Theme Week Wales
Monday, 3 June 2013 - 01:09 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: Great Britain / Großbritannien General , Theme Weeks
Reading Time: 4 minutes
Llandudno © Noel Walley/cc-by-sa-3.0
🔊 Listen to this Post
Wales is a generally mountainous country, with its highest peaks in the north and central areas, including
Snowdon , its highest summit, on the western side of central southern Great Britain. It is about 274 km (170 mi) north–south and 97 km (60 mi) east–west. The oft-quoted ‘
size of Wales ‘ is about 20,779 km2 (8,023 sq mi). Wales is bordered by England to the east and by sea in all other directions: the
Irish Sea to the north and west,
St George’s Channel and the
Celtic Sea to the southwest and the
Bristol Channel to the south. Altogether, Wales has over 1,180 km (730 mi) of coastline, which can be discovered in full length on the
Wales Coast Path .
Over 50 islands lie off the Welsh mainland; the largest being
Anglesey , in the northwest.
At the dawn of the Industrial Revolution , development of the mining and metallurgical industries transformed the country from an agricultural society into an industrial nation; the South Wales coalfield ‘s exploitation causing a rapid expansion of Wales’ population. Two-thirds of the population now live in south Wales, mainly in and around Cardiff (the capital), Swansea and Newport, and in the nearby valleys . Today, with the country’s traditional extractive and heavy industries either gone or in decline, Wales’ economy depends on the public sector, light and service industries, and tourism.
Barmouth Bridge and Cader Idris © geograph.org.uk - Hugh Chevallier/cc-by-sa-2.0
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. Over 560,000
Welsh language speakers live in Wales, where it is spoken by a majority of the population in parts of the north and west. From the late 19th century onwards, Wales acquired its popular image as the “land of song”, attributable in part to the
eisteddfod tradition. At international sporting events, such as the
FIFA World Cup ,
Rugby World Cup and the
Commonwealth Games , Wales is represented by national teams, though at the
Olympic Games , Welsh athletes compete as part of a
Great Britain team .
Rugby union is seen as a symbol of Welsh identity and an expression of national consciousness.
Wales has a distinctive culture including its own language, customs, holidays and music. Wales has three UNESCO World Heritage Sites:
The Castles and Town walls of King Edward I in Gwynedd ;
Pontcysyllte Aqueduct ; and the
Blaenavon Industrial Landscape .
Here you can find the complete
Overview of all Theme Weeks .
Read more on
Wales ,
VisitWales.com ,
National Assembly for Wales ,
Natural Resources Wales ,
List of towns in Wales ,
Wales Coast Path and
Wikipedia Wales . Learn more about the
use of photos . To inform you about latest news most of the city, town or tourism websites offer a newsletter service and/or operate Facebook pages/Twitter accounts. In addition more and more destinations, tourist organizations and cultural institutions offer Apps for your Smart Phone or Tablet, to provide you with a mobile tourist guide (
Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State -
Weather report by weather.com -
Johns Hopkins University & Medicine - Coronavirus Resource Center -
Global Passport Power Rank -
Democracy Index -
GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank -
Global Competitiveness Report -
Corruption Perceptions Index -
Press Freedom Index -
World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index -
UN Human Development Index -
Global Peace Index -
Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index ). If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at
comment@wingsch.net . Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.
VIDEO
Recommended posts:
[caption id="attachment_154373" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Pointe de Penmarch © Photographe[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Penmarch is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. It lies 18 km south-west of Quimper by road. Inhabitants of Penmarc'h are called in French Penmarchais.
Penmarch is the southwest most township of Pays Bigouden, at the southern end of the Bay of Audierne. It is the most populous township of the Guilvinec's canton, with a population of 6,000 inhabitants. The ter...
[ read more ]
[caption id="attachment_201612" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Central Park is by far the largest interruption of the Commissioners' Plan © Piotr Kruczek[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The Commissioners' Plan of 1811 was the original design for the streets of Manhattan above Houston Street and below 155th Street, which put in place the rectangular grid plan of streets and lots that has defined Manhattan to this day. It has been called "the single most important document in New York City's development," and the plan has been descr...
[ read more ]
[caption id="attachment_163556" align="aligncenter" width="590"] President's Park with White House © Ad Meskens/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]President's Park, located in Washington, D.C., encompasses the White House, a visitor center, Lafayette Square, and The Ellipse. President's Park was the original name of Lafayette Square. The current President's Park is administered by the National Park Service. The White House Visitor Center is located in the north end of the Herbert C. Hoover Building (the Department of Commer...
[ read more ]
[caption id="attachment_153475" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Artemonas © Margaritaprounia/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Sifnos is an island municipality. The main town, near the center, known as Apollonia, is home of the island's folklore museum and library. The town's name is thought to come from an ancient temple of Apollo on the site of the church of Panayia Yeraniofora. The second-largest town is Artemonas (800), thought to be named after an ancient temple of Apollo's sister-goddess Artemis, located at the site...
[ read more ]
[caption id="attachment_224274" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Festival Bay at Dubai Festival City Mall © Teeraza88/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Dubai Festival City is a large residential, business and entertainment development in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, owned by Al-Futtaim Group. Dubai Festival City is the Middle East's largest mixed-use development: all elements for work, living, and leisure will be contained within the project. Once completed Festival City will comprise a series of residential co...
[ read more ]
[caption id="attachment_165530" align="aligncenter" width="590"] West Village © flickr.com - heathbrandon/cc-by-sa-2.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The West Village is a neighborhood in Manhattan in New York City. Largely thought to constitute the western portion of the larger Greenwich Village neighborhood within Lower Manhattan, the area is roughly bounded by the Hudson River on the west and Sixth Avenue on the east, extending from West 14th Street south to West Houston Street. The Far West Village extends from the Hudson River ...
[ read more ]
[caption id="attachment_151301" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Ministry of Foreign Affair of Ukraine © Dmytro Sergiyenko/cc-by-sa-1.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Kiev is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of July 2013 was 2,847,200, making Kiev the 8th largest city in Europe. Kiev's most famous historical architecture complexes are the St. Sophia Cathedral and the Kiev Pechersk Lavra (Monastery of the Caves), which are recognized ...
[ read more ]
[caption id="attachment_153665" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © mirabellayachts.com[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]At an estimated cost of over US$ 50million, she is the largest single-masted yacht ever built and became a reality in May 2004. Mirabella V was launched in November of 2003 and her mast was stepped six weeks later. She proceeded to the Mediterranean in June and completed five weeks charter in her first season. Mirabella V is one of a fleet of super-yachts owned by former Chairman and CEO of the Avis car rental compan...
[ read more ]
[caption id="attachment_153699" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Distance marks along the Rhine indicate distances from this bridge in the City of Constance © Achim Lehle[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The Rhine flows from Grisons in the eastern Swiss Alps to the North Sea coast in the Netherlands and is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe, at about 1,233 km (766 mi), with an average discharge of more than 2,000 m3/s (71,000 cu ft/s).
The Rhine and the Danube formed most of the northern inland frontier of ...
[ read more ]
[caption id="attachment_192206" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Dining Room © Bernard Gagnon/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Hearst Castle is a National Historic Landmark and California Historical Landmark mansion located on the Central Coast of California, United States. Designed by architect Julia Morgan, it was a residence for newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst between 1919 and 1947. Hearst died in 1951, and it became a California State Park in 1954. The site was opened to visitors in 1958. Since that time, it...
[ read more ]
