Уэльс

Geographical position
Wales is a small country, bounded on the north and west by the Irish Sea, and on the south by the Bristol Channel; while in the east its land boundary with England stretches from Chepstow in the south to Chester in the north. Its total area is 8,006 square miles and its total population about 2,600,000 compared with an area of 50,237 square miles in England, and a total British population of over 50 million. It is noted for its long rivers, big lakes and hilly peaks in the north, and sloping hills in the south. The longest rivers are the Wye (130 miles), coursing through lovely valleys in the south, the Dee (70 miles), which rises in the Bala Lake in the north and flows through the beautiful vale of Llangollen, the Towy (68 miles), the Teifi (50 miles) in mid-Wales, and the Usk (56 miles), which flows into the Bristol Channel in the south.
The whole area of Wales may be subdivided into three regions — the Welsh Massif, Industrial South Wales, and the Welsh Borderland.

State symbology
Language
Welsh is one of the Celtic languages, like Scottish and Irish Gaelic. It is estimated that Welsh is spoken by 16 to 20 percent of the population, although in North and West Wales 50 per cent speak the language. The Welsh Language Act of 1967 said that all official documents should be in both languages, and most road signs are printed in English and Welsh.
Since the 1960s there has been increased interest in Welsh. At secondary schools almost 50 per cent of all pupils learn Welsh as a first or second language. Since 1982 there has also been an independent fourth TV channel broadcasting mainly in Welsh.
Although not many Welsh words are well-known in England, the word eisteddfod is understood by almost everybody. This is the Welsh name for an annual competition where people meet to dance, sing and read poems. Usually, only Welsh is spoken and in recent years they have attracted people who wish to protest against the influence of English on the Welsh language and culture.
Hymn
Land of my Fathers
The land of my fathers, the land of my choice,
The land in which poets and minstrels rejoice;
The land whose stern warriors were true to the core,
While bleeding for freedom of yore.
Chorus:
Wales! Wales! Favorite land of Wales!
While sea her wall, may naught befall
To mar the old language of Wales.
Old mountainous Cambria, the Eden of bards,
Each hill and each valley, excite my regards;
To the ears of her patriots how charming still seems,
The music that flows in her streams.
Chorus
My country the crushed by a hostile array,
The language of Cambria lives out to this day;
The muse has eluded the traitors' foul knives,
The harp of my country survives.
Chorus

The emblems of Wales
The flag of Wales shows y ddraig goch ('the Red Dragon'), passant, on a ground divided into two horizontal strips of equal size, white above and green below. The dragon emblem is believed to have been introduced to Wales by the Romans, who used it as a military ensign. It was used by Cadwaladr in the seventh century, and before that may have been used on tribal war banners; hence the title 'Pendragon' for a war leader. It was one of the heraldic supporters in the coat of arms of the Tudor kings.
The origin of the leek as a national plant is lost in legend. It is associated with St David, and also with even earlier use as a druidic symbol. The wearing of a leek on St David's Day was well known by Shakespeare's time. In King Henry V, Gower asks Fluellen: 'But why do you wear your leek today? St Davy's Day is past.' One tradition relates it to Cadwallon's victory over the Northumbrians in 633, when his men plucked leeks from a field and wore them in order to identify themselves to one another in the battle. The victory, under the patronage of St David, was associated with this symbol, and the leek was then worn to commemorate the Saint's day each year.
The daffodil has only recently assumed the position of national emblem. The flower was very popular during the nineteenth century and its status was elevated by Lloyd George who wore it on St David's Day and used it in 1911 in ceremonies to mark the investiture of the Prince of Wales at Caernarfon.

Nature
The chief rivers of Wales are in the north the Clwyd and the Conway, on the west the Dwyryd, Mawddach and Teifi; on the south the eastern and western Cleddan the Taf, Towy and Wysg (Usk). The interior highland mass is drained also by rivers which fall to the lowlands of the English border —the Dee, Severn and Wye.
The vegetation of Wales reflects the mountainous nature of the country and its moist climate. Moisture-loving species such as ferns are found almost through­out all Wales in greater abundance than in England.
The remoter parts of Wales shelter some mammals and birds which are either extinct or rare elsewhere in Britain. Thus the polecat is fairly common in central Wales though hardly known elsewhere. Grassholm, off Pembrokeshire, is the home of one of the largest gannet colonies in Europe. Besides this species other sea and land birds can be found there In great numbers.
Large beds of cockles on parts of the south Wales coast support a flourishing cockle fishery.
The whole area of Wales may be subdivided into three regions — the Welsh Massif, Industrial South Wales, and the Welsh Borderland.

