Cardiff is the main commercial centre ofWales as well as the base for theSenedd, the Welsh Parliament. At the 2021 census, the unitary authority area population was put at 362,400.[5] The population of the wider urban area in 2011 was 479,000.[6] In 2011, it ranked sixth in the world in aNational Geographic magazine list of alternative tourist destinations.[7] It is the most popular destination in Wales with 21.3 million visitors in 2017.[8]
Cardiff is a major centre for television and film production (such as the 2005 revival ofDoctor Who,[9]Torchwood andSherlock) and is the Welsh base for the main national broadcasters.
Caerdydd (theWelsh name of the city) derives from theMiddle WelshCaerdyf. The change from-dyf to-dydd shows the colloquial alteration of Welshf[v] anddd[ð] and was perhaps also driven byfolk etymology. Thissound change probably first occurred in theMiddle Ages; both forms were current in theTudor period.Caerdyf has its origins inpost-RomanBrythonic words meaning "the fort of theTaff". Thefort probably refers to that established by theRomans.Caer is Welsh forfort and-dyf is in effect a form ofTaf (Taff), the river which flows by Cardiff Castle, with the⟨t⟩ showingconsonant mutation to⟨d⟩ and the vowel showingaffection as a result of a (lost)genitive case ending.[12]
TheanglicisedCardiff is derived fromCaerdyf, with the Welshf[v] borrowed asff/f/, as also happens inTaff (from WelshTaf) andLlandaff (from WelshLlandaf).
The antiquarianWilliam Camden (1551–1623) suggested that the name Cardiff may derive from *Caer-Didi ("the Fort of Didius"), a name supposedly given in honour ofAulus Didius Gallus, governor of a nearby province at the time when the Roman fort was established. Although some sources repeat this theory, it has been rejected on linguistic grounds by modern scholars such as ProfessorGwynedd Pierce.[13]
Front wall ofCardiff Castle part of the original Roman fort beneath the red stones
Until theRoman conquest of Britain, Cardiff was part of the territory of theSilures – aCeltic British tribe that flourished in theIron Age – whose territory included the areas that would become known asBreconshire,Monmouthshire and Glamorgan.[24] The 3.2 ha (8-acre)fort established by theRomans near the mouth of theRiver Taff in AD 75, in what would become the north western boundary of the centre of Cardiff, was built over an extensive settlement that had been established by the Romans in the 50s AD.[25] The fort was one of a series of military outposts associated withIsca Augusta (Caerleon) that acted as border defences. The fort may have been abandoned in the early 2nd century as the area had been subdued. However, by this time a civilian settlement, orvicus, was established. It was likely made up of traders who made a living from the fort, ex-soldiers and their families. ARoman villa has been discovered atEly.[26] Contemporary with theSaxon Shore forts of the 3rd and 4th centuries, a stone fortress was established at Cardiff. Similar to the shore forts, the fortress was built to protectBritannia from raiders.[27] Coins from the reign ofGratian indicate that Cardiff was inhabited until at least the 4th century; the fort was abandoned towards the end of the 4th century, as the last Roman legions left the province of Britannia withMagnus Maximus.[28][29]
Little is known of the fort and civilian settlement in the period between the Roman departure from Britain and the Norman Conquest. The settlement probably shrank in size and may even have been abandoned. In the absence of Roman rule, Wales was divided into small kingdoms; early on,Meurig ap Tewdrig emerged as the local king inGlywysing (which later becameGlamorgan). The area passed through his family until the advent of the Normans in the 11th century.[30]
In 1081William I, King of England, began work on the castle keep within the walls of the old Roman fort.[31] Cardiff Castle has been at the heart of the city ever since.[32] The castle was substantially altered and extended during the Victorian period byJohn Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute, and the architectWilliam Burges.[33] Original Roman work can, however, still be distinguished in the wall facings.
A town grew up under the castle, consisting mainly of settlers from England.[34] Cardiff had a population of between 1,500 and 2,000 in the Middle Ages – a normal size for a Welsh town in the period.[35] It was the centre of the NormanMarcher Lordship of Glamorgan. By the end of the 13th century, Cardiff was the only town in Wales with a population exceeding 2,000, although it remained relatively small compared with notable towns in England and continued to be contained within its walls, which were begun as a woodenpalisade in the early 12th century.[36] It was of sufficient size and importance to receive a series of charters, notably in 1331 from William La Zouche, Lord of Glamorgan through marriage with thede Clare family,[37]Edward III in 1359,[38] thenHenry IV in 1400,[38] and laterHenry VI.
In 1404,Owain Glyndŵr burned Cardiff and took possession of the Castle.[39] As many of the buildings were made of timber and tightly packed within the town walls, much of Cardiff was destroyed. The settlement was soon rebuilt on the same street plan and began to flourish again.[35] (Glyndŵr's statue was erected in Cardiff Town Hall in the early 20th century, reflecting the complex, often conflicting cultural identity of Cardiff as capital of Wales.) Besides serving an important political role in the governance of the fertile south Glamorgan coastal plain, Cardiff was a busy port in the Middle Ages and declared astaple port in 1327.
