Wales is not part of England – as many people assume – but of Great Britain, which is made up of England, Scotland and Wales.

Together with Northern Ireland and some overseas territories, the correct name for the entire state is: “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”.  But it is the case that the parts of the country are inextricably linked due to their common island location and their history. It is therefore hardly possible and also does not make sense to view Wales in isolation from its neighboring regions, especially from England.

The status of Wales is also not so clear, as it has neither a written constitution nor its own parliament.

But in sport, Wales presents itself as a kind of state of its own and can qualify independently of England or Scotland, for example for European and World Championships and, if necessary, take part in them.

Wales, like England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, has its own national football team. The Wales team defeated the favored Belgium 3-1 at the European Football Championship in Lille (France) on July 1, 2016 and reached the semi-finals.

Many continental Europeans are mistaken in assuming that in Wales, as on the whole island, there is only rain, fog, “English breakfast” and the royal family. This view is so restricted that anyone who has ever visited the island will rave about the huge parks, enchanted moors in the fog, impressive mountains and lakes and imposing cliffs with bizarre rock formations. And even if the British never get rid of their reputation that their cuisine is inedible, it still offers traditional as well as modern and international culinary delights. Wales is one of the six “Celtic” nations, along with Scotland, Ireland, Cornwall, Brittany and the Isle of Man. In addition, Northern Ireland, Scotland and England are also shown in detail at goruma.

Name of the country	Wales
Head of state	Queen Elizabeth II (since February 6, 1952)
Form of government	Parliamentary/Constitutional Monarchy as part of Great Britain
Geographical location	Wales borders the Irish Sea to the north, the St. George’s Canal to the west and the Bristol Channel to the south. The Bristol Channel is the estuary of the Severn
National anthem	Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau (Old Land of My Fathers) God Save the Queen (of Great Britain)
Population	3 million (UK: approx. 62.6 million)
Ethnicities	English and Welsh
Religions	About 80% of Welsh people describe themselves as Christians, among which the supporters of free churches such as Baptists, Congregationalists, Presbyterians and Methodists are very strong. The Anglican Church in Wales, not a state church since 1920, has around 120,000 members. In addition, there are small communities of Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs or Jehovah’s Witnesses, but these usually do not make up much more than 1% of all residents.
Languages	English and Welsh
Capital	Cardiff (since 1955)
Surface	20,779 km² (Great Britain and Northern Ireland: 244,820 km²)
Highest mountain	Snowdon with an altitude of 1,085 m (located in North Wales)
Longest river	Seven with a length of 354 km
Largest lake	Lake Vyrnwy with an area of ​​8.2 km²
International license plate	GB
National currency	Pound sterling (£, GBP)
Time difference to CET	Wales is in the time zone GMT or UTC, which corresponds to CET – 1 hour in winter. In summer it is also 1 hour earlier than in Germany because of the summer time in Wales and the local summer time (CEST)
International phone code	0044
Mains voltage, frequency	230 volts, 50 Hertz (flat three-pin plug, an adapter is required.)
Internet Top Level Domain (TLD)	.uk and.gb

Note:
With regard to entry and exit information and other information about the legal or legal situation in Wales, we provide the data that applies to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland as a whole.

For other information such as history, diplomatic missions, parts of geography, etc., these articles refer to the whole of the United Kingdom for reasons of inseparability between Wales from Great Britain and its status as part of the United Kingdom.

Population and cities

Population

Number
Wales has around 3 million residents.

Ethnic composition
The majority of the population is Welsh and English.

Religious
Affiliation Approximately 80% of Welsh people describe themselves as Christians, among whom there are very strong supporters of free churches such as Baptists, Congregationalists, Presbyterians and Methodists. The Anglican Church in Wales, not a state church since 1920, has around 120,000 members. In addition, there are small communities of Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs or Jehovah’s Witnesses, but these usually do not make up much more than 1% of all residents.

National languages
The official language is English, but also Welsh.

Capital and other cities

The capital of Wales is Cardiff with a population of around 346,000. Other larger cities in Wales are:

Swansea with around 170,000 residents
Newport, the port city is the third largest city in Wales with around 146,000 residents.
Barry with around 51,000 residents
Llanelli with around 45,000 residents
Wrexham with around 45,000 residents
Bridgend with around 39,500 residents
Pontypool with around 37,000 residents
Aberdare with around 36,000 residents
Port Talbot with around 36,000 residents, the largest biomass power plant is located here. The plant generates 350 MW (megawatts) of electrical power.
It is powered by wood chips that come from organic wood production in the USA and Canada.
Pontypridd with around 33,000 residents
Carmathen with around 20,000 residents
Llandudno is the largest seaside resort in Wales. The Llandudno Pier was built in 1878 and is the longest in Wales at 572 meters.