History
The Celts who had first arrived in Wales in the 6th and 7th centuries be were defeated by the invading Romans in 43 ad. The Romans also killed large numbers of Druids, the Celtic religious leaders, who had formed communites in the north and on the island of Anglesey.
In the 5th and 6th centuries ad many European saints travelled to Wales as Christian missionaries. Their names are remembered in some present-day Welsh place names. St Teilo and St Cybi are remembered by Llandeilo and Llangybi. Llan is the Welsh word for an area where a church stands.
The Saxons pushed the Welsh further and further towards the west until, in the 8th century, a Saxon king called Offa built a long ditch to keep them out of England! This ditch or dyke is 167 miles (269 km.) long and follows the line of much of today's border for most of the way. Then came the Normans who built enormous castles to protect themselves from attack from the west. Caerphilly Castle, 6 miles (10 km.) north of Cardiff, was one of the strongest in Europe. Even Oliver Cromwell, during the English Civil War, was unable to blow it up!
The Welsh fought for many years to win back their freedom. The Welsh king, Llewellyn the Great, tried to unite his people against the English, but his grandson, Llewellyn the Last, was finally defeated in 1282. The English built great castles at Harlech and Caernarfon, and in 1301 Edward I of England made his eldest son Prince of Wales. This tradition has been kept until the present day and in 1969 a similar ceremony took place again. The present Queen made her eldest son, Charles, Prince of Wales at Caernarfon castle.
In 1536 Henry VIII brought Wales under the English parliament through a special law. He insisted on the use of English for official business, but at the same time he gave the Welsh the freedom which the English already enjoyed. Since the 16th century Wales has been governed from London and in 1978 the Welsh voted by a large majority against a separate Welsh Parliament. In today's Government there is a special department and minister for Welsh affairs.

Caemarfon Castle, 1969 — A new Prince of Wales.
Wales has not always been a part of Great Britain. Between the ninth and the eleventh century, Wales was divided into small states. In the thirteenth century, Llewellyn up forwent united the country and his son was crowned the first Prince of Wales. Welsh independence didn't last long. Later that century, the English king, Edward I, decided to conquer Wales. The Welsh surrendered and Edward I of England gave the title of Prince of Wales to his own heir, Edward II. Since then the eldest son of the English king or queen has always been given the title "The Prince of Wales" and this is why Wales is called "Principality".

The National Parks
There are three National Parks in Wales which cover approximately one-fifth of the whole country. These parks are protected by law because of their natural beauty, but ordinary people still live and work there. The most famous of the parks is Snowdonia in the north-west. It covers 840 square miles (2,176 sq. km.) of some of Wales' most breathtaking countryside. The highest mountain range in Wales is in this area, with several peaks over 3,000 feet (910 m.). The highest, Snowdon, is 3,560 feet (1,085m.).
You can reach the summit on foot or by the Snowdon mountain railway, which is 4.5 miles (7 km.) long.
Many people travel to the parks each year for special holidays. These include a large number of outdoor activities such as walking, climbing, and riding, or water-sports such as canoeing and fishing. People camp and live without all the usual comforts of home.
The engine of the Snowdon mountain railway sometimes drives backwards!

THE WELSH MASSIF
The Snowdon massif is the highest part of Wales and is situated in the north-west of the country. The highest mountain of both England and Wales is Snowdon itself which is 3,561 feet high Carnedd Dafydd (3427 ft) and Carnedd Llewelyn (3,485 ft) are also worth mentioning as well-known mountains on Wales.
Today the northwest of Wales is known as that part of the country where the Welsh language and Welsh way of life are more predominent.
Woodland is sparse as grazing sheep and the charcoal burners of the 19th century destroyed most of it. The valleys are quite different from the uplands. The climate is milder as they are sheltered from high winds. At the higher levels sheep farming is still of great importance, but in the lower valleys there is a marked change from sheep to cattle. In the lower valleys farmland is richer and settlements are much larger. The climate of these parts is much better as it is influenced by the nearness of the sea and the decreasing height.
The Welsh Massif is mainly plateau country with much moorland, well known for its cool and rainy climate Settlements and farmlands are largely concentrated in the valleys and along the coast. The winay high plateaux have little use except as rough pasture for sheep, which are very numerous on the uplands Sheep-grazing employs few men and the high plateaux of Wales are very sparsely populated. Settlements are usually small and are scattered as single farmsteads