In 1536, theLaws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 led to the creation of Glamorganshire and Cardiff was made thecounty town, it also became part ofKibborhundred,[40] around the same time the Herberts became the most powerful family in the area.[34] In 1538,Henry VIII closed Cardiff'sDominican andFranciscan friaries, whose remains were used as building materials.[35] A writer in this period noted: "The River Taff runs under the walls of his honours castle and from the north part of the town to the south part where there is a fair quay and a safe harbour for shipping."[35]
Cardiff became aborough in 1542[39] and furtherRoyal Charters were granted to it by Elizabeth I in 1600[41] and James I in 1608.[42] In 1573, it was made a head port for collection of customs duties.[34]Pembrokeshire historianGeorge Owen described Cardiff in 1602 as "the fayrest towne in Wales yett not the welthiest".[34] It gained a second Royal Charter in 1608.[43]
Adisastrous flood in theBristol Channel on 30 January 1607 (now believed to have been a tidal wave)[44] changed the course of the River Taff and ruinedSt Mary's Parish Church, which was replaced by a chapel of ease dedicated to St John the Baptist.[45]
Cardiff was at peace throughout the ensuing century. In 1766,John Stuart, 1st Marquess of Bute married into the Herbert family and was later createdBaron Cardiff.[34] In 1778, he began renovating Cardiff Castle.[46] Aracecourse,printing press, bank andcoffee house opened in the 1790s and Cardiff gained astagecoach service to London. Despite these improvements, Cardiff's position in the Welshurban hierarchy declined over the 18th century.Iolo Morganwg called it "an obscure and inconsiderable place" and the1801 census found a population of only 1,870, making it only the 25th largest town in Wales, well behindMerthyr andSwansea.[47]
In 1793,John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute was born. He spent his life building the Cardiff docks and was later hailed as "the creator of modern Cardiff".[34] A twice-weekly boat service between Cardiff andBristol opened in 1815,[48] and in 1821, the Cardiff Gas Works was established.[48]
After the Napoleonic Wars Cardiff suffered some social and industrial unrest, starting with the trial and hanging ofDic Penderyn in 1831.[49]
Jubilee dock, Cardiff, from the eastern side (1849)
The town grew rapidly from the 1830s onwards, when theMarquess of Bute built adock, which eventually linked to theTaff Vale Railway. Cardiff became the main port for coal exports from theCynon,Rhondda, andRhymney valleys, and grew in population at a rate of nearly 80 per cent per decade between 1840 and 1870. Much of this was due to migration from within and outside Wales: in 1841, a quarter of Cardiff's population were English-born and more than 10 per cent born in Ireland.[50] By the 1881 census, Cardiff had overtaken Merthyr and Swansea to become the largest town in Wales.[51] Cardiff's status as the premier town in South Wales was confirmed when it was chosen as the site for theUniversity College of South Wales and Monmouthshire in 1883.[47]
A permanent military presence was established with the completion ofMaindy Barracks in 1877.[52]
Cardiff faced a challenge in the 1880s whenDavid Davies of Llandinam and theBarry Railway Company promoted rival docks atBarry. These had the advantage of being accessible in alltides: David Davies claimed his venture would cause "grass to grow in the streets of Cardiff". From 1901 coal exports from Barry surpassed those from Cardiff, but the administration of the coal trade remained centred on Cardiff, in particular itsCoal Exchange, where the price of coal on the British market was determined and the first million-pound deal was struck in 1907.[47] The city also strengthened its industrial base when the owners of theDowlais Ironworks in Merthyr (who would later form part ofGuest, Keen and Nettlefolds) built asteelworks close to the docks at East Moors, which Lord Bute opened on 4 February 1891.[53]
After a brief post-war boom, Cardiff docks entered a prolonged decline in theinterwar period. By 1936, trade was at less than half its value in 1913, reflecting the slump in demand forWelsh coal.[47] Bomb damage in theCardiff Blitz of World War II included the devastation ofLlandaff Cathedral, and in the immediate postwar years, the city's link with the Bute family came to an end.
The city was recognised as thecapital city of Wales on 20 December 1955, in a written reply by theHome Secretary,Gwilym Lloyd George.[56]Caernarfon had also vied for the title.[57] Welsh local authorities had been divided: only 76 out of 161 chose Cardiff in a 1924 poll organised by theSouth Wales Daily News.[58] The subject was not debated again until 1950, and meanwhile Cardiff took steps to promote its "Welshness". The stalemate between Cardiff and cities such as Caernarfon and Aberystwyth was not broken until Cardiganshire County Council decided to support Cardiff; and in a new local authority vote, 134 out of 161 voted for Cardiff.[58]
Cardiff therefore celebrated two importantanniversaries in 2005. The Encyclopedia of Wales notes that the decision to recognise the city as the capital of Wales "had more to do with the fact that it contained marginalConservative constituencies than any reasoned view of what functions a Welsh capital should have." Although the city hosted theCommonwealth Games in 1958, Cardiff became a centre of national administration only with the establishment of theWelsh Office in 1964, which later prompted the creation of various other public bodies such as theArts Council of Wales and theWelsh Development Agency, most of which were based in Cardiff.
