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- Laws in Wales Act 1535
- Devolution 31 July 1998
Currency Pound sterling (GBP)
Patron saint Saint David (Dewi Sant)

Geography. Wales (Welsh: Cymru [‘kəm.r ]) is a country that is part
of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain,bordered by England

to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It had a
population in 2011 of 3,063,456. Wales has over 1,200 km (750 mi) of
coastline and is largely mountainous, with its highest peaks in the north and
central areas, including Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa), its highest summit.

Welsh national identity emerged among the Celtic Britons after the
Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, and Wales is regarded as
one of the modern Celtic nations. 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 and the Labour Party.
Although Wales shares a close political and social history with the rest
of Great Britain, and almost everyone speaks English, the country has

retained a distinct cultural identity and is officially bilingual.
Etymology of Wales. The English words "Wales" and "Welsh" derive
from the same Germanic root (singular Walh, plural Walha), which was
itself derived from the name of the Celtic tribe known to the Romans as

Volcae and which came to refer indiscriminately to all Celts and, later, to all
inhabitants of the Roman empire. The Old English-speaking Anglo-Saxons
came to use the term Waelisc when referring to the Celtic Britons.

History. Prehistoric origins. Wales has been inhabited by modern
humans for at least 29,000 years. Continuous human habitation dates from
the end of the last ice age, between 12,000 and 10,000 years before present
(BP), when Mesolithic hunter-gatherers from central Europe began to

migrate to Great Britain. At that time sea levels were much lower than today,
and the shallower parts of what is now the North Sea were dry land. The east
coast of present day England and the coasts of present day Denmark,

Germany and the Netherlands were connected by the former landmass
known as Doggerland, forming the British Peninsula on the European
mainland.

The Roman conquest of Wales began in AD 48 and took 30 years to
complete. Roman rule lasted over 300 years. The campaigns of conquest are

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