Geography of Wales
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wales is located on a peninsula in central-west Great Britain. The entire 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 borders England to the east and the sea in the other three directions: the Bristol Channel to the south, St George's Channel to the west, and the Irish Sea to the north. Wales has over 1,200 km (750 miles) of coastline. There are several islands off the Welsh mainland, the largest being Anglesey in the northwest.
The main population and industrial areas are in South Wales, consisting of the cities of Cardiff, Swansea and Newport and surrounding areas. Connected with these are the South Wales Valleys.
Much of Wales's beautiful and diverse landscape is mountainous, particularly in the north and central regions. The mountains were shaped during the last ice age, the Devensian glaciation. The highest mountains in Wales are in Snowdonia, and include Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa in Welsh), which, at 1,085 m (3,560 ft) is the highest peak in Wales. The 14 (or possibly 15) Welsh mountains over 3,000 feet (914 m) high are known collectively as the Welsh 3000s. The Brecon Beacons are in the south and are joined by the Cambrian Mountains in mid-Wales, the latter name being given to the earliest geological period of the Paleozoic era, the Cambrian.
In the mid-nineteenth century, two prominent geologists, Roderick Murchison and Adam Sedgwick used their studies of the geology of Wales to establish certain principles of stratigraphy and palaeontology. After much dispute, the next two periods of the Paleozoic era, the Ordovician and Silurian, were named after ancient Celtic tribes from this area.
The modern border between Wales and England is highly arbitrary; it was largely defined by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535-1542, based on mediæval feudal boundaries. It has apparently never been confirmed by referendum or reviewed by any Boundary Commission (except to confirm Monmouthshire as part of Wales in 1968). The boundary line very roughly follows Offa's Dyke from south to north as far as a point about 40 miles from the northern coast, but then swings further east. The boundary separates Knighton from its railway station, virtually cuts off Church Stoke from the rest of Wales, and slices straight through the village of Llanymynech (where a pub actually straddles the line).
The Seven Wonders of Wales is a traditional list of seven geographic and cultural landmarks in Wales: Snowdon (the highest mountain), the Gresford bells (the peal of bells in the medieval church of All Saints at Gresford), the Llangollen bridge (built in 1347 over the River Dee), St Winefride's Well (a pilgrimage site at Holywell in Flintshire) the Wrexham steeple (16th century tower of St. Giles Church in Wrexham), the Overton yew trees (ancient yew trees in the churchyard of St Mary's at Overton-on-Dee) and Pistyll Rhaeadr (Wales's tallest waterfall, at 240 ft or 75 m). The wonders are part of the traditional rhyme:
- Pistyll Rhaeadr and Wrexham steeple,
- Snowdon's mountain without its people,
- Overton yew trees, St Winefride wells,
- Llangollen bridge and Gresford bells.
Highest maximum temperature: 35.2°C (95.4°F) at Hawarden Bridge, Flintshire on 2 August 1990.
Lowest minimum temperature: -23.3°C (-10°F) at Rhayader, Radnorshire on 21 January 1940. [1]
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[edit] National parks
Wales has three designated national parks:
- Brecon Beacons, in the southeast of Wales
- Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, along the Pembrokeshire coast
- Snowdonia National Park in the Snowdonia region of northwest Wales
[edit] Waterfalls
Wales has many waterfalls, including some of the most striking waterfalls of the United Kingdom. The highest and most famous waterfall in Wales is Pistyll Rhaeadr at 240 ft (75 m). The name of the falls is Welsh for "spring of the waterfall" and is located near the village of Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant. The waterfall is formed by the Afon Disgynfa river, passing over a Silurian cliff. At the end of the falls, the river continues and is known as the Afon Rhaeadr. The falls are counted as one of the Seven Wonders of Wales and are designated as the 1000th Site of Special Scientific Interest by the Countryside Council for Wales. for its importance to Welsh geomorphology. The 19th century English author George Borrow remarked of the waterfall, "I never saw water falling so gracefully, so much like thin, beautiful threads, as here."
Other waterfalls include Aber Falls (Welsh: Rhaeadr Fawr, "big waterfall") at Abergwyngregyn, the Rhaeadr Cynfal falls in Ffestiniog (including Rhaeadr Y Cwm) and Pistyll Blaen Y Cwm in the Marilyn Rhialgwm of the upper Tanat Valley; and in the south, Sgwd Henrhyd near Coelbren, Melincourt falls in Resolven, and several in a small area in the south of the Brecon Beacons National Park.
[edit] Lakes
The largest natural lake in Wales is Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake).
[edit] See also
- Geology of Wales
- Geography of the United Kingdom
- Geography of England
- Geography of Scotland
- Geography of Ireland
- List of towns in Wales