Redevelopment in the city's historic Cardiff Bay area
The East Moors Steelworks closed in 1978 and Cardiff lost population in the 1980s,[59] consistent with a wider pattern of counter-urbanisation in Britain. However, it recovered to become one of the few cities outside London where population grew in the 1990s.[60] During this period theCardiff Bay Development Corporation was promoting theredevelopment of south Cardiff; an evaluation of the regeneration of Cardiff Bay published in 2004 concluded that the project had "reinforced the competitive position of Cardiff" and "contributed to a massive improvement in the quality of the built environment, although it had "failed "to attract the major inward investors originally anticipated".[61]
In the1997 Welsh devolution referendum, Cardiff voters rejected the establishment of the National Assembly for Wales by 55.4% to 44.2% on a 47% turnout, which Denis Balsom partly ascribed to a general preference in Cardiff and some other parts of Wales for a British rather than exclusively Welshidentity.[62][63] The relative lack of local support for the Assembly and difficulties between the Welsh Office and Cardiff Council in acquiring the originally preferred venue,Cardiff City Hall, encouraged other local authorities to bid to house the Assembly.[64][65] However, the Assembly was eventually located atTŷ Hywel in Cardiff Bay in 1999. In 2005, a new debating chamber on an adjacent site, designed byRichard Rogers, was opened.
The Senedd (Welsh Parliament;Welsh:Senedd Cymru) has been based in Cardiff Bay since its formation in 1999 as the "National Assembly for Wales". The Senedd building was opened on 1 March 2006 byThe Queen.[66] TheMembers of the Senedd (MSs), the Senedd Commission and ministerial support staff are based in Cardiff Bay.
Cardiff elects four constituency Members of the Senedd to the Senedd; the constituencies for the Senedd are the same as for the UK Parliament. All of the city's electors have an extra vote for theSouth Wales Central regional members; this system increases proportionality to the Senedd. The most recent Senedd general election was held on6 May 2021.
TheWelsh Government is headquartered in Cardiff'sCathays Park, where most of its civil servants are based, with smaller numbers in other central locations:Cathays,Canton, andCardiff Bay.[67] There are other Welsh Government offices in other parts of Wales, such as Llandudno and Aberystwyth, and there are international offices.[68]
Between the 2004 and 2012 local elections, no individual political party held a majority on Cardiff County Council. TheLiberal Democrats held the largest number of seats and CllrRodney Berman was Leader of the council.[69] The Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru formed a partnership administration.[70] In the2012 elections theLabour Party achieved an outright majority, after gaining an additional 33 seats across the city.
Cardiff is divided into communities, several with their owncommunity council and the rest governed directly by Cardiff City Council. Elections are held every five years. The last contested elections would have been held at the same time as the2017 Cardiff Council election had there been more candidates standing than available seats. Those with community councils are:
The centre of Cardiff is relatively flat and bounded by hills to the east, north and west. Its location influenced its development as the world's largest coal port, notably its proximity and easy access to the coalfields of theSouth Wales Valleys. The highest point in the local authority area isGarth Hill, 307 m (1,007 ft)above sea level.
Cardiff is built on reclaimed marshland on a bed ofTriassic stones. This reclaimed marshland stretches fromChepstow to theEly Estuary,[77] which is the natural boundary of Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan. Triassic landscapes of this part of the world are usually shallow and low-lying, consistent with the flatness of the centre of Cardiff.[78] The classic Triassicmarl,sand andconglomerate rocks are used predominantly throughout Cardiff as building materials. Many of these Triassic rocks are purplish, especially the coastal marl found near Penarth. One of the Triassic rocks used in Cardiff is "Radyr Stone", afreestone which as its name suggests is quarried in the Radyr district.[79] Cardiff has also imported some materials for buildings:Devonian sandstones (theOld Red Sandstone) from theBrecon Beacons has been used. Most famously, the buildings ofCathays Park, the civic centre in the centre of the city, are built ofPortland stone from Dorset.[80] A widely used building stone in Cardiff is the yellow-greyLiassiclimestone rock of the Vale of Glamorgan, including the rare "Sutton Stone", a conglomerate of lias limestone andcarboniferous limestone.[81]
Cardiff is bordered to the west by the rural district of the Vale of Glamorgan, also known as the Garden of Cardiff,[82] to the east by the city of Newport; to the north by theSouth Wales Valleys, and to the south by theSevern Estuary andBristol Channel. The River Taff winds through the city centre and together with theRiver Ely flows into the freshwater Cardiff Bay. A third river, theRhymney, flows through the east of the city directly into the Severn Estuary.
