Welcome to Wales. Croeso i Gymru.

Wales is part of Britain and the United Kingdom.  

It's situated to the west of England and is around 170 miles (256 km) long and 60 miles (96 km) wide.  It covers just over 8,000 square miles (20,720 km²) - that's about the same size as Massachusetts in the USA or half the size of Switzerland.

Facts and Figures

Capital: Cardiff, population 321,000

Language: English and Welsh. Everyone speaks English and around 20% of the population speak Welsh. Both languages have official status.

Population: 2.9 million. Average of 140 people per square km (361 people per square mile). It is expected to exceed 3 million by 2009.

Government: Welsh Assembly Government, currently a Labour / Plaid Cymru Coalition Government.

Currency: British Pound (£)

Climate: Mild and variable. Similar to the rest of the UK, temperatures are above 20°C (70°F) in the summer months (June, July and August), whilst the winter months (November to February) can be crisp and dry.

Landscape: Almost a quarter of Wales has been designated as a National Park or an Area of Outstanding Natural beauty (AONB). The highest mountain is Snowdon in North Wales and is 1085 metres (3569 feet) tall. Wales has three National Parks, the Brecon Beacons, the Pembrokeshire Coast and Snowdonia and five AONB’s, Wye Valley, Isle of Anglesey Coast, Llŷn Peninsula, Gower Peninsula and Clwydian Hills.

Getting to Wales: Wales has its own international airport just outside the city’s capital, Cardiff in south east Wales. A number of airlines offer European and international flights into Cardiff including KLM and bmibaby. The nearest London airport is Heathrow. It takes about 2 hours to get to Cardiff from there, travelling by motorway all the way.

More about Wales’ history, culture, sports, food and music