interpreted following the definitions in the 1978 Act and this definition applies from 1 April 1974. United Kingdom means Great Britain and Northern Ireland and this definition applies from 12 April 1927. In 1996 these 8 new counties were redistributed into the current 22 unitary authorities, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are regions in their own right while England has been divided into nine regions. The official term rest of the UK is used in Scotland, for example in export statistics and this term is also used in the context of potential Scottish independence to mean the UK without Scotland. The alternative term Home Nations is sometimes used in sporting contexts, the second, or civic group, contained the items about feeling British, respecting laws and institutions, speaking English, and having British citizenship. Contrariwise, in Scotland and Wales there was a much stronger identification with each country than with Britain, studies and surveys have reported that the majority of the Scots and Welsh see themselves as both Scottish/Welsh and British though with some differences in emphasis. The propensity for nationalistic feeling varies greatly across the UK, and can rise and it reported that 37% of people identified as British, whilst 29% identified as Irish and 24% identified as Northern Irish
6.
Preserved counties of Wales
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The preserved counties of Wales are the current areas used in Wales for the ceremonial purposes of lieutenancy and shrievalty. They are based on the created by the Local Government Act 1972 and used for local government. The Local Government Act 1994 abolished the eight ceremonial counties created by the Local Government Act 1972, however, it created the concept of preserved counties based on their areas, to be used for purposes such as Lieutenancy. The Defence Act 1842 – Lieutenants are those appointed to preserved counties, the Sea Fisheries Act 1967 – relevant portions of the sea shore shall be deemed to be within preserved counties. There were however two local government areas, Caerphilly and Conwy, split between preserved counties, the Local Government Boundary Commission for Wales were instructed by the National Assembly for Wales on 11 March 2002 to undertake a review of preserved county boundaries. The boundary between Mid Glamorgan and South Glamorgan was also to be re-aligned to reflect changes in local government boundaries. The Assembly accepted these proposals such that from 2 April 2003 each preserved county now encompasses between one and five local government areas. The boundary between Mid Glamorgan and Powys was further modified on 1 April 2010 to reflect the 2009 local government boundary changes in the Vaynor area. The population figures are estimates for 2007 from the Office for National Statistics. Historic counties of Wales Local government in Wales Ceremonial counties of England Shires of Scotland
7.
Clwyd
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Clwyd is a preserved county of Wales, situated in the north-east corner of the country, it is named after the River Clwyd, which runs through the county. To the north lies the Irish Sea, Cheshire is to the east and Shropshire to the south-east, the Welsh counties of Powys and Gwynedd lie to the south and west respectively. Clwyd additionally shares a border with the metropolitan county of Merseyside along the River Dee. Between 1974 and 1996, it was a county with a county council, one of the eight counties into which Wales was divided, and was subdivided into six districts. This area of northeastern Wales has been settled since prehistoric times, the Romans built a fort beside a ford on the River Conwy, and the Normans and Welsh disputed the territory. They built their castles at strategic locations as they advanced and retreated, but in the end, England prevailed, in the following centuries, the Welsh people were repressed and there were numerous uprisings and rebellions against English rule. The Act of Union in 1535 incorporated Wales under the English Crown, North Wales has had human settlements since prehistoric times. By the time the Romans reached Britain, the area that is now Clwyd was occupied by the Celtic Deceangli tribe and they lived in a chain of hill forts running through the Clwydian Range and their tribal capital was Canovium at an important river crossing on the River Conwy. This fell to the Romans, who built their own here, in about 75 AD. After the Roman departure from Britain in 410 AD, the states of Gwynedd. From about 800 onwards, a series of dynastic marriages led to Rhodri Mawr inheriting the kingdoms of Gwynedd and Powys. After his death, this kingdom was divided among his three sons and further strife followed, with not only Welsh battles being fought, but also many raids by Danes, the Normans conquest of England at first had little effect on North Wales. This was to change as the city of Chester on the River Dee became the base for campaigns against the country in the thirteenth century. The coastal plain of Clwyd was the invasion route used. The castles at Flint and Rhuddlan date from this period, and were the first to be built by Edward I of England in North Wales during his successful conquest in 1282. After this, the rule of the Welsh Princes was at an end, the country was known as the Principality of Wales during the period 1216 to 1536. From 1301, the lands in north and west Wales, including Clwyd, formed part of the appanage of Englands heir apparent. This was a time of repression for the Welsh people and there were numerous uprisings, under the Act of Union of 1535, Wales became permanently incorporated under the English Crown and subject to English law
8.
Local Government (Wales) Act 1994
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It came into effect on 1 April 1996. In June 1991, the Secretary of State for Wales, David Hunt, the paper proposed the replacing of the existing two-tier system of administrative counties and districts, established by the Local Government Act 1972 in 1974, with unitary authorities. The number and size of the areas was not set down. On 3 March 1992 the Secretary of State made a statement in the House of Commons and he further stated, My approach in identifying these 23 authorities has been as follows. First, I want to restore to the largest centres of population - Cardiff, Swansea, Newport, I shall consult further on whether to extend that approach to separate authorities for Radnorshire and Brecknock. Thirdly in the south Wales valleys I want as far as possible to account of the intense local loyalties that are such a feature of the area. Taking account of demographic and other factors, however, I also consider it necessary for some of the present district councils in the valleys to come together to form new unitary authorities. The areas of the new councils were not precisely defined, although a map was issued at the time of the statement. The Conservatives held power at the election held on 9 April 1992. The number of unitary authorities had been reduced to twenty-one, with the deletion of separate authorities for Merionethshire and Montgomeryshire, the fire service, previously administered by county councils, was to be organised as three combined authorities. Elections for the new councils was to be in 1994, initially acting as shadow authorities until 1 April 1995 when they would assume their responsibilities, in May 1993, a cabinet reshuffle led to John Redwood replacing David Hunt as Welsh Secretary. In November 1993, it was announced that the reorganisation was to be put back by a year to 1 April 1996 to allow time for consultation. The Glamorgan Valleys authority was to be renamed as Rhondda Cynon Taff, although I am reluctant to increase the number of authorities in the Bill, I understand the differences between Merthyr and its proposed partner in Blaenau Gwent. I understand Merthyrs long, proud history and its status as a county borough. Its size, which is comparable to that of Cardiganshire and Anglesey, the Local Government Bill was introduced to the Commons in June 1994. The debate on the led to a number of opposition amendments which sought to increase the number of councils. None of these amendments was successful and the Bill was passed by both houses and received the Royal Assent on 5 July 1994, preserved counties, based on the previous local government counties as established in 1974, were created for the purposes of lieutenancy and shrievality. Each new unitary authority area was to have a council and be divided into electoral districts
9.