Cardiff lies near theGlamorganHeritage Coast, stretching westward from Penarth and Barry –commuter towns of Cardiff – with striped yellow-blueJurassic limestone cliffs. The Glamorgan coast is the only part of theCeltic Sea with exposed Jurassic (blue lias) geology. This stretch of coast with its reefs, sandbanks and serrated cliffs was aship graveyard; many ships sailing to Cardiff during the industrial era were wrecked on this hostile coastline during west/south-westerly gales. Smuggling, deliberate shipwrecking and attacks on ships were also common.[83]
"Inner Cardiff" consists of the wards ofPlasnewydd,Gabalfa,Roath,Cathays,Adamsdown andSplott ward on the north and east of the city centre, andButetown,Grangetown,Riverside andCanton to the south and west.[84] The inner-city areas to the south of theA4161 road, known as the "Southern Arc", are with the exception of Cardiff Bay some of the poorest districts of Wales, with low levels of economic activity.[85] On the other hand, Gabalfa, Plasnewydd and Cathays north of the 'arc' have large student populations,[86] and Pontcanna (north of Riverside and alongside Canton) is a favourite for students and young professionals.Penylan, to the north east of Roath Park, is an affluent area popular with older parents and the retired.
Since 2000, there has been a marked change of scale and building height in Cardiff, with the development of thecity centre's first purpose-built high-rise apartments.[91]Tall buildings have been built in the city centre and Cardiff Bay, and more are planned.[92]
Cardiff, in thenorth temperate zone, has amaritime climate (Köppen: Cfb) marked by mild weather that is often cloudy, wet and windy.[93] Cardiff is one of the warmest and wettest cities in the UK, with an average annual temperature and rainfall of approximately 11°C and 1200mm respectively. Summers tend to be warm and sunny, with average maxima between 19 and 22 °C (66 and 72 °F). Winters are fairly wet, but excessive rainfall as well as frost are rare. Spring and autumn feel similar, with mild temperatures averaging around 15°C as daytime maxima. Rain is unpredictable at any time of year, although showers tend to be shorter in summer.[94]
The northern part of the county, being higher and inland, tends to be cooler and wetter than the city centre.[95]
Cardiff's maximum and minimum monthly temperatures average 21.5 °C (70.7 °F) (July) and 2.1 °C (35.8 °F) (February). For Wales, the temperatures average 19.1 °C (66.4 °F) (July) and 1.1 °C (34.0 °F) (February).[96][97]
Cardiff has 1,518 hours of sunshine in an average year (Wales 1,388.7 hours). Cardiff is sunniest in July, with an average 203.4 hours during the month (Wales 183.3 hours), and least sunny in December with 44.6 hours (Wales 38.5 hours).[96][97]
Cardiff experiences less rainfall than average for Wales. It falls on 146 days in an average year, with total annual rainfall of 1,151.9 mm (45.35 in). Monthly rainfall patterns show that from October to January, average monthly rainfall in Cardiff exceeds 100 mm (3.9 in) each month, the wettest month being December with 125.3 mm (4.93 in) and the driest from April to June, with average monthly rainfall fairly consistent between 65 and 75 mm (2.6 and 3.0 in).[96][97]
After a period of decline in the 1970s and 1980s, Cardiff's population is growing again. It reached 362,400 in the2021 census,[105] compared to a2011 census figure of 346,100.[106] Between mid-2007 and mid-2008, Cardiff was the fastest-growing local authority in Wales, with growth of 1.2%.[107] According to 2001 census data, Cardiff was the 21st largesturban area in the United Kingdom.[108] The CardiffLarger Urban Zone (aEurostat definition including the Vale of Glamorgan and a number of local authorities inthe Valleys) has 841,600 people, the 10th largest LUZ in the UK.[109] The Cardiff and South Wales Valleys metropolitan area has a population of nearly 1.1 million.[110]
Residential areas of northern Cardiff
Official census estimates of the city's total population have been disputed. The city council published two articles arguing that the 2001 census seriously under-reported the population of Cardiff, and in particular the ethnic minority population of some inner city areas.[111][112]
The Welsh Government's official mid-year estimate of the population of the Cardiff local authority area in 2019 was 366,903.[113] At the 2011, census the official population of the Cardiff Built Up Area (BUA) was put at 447,287.[114][115] The BUA is not contiguous with the local authority boundary and aggregates data at a lower level; for Cardiff this includes the urban part of Cardiff, Penarth/Dinas Powys, Caerphilly and Pontypridd.
Cardiff has an ethnically diverse population due to past trading connections, post-warimmigration and large numbers of foreign students who attend university in the city. The ethnic make-up of Cardiff's population at the 2011 census was: 84.7% White, 1.6% mixed White and Black African/Caribbean, 0.7% mixed White and Asian, 0.6% mixed other, 8.1% Asian, 2.4% Black, 1.4% Arab and 0.6% other ethnic groups.[116] This means almost 53,000 people from a non-white ethnic group reside in the city. This diversity, especially that of the city's long-established African[117] and Arab[118] communities, has been recorded in cultural exhibitions and events, along with books published on this subject.[119][120]
There are seven NHS hospitals in the city, the largest being theUniversity Hospital of Wales, which is the third largest hospital in the UK and deals with most accidents and emergencies.[121] The University Dental Hospital, which provides emergency treatment, is also located on this site.Llandough Hospital is located in the south of the city.
