Wales (Welsh: Cymru, pronounced [ˈkəmrɨ]ⓘ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km2 (8,023 sq mi). Wales has over 2,700 km (1,700 mi) of coastline and is largely mountainous, with its highest peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa), its highest summit. The country lies within the north temperate zone and has a changeable, maritime climate.
Wales was an agricultural society for most of its early history, the country's terrain meaning that pastoral farming was the primary source of its wealth. In the 18th century, the introduction of the slate and metallurgical industries at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution began to transform the country into an industrial nation. The exploitation of the South Wales coalfield in the Victorian era caused a rapid expansion of the Welsh population. Two-thirds of Wales' inhabitants now live in South Wales, mainly in and around the capital city, Cardiff (Caerdydd), in the cities of Swansea (Abertawe) and Newport (Casnewydd), and in the nearby valleys. Today, with the country's traditional heavy industries either gone or in decline, Wales' economy depends on the public sector, light and service industries, and tourism.
From the late 19th century onwards, Wales acquired its popular image as the "land of song", attributable in part to the revival of the eisteddfod tradition. Although football has traditionally been the more popular sport in North Wales, rugby union is seen as a symbol of Welsh identity and an expression of national consciousness. Wales is officially bilingual, with the Welsh and English languages having equal status. The Welsh language is an important element of Welsh culture, and is spoken by over 580,000 people, more than 20% of the population. Following annexation by England in the 16th century, English law has been the legal system of Wales and England; the National Assembly for Wales, created in 1999 following a referendum, holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters.
The Kidwelly and Llanelly Canal was a canal and tramroad system in Carmarthenshire, Wales, built to carry anthracitecoal to the coast for onward transportation by coastal ships. It began life as the Kymer Canal in 1766, which linked pits at Pwll y Llygod to a dock near Kidwelly. Access to the dock gradually became more difficult as the estuary silted up, and an extension to Llanelli was authorised in 1812. Progress was slow, and the new canal was linked to a harbour at Pembury built by Thomas Gaunt in the 1820s, until the company's own harbour at Burry Port was completed in 1832. Tramways served a number of collieries to the east of Burry Port.
In 1832 engineer James Green advised on extending the system, and suggested a line with three inclined planes to reach Cwmmawr, further up the Gwendraeth Valley. Green underestimated the cost and could not complete the work. He was sacked in 1836, but the canal company finished the new route the following year. In 1865 the company changed its name to become the Kidwelly and Burry Port Railway, amalgamated with the company running Burry Port in the following year, and the canal became the Burry Port and Gwendraeth Valley Railway in 1869. Kymer's Dock at Kidwelly continued to be used for the export of coal by coasters for another 50 years. It was used as a rubbish dump during the 1950s, but together with a short section of the canal was restored in the 1980s.
... that from a standing start, Wales rugby union international Roy John could jump up and reach the crossbar set at 3.2 metres (10 ft 6 in) above the ground?
... that the 15th-century church of St Twrog, Bodwrog has some bull's head decorations, showing its link with a prominent local family of that time?
... that legend says that Welsh noblewoman Gwladys ferch Dafydd Gam was so beloved that when she died 3000 knights, nobles and weeping peasants followed her body to its burial place?
Alfred Russel WallaceOM, FRS (8 January 1823 – 7 November 1913) was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist. He did extensive fieldwork first in the Amazon River basin, and then in the Malay Archipelago, where he identified the Wallace line dividing the fauna of Australia from that of Asia. He is best known for independently proposing a theory of natural selection which prompted Charles Darwin to publish his own more developed and researched theory sooner than intended.
Wallace was also one of the leading evolutionary thinkers of the 19th century who made a number of other contributions to the development of evolutionary theory, including the concept of warning colouration in animals, and the Wallace effect. He was also considered the 19th century’s leading expert on the geographical distribution of animal species and is sometimes called the "father of biogeography".
_with_lesser_sand_eels_(Ammodytes_tobianus).jpg)
.jpg)
