Administrative divisions of Wales

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See also: List of Welsh principal areas by population, List of Welsh principal areas by area, and List of Welsh principal areas by percentage Welsh language

For local government purposes, Wales is divided into 22 unitary authorities. There are nine counties, three cities1, and ten county boroughs, although all have equal powers. Collectively these are known as the principal areas of Wales. They came into being on April 1, 1996 by virtue of the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 (1994 c. 19).

1 There are five cities in total in Wales — in addition to the three unitary authorities with City status, the communities of Bangor and St David's also have the status.

Contents

Areas are Counties, unless marked * (for Cities) or † (for County Boroughs). Welsh language forms are given in parentheses, where they differ from the English.

  1. Merthyr Tydfil (Merthyr Tudful) †
  2. Caerphilly (Caerffili) †
  3. Blaenau Gwent †
  4. Torfaen (Tor-faen) †
  5. Monmouthshire (Sir Fynwy)
  6. Newport (Casnewydd) *
  7. Cardiff (Caerdydd) *
  8. Vale of Glamorgan (Bro Morgannwg) †
  9. Bridgend (Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr) †
  10. Rhondda Cynon Taf (Rhondda Cynon Tâf) †
  11. Neath Port Talbot (Castell-nedd Porth Talbot) †
  12. Swansea (Abertawe) *
  13. Carmarthenshire (Sir Gaerfyrddin)
  14. Ceredigion
  15. Powys
  16. Wrexham (Wrecsam) †
  17. Flintshire (Sir y Fflint)
  18. Denbighshire (Sir Ddinbych)
  19. Conwy †
  20. Gwynedd
  21. Isle of Anglesey (Ynys Môn)
  22. Pembrokeshire (Sir Benfro)
 Image:WalesNumbered.png
v • d • e
Administrative divisions of Wales
Principal areas established in 1996
Counties and districts 1974 - 1996
Counties established before 1889

The current names of certain principal areas are different from those specified in the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994. The following changes took place, all with effect from April 2, 1996 : [1]

The lowest level of subdivision below principal areas are Communities. Each Welsh principal area is subdivided into communities. They have elected community councils (CCs) which perform a number of roles, such as providing local facilities, and representing their communities to larger local government bodies. Community councils are the equivalent of English parish councils. A community council may call itself a 'town council' if it wishes to do so. Two Welsh communities Bangor and St David's have city status and are therefore called 'City Councils'. Communities which are too small to have a council have a community meeting instead, an example of direct democracy.

See also List of communities in Wales

There are four police forces in Wales. These are:

  1. North Wales Police (Heddlu Gogledd Cymru)
  2. Dyfed-Powys Police (Heddlu Dyfed Powys)
  3. South Wales Police (Heddlu De Cymru)
  4. Gwent Police (Heddlu Gwent)

There are three fire and rescue services in Wales. The present Welsh fire services date from 1996. Each covers a number of principal areas. These are:

  1. North Wales Fire and Rescue Service (Gwasanaeth Tân ac Achub Gogledd Cymru)
  2. Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service (Gwasanaeth Tân ac Achub Canolbarth a Gorllewin Cymru)
  3. South Wales Fire and Rescue Service (Gwasanaeth Tân ac Achub De Cymru)

From 1889 to 1974, administrative counties of Wales were used for local government for the first time. These were created by the Local Government Act 1888 (51 & 52 Vict, c. 41) based on the traditional counties of Wales, but they were not entirely identical.

  1. Monmouthshire (Sir Fynwy)
  2. Glamorganshire or Glamorgan (Morgannwg)
  3. Carmarthenshire (Sir Gaerfyrddin)
  4. Pembrokeshire (Sir Benfro)
  5. Cardiganshire (Sir Aberteifi)
  6. Brecknockshire or Breconshire (Sir Frycheiniog)
  7. Radnorshire (Sir Faesyfed)
  8. Montgomeryshire (Sir Drefaldwyn)
  9. Denbighshire (Sir Ddinbych)
  10. Flintshire (Sir y Fflint)
  11. Merionethshire (Sir Feirionnydd)
  12. Caernarfonshire (Sir Gaernarfon)
  13. Anglesey (Ynys Môn)

The table shows the area and population of administrative counties in Wales and Monmouthshire as recorded at the censuses of 1891 and 1961.[2][3]

Administrative county Area 1891

(Statute acres)

 Population 1891 Area 1961

(Statute acres)