St. David's Hospital, the city's newest hospital, built behind the former building, is located in Canton and provides services for the elderly and children.Cardiff Royal Infirmary is on Newport Road, near the city centre. The majority of this hospital was closed in 1999, but the west wing remained open for clinic services, genitourinary medicine and rehabilitation treatment.Rookwood Hospital and theVelindre Cancer Centre are also located within Cardiff. They are administered by theCardiff and Vale University Health Board, with the exception of Velindre, which is run by a separate trust.[122][123]Spire Healthcare, a private hospital, is in Pontprennau.[124]
Cardiff has a chequered linguistic history withWelsh, English,Latin,Norse andNorman French preponderant at different times. Welsh was the majority language in Cardiff from the 13th century until the city's explosive growth in theVictorian era.[125] As late as 1850, five of the 12Anglican churches within the current city boundaries conducted their services exclusively in Welsh, while only two worshipped exclusively in English.[125] By 1891, the percentage of Welsh speakers had fallen to 27.9% and onlyLisvane,Llanedeyrn andCreigiau remained as majority Welsh-speaking communities.[126] The Welsh language became grouped around a small cluster of chapels and churches, the most notable of which is Tabernacl in the city centre, one of four UK churches chosen to hold official services to commemorate the new millennium.
The city's first Welsh-language school (Ysgol Gymraeg Bryntaf) was established in the 1950s. Welsh has since regained ground.[127] Aided byWelsh-medium education and migration from other parts of Wales, there are now many more Welsh speakers: their numbers doubled between the 1991 and 2011 censuses, from 18,071 (6.6%) to 36,735 (11.1%) residents aged three years and above.[128] TheLSOA (Lower Layer Super Output Area) with the highest percentage of Welsh speakers in the city centre is found inCanton, at 25.5%.[129] The LSOA with the highest percentage of Welsh speakers in the whole of Cardiff isWhitchurch, at 26%.[129]
Cardiff City Council adopted a five-year Welsh-language strategy in 2017, aimed at increasing the number of Welsh speakers (aged 3+) in Cardiff by 15.9%, from 36,735 in 2011 to 42,584 residents by the 2021 Census.[130] TheONS estimated that in December 2020, 89,900 (24.8%) of Cardiff's population could speak Welsh.[131]
In addition to English and Welsh, the diversity of Cardiff's population (including foreign students) means that many other languages are spoken. One study has found that Cardiff has speakers of at least 94 languages, withSomali,Urdu,Bengali andArabic being the most commonly spoken foreign ones.[132]
The modernCardiff accent is distinct from that of nearby South Wales Valleys. It is marked primarily by:
Due to its diversity and large student population, more people now come to the city to learn English. Foreign students from Arab states and other European countries are a common sight on the streets of Cardiff.[107] TheBritish Council has an office in the city centre and there are six accredited schools in the area.[135]
There is aRoman Catholiccathedral in the city. Since 1916, Cardiff has been the seat of a Catholic archbishop, but there appears to have been a fall in the estimated Catholic population, with numbers in 2006 around 25,000 fewer than in 1980.[137] Likewise, the Jewish population appears to have fallen – there are two synagogues in Cardiff, one in Cyncoed and one in Moira Terrace, as opposed to seven at the turn of the 20th century.[138] There are severalnonconformist chapels, an early 20th century Greek Orthodox church and 11 mosques.[139][140][141] In the 2001 census, 66.9% of Cardiff's population described itself as Christian, a percentage point below the Welsh and UK averages.
The oldest of the non-Christian communities in Wales is Judaism. Jews were not permitted to live in England and Wales between the 1290Edict of Expulsion and the 17th century. A Welsh Jewish community was re-established in the 18th century.[142] There was once a fairly substantial Jewish population in South Wales, most of which has disappeared. TheOrthodox Jewish community congregations are consolidated in theCardiff United Synagogue in Cyncoed, which was dedicated by Chief RabbiJonathan Sacks in 2003.[143][144] TheCardiff Reform Synagogue is in Adamsdown.
Shah Jalal Mosque on Crwys Road, Cardiff. Built in 1899 as a Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Chapel; a mosque since 1990.