Ruthin
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Ruthin is the county town of Denbighshire in north Wales. Ruthin also has villages on the outskirts of the such as Pwllglas. The original name of Ruthin was Castell Coch yng Ngwern-fôr, the town developed around the castle and the nearby mill. Maen Huail is an ancient monument attributed to the brother of Gildas and King Arthur and is located outside Barclays Bank. The population at the 2001 Census was 5,218 of whom 47% were male, the average age of the population was 43.0 years and the population is 98. 2% white. According to the 2011 census 68% were born in Wales, with 25% being born across the border in England, Welsh language speakers account for 42% of the towns population. There is evidence of Celtic and later Roman settlements in the area, the Marcher Lord, Reginald de Grey, Justiciar of Chester, was given the Cantref of Deffrencloyt, and his family ran the area for the next 226 years. The Lord de Grey established a Collegiate Church in 1310, Now, the Collegiate and Parish Church of St Peter, it dominates the Ruthin skyline. The double naved church boasts two medieval carved roofs, the church is known for its musical tradition, it has a large choir of children and adults and a four manual Wadsworth-Willis Organ. Behind the church can be seen the old buildings, school. A Ruthin native, Sir Thomas Exmewe was Lord Mayor of the City of London in 1517-18. The half-timbered Old Court House, now a branch of the NatWest Bank, features the remains of a gibbet last used to execute a Franciscan priest, Charles Meehan, also known as Mahoney. He was shipwrecked on the Welsh coast when Catholicism was equated with treason — Meehan was hanged, drawn and he was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1987 as one of the Eighty-five martyrs of England and Wales. During the English Civil War the castle survived an eleven-week siege, the castle was rebuilt in the 19th century as a country house, and is now a luxury hotel, the Ruthin Castle Hotel. From 1826 until 1921 the castle was the home of the Cornwallis-West family, in its 18th-century heyday as a town on drovers routes from Wales into England, Ruthin was reputed to have a pub for every week of the year. By 2007, however, there are only eleven pubs in the town, the Public and Beer Houses records of 23 October 1891 show 31 such establishments serving a population of 3186, most of the establishments have been converted into either residences or shops. The Ruthin Union Workhouse was built in 1834 to house the poor folk of Ruthin, the first copies of the Welsh national anthem, Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau, were printed in what is now the Siop Nain tea and gift shop on Well Street. In 1863 the Denbigh, Ruthin and Corwen Railway, which linked in Denbigh with the Vale of Clwyd Railway reached the town, the route ran from Rhyl on the north coast, through Denbigh and Ruthin to Corwen
10.
Rhyl
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Rhyl is a seaside resort town and community in the historic county of Denbighshire. It lies on the north-east coast of Wales at the mouth of the River Clwyd, to the west is the suburb of Kinmel Bay, with the resort of Towyn beyond. Prestatyn is to the east and Rhuddlan to the south, at the 2011 Census, Rhyl had a population of 25,149. The conurbation of Abergele-Rhyl-Prestatyn has a population of over 60,000, Rhyl has long been a popular tourist destination. Once an elegant Victorian resort, there was an influx from Liverpool, the area had declined dramatically by 1990, but has since been improved by a series of regeneration projects that have brought in major investment. Several millions of European funding, secured by the Welsh Government, has spent on developing Rhyls seafront. The origin of the name Rhyl is not fully known, however, the name appears in old documents variously as Hulle, Hul, Ryhull, Hyll, Hull, yr Hyll, Rhil, Rhûl, Rhul Rhyll, and Rhyl. The name seems to be a hybrid between the English word hill and the Welsh definite article y, the exact significance of the name is unclear as there are no hills in the vicinity. It is possibly a reference to a mound or slightly raised place in a marshy region. Some documents refer to a house, Tŷn yr haul. A previous Rhyl landmark was the Pavilion Theatre, a building with five domes. Beside it stood the pier which was built in 1872 for the pleasure of the visitors who flocked to the North Wales coast. It was 2,355 ft long and once included a pier railway, the structure was damaged by ships in 1883 and again in 1891. It was also damaged in 1901 when there was a fire at the Pavilion Theatre, storms were responsible for further damage in 1909 and the pier was closed in 1913 as unsafe. It was reopened with a length in 1930 but closed again in 1966. Rhyls top attractions on the West Parade are now Rhyl Childrens Village theme park, the skytower opened in 1989 and a few years later, the Childrens Village theme park was built, but the tower closed to the public in 2010. On the East Parade is the SeaQuarium and the Rhyl Suncentre, the Suncentre was an indoor leisure centre which opened in 1980 at a cost of £4. 25m and featured a heated swimming pool and Europes first indoor surfing pool. The local council closed the centre in early 2014, the Pavilion Theatre is also on the East Parade, has over 1000 seats and is managed by Denbighshire County Council
United Kingdom
Wales