 Population 1961
Anglesey 175,836 50,098 176,694 51,705
Brecknockshire 469,894 51,393 469,281 55,185
Cardiganshire 443,071 63,467 443,189 53,648
Carmarthenshire 587,816 130,566 588,271 168,008
Caernarvonshire(1) 360,138 117,233 364,108 121,767
Denbighshire 424,235 118,843 427,978 174,151
Flintshire 164,051 77,277 163,707 150,082
Glamorgan 505,815 467,954 468,808 523,253
Merionethshire 427,810 49,212 422,372 38,310
Monmouthshire(2) 342,548 203,347 346,779 336,556
Montgomeryshire 510,111 58,003 510,110 41,165
Pembrokeshire 392,710 88,296 393,008 94,124
Radnorshire 301,164 21,791 301,165 18,471

(1)Renamed from Carnarvonshire, July 1, 1926[4]

(2)Monmouthshire's status as a county of Wales was ambiguous until 1974.

There were also a number of administratively independent county boroughs (not shown):

  • Cardiff created in 1889 (associated with Glamorgan)
  • Swansea, created in 1889 (associated with Glamorgan)
  • Newport, separated from Monmouthshire in 1891
  • Merthyr Tydfil, separated from Glamorgan in 1908
County borough Area 1911
(Statute acres)		 Population 1911 Area 1961
(Statute acres)		 Population 1961
Cardiff 6,373 182,259 15,085 256,582
Merthyr Tydfil 17,761 80,990 17,760 59,039
Newport 4,504 83,691 7,691 112,298
Swansea 5,202 114,663 21,600 167,322

In 1974, the existing administrative counties were abolished and replaced by eight new two-tier authorities, instead called 'counties' by the Local Government Act 1972 (1972 c. 70). These counties were sub-divided into lower-tier districts.

The counties were all given names in Welsh only, apart from the three in Glamorgan, which had English names as well as Welsh. The creation of these new administrative areas effectively separated the administrative function from the traditional counties, although in reality this had occurred in 1889.

When these two-tier counties were abolished in 1996, their names and areas were retained with slight modifications for some purposes such as Lieutenancy, and became known as the preserved counties of Wales. These were further amended in 2003 by S.I. 2003/974 to ensure that each unitary area is wholly within one preserved county.

  1. Gwent
  2. South Glamorgan
    (De Morgannwg)
  3. Mid Glamorgan
    (Morgannwg Ganol)
  4. West Glamorgan
    (Gorllewin Morgannwg)
  5. Dyfed
  6. Powys
  7. Gwynedd
  8. Clwyd

Main article: Districts of Wales

The counties were sub-divided into districts, these were:

The redistribution of these districts into the current unitary authorities is as follows:

Unitary authority Previous districts
Anglesey Anglesey
Blaenau Gwent most of Blaenau Gwent
Bridgend most of Ogwr
Caerphilly Islwyn, Rhymney Valley
Carmarthenshire Carmarthen, Llanelli, Dinefwr
Cardiff Cardiff, part of Taff–Ely
Ceredigion Ceredigion
Conwy Aberconwy, most of Colwyn
Denbighshire Rhuddlan, parts of Glyndwr and Colwyn
Flintshire Alyn and Deeside, Delyn
Gwynedd Arfon, Dwyfor, Meirionnydd
Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil
Monmouthshire Monmouth, part of Blaenau Gwent
Neath Port Talbot Neath, Port Talbot, parts of Lliw Valley
Newport Newport
Pembrokeshire Preseli Pembrokeshire, South Pembrokeshire
Powys Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire, Brecknock, part of Glyndwr
Rhondda Cynon Taf Rhondda, Cynon Valley, most of Taff-Ely
Swansea Swansea, parts of Lliw Valley
Torfaen Torfaen
Vale of Glamorgan most of Vale of Glamorgan
Wrexham most of Wrexham, parts of Glyndwr

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ Census of England and Wales 1891, Vol. I, Table III. Administrative Counties and County Boroughs; Area, and Houses and Population in 1891 (Historic GIS Project, Queen's University, Belfast)[2]
  3. ^ 1961 Census England and Wales: County Reports (www.visionofbritain.org.uk) [3]
  4. ^ 1931 Census of England and Wales, county report for Caernarvonshire
v • d • e
Flag of the United Kingdom Subdivisions of the United Kingdom
England Regions • Metropolitan county • Unitary authority • Ceremonial counties • Civil parish
Scotland Sheriffdoms • Lieutenancy areas
Wales Principal areas • Preserved counties
Northern Ireland Counties • Districts
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_divisions_of_Wales"
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