Sri Dasmais Singh Sabha Gurdwara, Bhatra Sikh centre, Riverside
Cardiff's Muslim population is much above the Welsh average and the longest established in the UK, being started by Yemeni and Somali sailors settling in the 19th century.[145] Cardiff now has over 11,000 Muslims with various national affiliations[146] – nearly 52 per cent of the Muslim population in Wales.[147]
The proportion of Cardiff residents declaring themselves Hindu, Sikh and Jewish were all considerably higher than the Welsh averages, but lower than the UK figures. The city has had a Hindu community since Indian immigrants settled in the 1950s and 1960s. The first Hindu temple in the city was opened inGrangetown on 6 April 1979 on the site of an abandoned synagogue.[148] The 25th anniversary of the founding was celebrated in September 2007 with a parade of over 3,000 people through the city centre, including Hindus from across the United Kingdom and members of Cardiff's other religious communities.[149] There are over 2,000 Hindus in Cardiff, worshipping at three temples.[146]
In the 2001 census 18.8% of the city's population stated they had no religion, while 8.6% did not state a religion.[150]
As the capital city of Wales, Cardiff is the main engine of growth in the Welsh economy. Though the population of Cardiff is about 10% of the Welsh population, the economy of Cardiff makes up nearly 20% of Welsh GDP and 40% of the city's workforce are daily in-commuters from the surrounding South Wales area.[151][152]
Industry has played a major part in Cardiff's development for many centuries. The main catalyst for its transformation from a small town into a big city was the demand for coal required in making iron and later steel, brought to sea bypackhorse fromMerthyr Tydfil. This was first achieved by building a 25-mile (40 km) canal from Merthyr (510 ft or 160 m above sea level) to theTaff Estuary at Cardiff.[153] Eventually theTaff Vale Railway replaced the canal barges and massive marshalling yards sprang up as new docks were developed in Cardiff – all prompted by the soaring worldwide demand for coal from the South Wales valleys.
At its peak, Cardiff's port area, known asTiger Bay, became the busiest port in the world and – for some time – the world's most important coal port.[154][155] In the years leading up to theFirst World War, more than 10 million tonnes of coal was exported annually fromCardiff Docks.[156] In 1907, Cardiff'sCoal Exchange was the first host to a business deal for a millionpounds Sterling.[157] The high demand for Welsh coal and specifically Welsh artificial fuel, named Patent Fuel, is shown by the numerous factories producing this fuel, with the same recipe, in the region of Cardiff. Most well known factories were the Star Patent fuel Co., the Crown Patent fuel, the Cardiff Patent fuel etc.[158] After a period of decline, due to low demand on coal, Cardiff's port has started to grow again – over 3 million tonnes of cargo passed through the docks in 2007.[159]
Cardiff today is the main finance and businessservices centre in Wales, with strong representation of finance and business services in the local economy. This sector, combined with the public administration, education and health sectors, have accounted for about 75% of Cardiff's economic growth since 1991.[161] The city was recently placed seventh overall in the top 50 European cities in the fDI 2008 Cities of the Future list published by thefDi magazine, and ranked seventh in terms of attracting foreign investment.[162] Notable companies such asLegal & General,Admiral Insurance,HBOS,Zurich,ING Direct,The AA,Principality Building Society,118118,British Gas,Brains,SWALEC Energy andBT, all operate large national or regional headquarters and contact centres in the city, some of them based in Cardiff's office towers such asCapital Tower and Brunel House. Other major employers includeNHS Wales and the Senedd. On 1 March 2004, Cardiff was grantedFairtrade City status.
Cardiff is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the United Kingdom, receiving 18.3 million visitors in 2010 and generating £852 million for the city's economy.[163] One result is that one in five employees in Cardiff is based in the distribution, hotels and restaurants sector, highlighting the growing retail and tourism industries in the city.[161] The city has many hotels of varying sizes and standards, providing almost 9,000 available beds.[164]
Cardiff is home to the Welsh media and a large media sector withBBC Cymru Wales,S4C andITV Wales all having studios in the city.[165] There is a large independent TV production industry sector of over 600 companies, employing around 6,000, with a turnover estimated at £350 million.[165] Just to the north-west of the city, inRhondda Cynon Taff, the first completely new film studios in the UK for 30 years are being built, to be namedValleywood. The studios are set to be the biggest in the UK. In 2011 the BBC completed theRoath Lock studios in Cardiff Bay to film dramas such asCasualty,Doctor Who, andPobol y Cwm.[166]
Cardiff has several regeneration projects, such as St David's 2 Centre and surrounding areas of the city centre, and the £1.4 billion International Sports Village in Cardiff Bay, which played a part in theLondon 2012 Olympics. It features the onlyOlympic-standard swimming pool in Wales, theCardiff International Pool, which opened on 12 January 2008.
According to the Welsh Rugby Union, the Principality Stadium contributed £1 billion to the Welsh economy in the ten years after it opened in 1999, with around 85% of that staying in the Cardiff area.[167]
Most of Cardiff's shopping portfolio is in thecity centre around Queen Street,St Mary Street and High Street, with large suburbanretail parks in Cardiff Bay,Culverhouse Cross,Leckwith,Newport Road andPontprennau, together with markets in the city centre andSplott. A £675 million regeneration programme for Cardiff'sSt. David's Centre was completed in 2009, providing a total of 1,400,000 sq ft (130,000 m2) of shopping space, making it one of the largest shopping centres in the United Kingdom.[168] The centre was named the international shopping centre of the year in 2010 by Retail Leisure International (RLI).[169]
Queen Street, one of Cardiff's main shopping areas
TheSouth Wales Metro is an integrated public transport system under development in south-east Wales, centered on Cardiff. The project is to include the electrification of some of the existing railway lines and the creation of multiplelight rail andlight rapid transit lines. Four lines are under construction with a further three planned. The first lines will linkPenarth andCardiff Bay toRadyr,Treherbert,Aberdare andMerthyr Tydfil, with plans to also servePontyclun,St Mellons andPorth Teigr. Alongside this, current commuter services will be improved with a near-tripling in capacity on some routes toBridgend andRhymney.
Domestic and international air links to Cardiff and South & West Wales are provided fromCardiff Airport (CWL), the only international airport in Wales. The airport lies in the village ofRhoose, 10 miles (16 km) west of the city. There are regular bus services linking the airport with Cardiff city centre, and a train service fromRhoose Cardiff International Airport railway station to Cardiff Central.
TheM4 motorway connects Cardiff withSwansea to the west andNewport and London to the east, with four junctions on the M4, including one with theA48(M). TheA470 provides an important link from the city to theHeads of the Valleys road. When completed, theA4232 – also known as the Peripheral Distributor Road – will form part of the Cardiff ring-road system, along with the M4 motorway between junctions 30 and 33.[175]
TheTaff Trail is awalking andcycle path running for 55 miles (90 km) between Cardiff Bay andBrecon in theBrecon Beacons National Park. It runs through Bute Park,Sophia Gardens and many other green areas within Cardiff. It is possible to cycle the entire distance of theTrail almost completely off-road, as it largely follows theRiver Taff and many of the disused railways of the Glamorganshire valleys.
Nextbike previously operated a public bike-hire scheme in the city between March 2018 and January 2024,[176] with the scheme allegedly being scrapped due to theft. Cardiff Council are seeking a replacement operator.
The Aquabus water taxi runs every hour between the city centre (Taff Mead Embankment) and Cardiff Bay (Mermaid Quay), and between Cardiff Bay and PenarthCardiff Bay Barrage. Throughout the year, Cardiff Waterbus[177] sail between the Pierhead on The Waterfront and the Penarth end of the Cardiff Bay Barrage with short sightseeing cruises.
Between March and October boats depart from Cardiff Bay forFlat Holm Island. ThePS Waverley andMV Balmoral sail from Britannia Quay (in Roath Basin) to various destinations in theBristol Channel.
029 is the current telephone dialling code for Cardiff,[178] as well as for the neighbouring towns of Penarth, Dinas Powys andCaerphilly. The dialling code is optional when dialling within the area: one can dial between any two phones within the 029 code using only the eight-digit local number.
Prior to theBig Number Change on 22 April 2000 the area had shorter, six-digit local numbers with an area code of 01222.[178] This was 0222 before May 1995, derived from 0 (indicating it was a trunk call), 22 (CA on a telephone pad, for CArdiff) and 2 (as 220 was used for CAmbridge and 221 for BAth). Before the introduction of automated trunk call dialling, non-local numbers were accessed through a system of manual telephone exchanges, in common with rest if the United Kingdom.
There remains a common misconception that local numbers are still six digits long and that the code is 02920, even though there are newer Cardiff numbers in the ranges (029) 21xx xxxx and (029) 22xx xxxx.[178]
Cardiff has three state nursery schools (one bilingual), 98 state primary schools (two bilingual, fifteenWelsh medium), and 19 state secondary schools (three Welsh medium).[182] There are also several independent schools in the city, includingSt John's College,Llandaff Cathedral School,Cardiff Sixth Form College,Kings Monkton School andHowell's School, a single-sex girls' school (until sixth form). In 2013 Cardiff Sixth Form College came top of the independent senior schools in the UK, which were based on the percentage of A* and A atAdvanced Level. Also in the top 100 were St John's College and Howell's School.[183]
As well as academic institutions, Cardiff is also home to other educational and learning organisations such asTechniquest, a hands-on science discovery centre that now has franchises throughout Wales, and is part of the Wales Gene Park in collaboration with Cardiff University,NHS Wales and theWelsh Development Agency (WDA).[186] Cardiff is also home to a regional office of theInternational Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO).[187]
Cardiff Castle is a major tourist attraction in the city and is situated in the heart of thecity centre. TheNational History Museum at St Fagans in Cardiff is a large open-air museum housing dozens of buildings from throughout Welsh history that have been moved to the site in Cardiff. The Civic Centre inCathays Park comprises a collection ofEdwardian buildings such as theCity Hall,National Museum and Gallery of Wales,Cardiff Crown Court, and buildings forming part of Cardiff University, together with more modern civic buildings. These buildings are laid out around the Queen Alexandra Gardens, a formal park which contains theWelsh National War Memorial and a number of other, smaller memorials.
In addition to Cardiff Castle,Castell Coch is a castle inTongwynlais, in the north of the city. The current castle is an elaborately decorated Victorianfolly designed byWilliam Burges for the Marquess and built in the 1870s, as an occasional retreat. However, the Victorian castle stands on the footings of a much older medieval castle possibly built byIfor Bach, a regional baron with links to Cardiff Castle also. The exterior has become a popular location for film and television productions. It rarely fulfilled its intended role as a retreat for the Butes, who seldom stayed there. For the Marquess, the pleasure had been in its creation, a pleasure lost following Burges's death in 1881.
Cardiff claims the largest concentration ofcastles of any city in the world.[188] As well as Cardiff Castle and Castell Coch, there are the remains of twomotte-and-bailey castles inMorganstown andRhiwbina, known asMorganstown Castle Mound andTwmpath Castle or Twmpath Motte (also known asCaer Cynwrig) respectively.[189][190]Twmpath being a Welsh word for a small mound),[191] which along with a castle at Whitchurch (known as Treoda and destroyed by housing in the 1960s) formed an arc of fortifications which divided the Norman lordship from the Welsh lordship of Senghenydd.[192] Further up the Cefn Cibwr ridge on the boundary with Caerphilly there is also another ruined castle, known asMorgraig Castle (Welsh:Castell Morgraig). Archaeological evidence suggests this castle was never finished, and it is debated whether the fortification was of Norman or Welsh origin. The concentration of castles indicates the moveable nature of the border between the Norman lordship of Glamorgan, centred at Cardiff, and its Welsh neighbours to the north.
There is also the ruinedLlandaff Bishop's Palace, also known as Llandaff Castle,[193] which was the home of the medieval bishops, which was destroyed about 1403–1404 by the Welsh leaderOwain Glyndŵr. Now only the ruined gatehouse remains.[193] Not strictly a castle in the historical sense,Saint Fagans Castle is a preserved 17th-century manor house, once the seat of theEarls of Plymouth.
Other major tourist attractions are theCardiff Bay regeneration sites, which include the recently opened Wales Millennium Centre and the Senedd building, and many other cultural and sites of interest, including theCardiff Bay Barrage and the famousCoal Exchange. TheNew Theatre was founded in 1906 and refurbished in the 1980s. Until the opening of the Wales Millennium Centre in 2004, it was the premier venue in Wales for touring theatre and dance companies. Other venues popular for concerts and sporting events includeCardiff International Arena, St David's Hall and the Principality Stadium.Cardiff Story, a museum documenting the city's history, has been open to the public since the spring of 2011.
Cardiff has over 1,000 listed buildings, ranging from the more prominent buildings such as the castles, to smaller buildings, houses and structures.[194] Cathedral Road was developed by the 3rd Marquis of Bute and is lined by fine villas, some backing on to Sophia Gardens.
Cardiff has walks of special interest for tourists andramblers alike, such as theCentenary Walk, which runs for2+1⁄4 miles (3.5 km) within Cardiff city centre. This route passes through many of Cardiff's landmarks and historic buildings. TheAnimal Wall, designed byWilliam Burges in 1866, marks the south edge of Bute Park on Castle Street. It bears 15 carved animal statues.
Cardiff has many cultural sites varying from the historical Cardiff Castle and out of townCastell Coch to the more modernWales Millennium Centre and Cardiff Bay. Cardiff was a finalist in theEuropean Capital of Culture 2008.[195] In recent years Cardiff has grown in stature as a tourist destination, with recent accolades including Cardiff being voted the eighth favourite UK city by readers of theGuardian.[196]
The city was also listed as one of the top 10 destinations in the UK on the official British tourist boards website Visit Britain,[197] and US travel guide Frommers have listed Cardiff as one of 13 top destinations worldwide for 2008.[198] Annual events in Cardiff that have become regular appearances in Cardiff's calendar includeSparks in the Park,The Great British Cheese Festival,Pride Cymru (formerly Cardiff Mardi Gras), Cardiff Winter Wonderland, Cardiff Festival andMade in Roath.
A large number of concerts are held in the city, the larger ones at St David's Hall, Cardiff International Arena and occasionally the Principality Stadium. A number of festivals are also held in Cardiff, the largest being theCardiff Big Weekend Festival, held annually in the city centre in the summer and playing host to free musical performances (from artists such asAsh,Jimmy Cliff,Cerys Matthews, theFun Loving Criminals,Soul II Soul andthe Magic Numbers), fairground rides and cultural events such as a Children's Festival that takes place in the grounds of Cardiff Castle. The annual festival claims to be the UK's largest free outdoor festival, attracting over 250,000 visitors in 2007.[199]
Cardiff hosted theNational Eisteddfod in 1883, 1899, 1938, 1960, 1978, 2008 and 2018. Cardiff is unique in Wales in having two permanentstone circles used by the Gorsedd ofBards during Eisteddfodau. The original circle stands in Gorsedd Gardens in front of theNational Museum while its 1978 replacement is situated inBute Park. Since 1983, Cardiff has hosted theBBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition, a world-renowned event on the opera calendar which is held every two years. The city also hosts smaller events.
TheWales Millennium Centre hosts performances of opera, ballet, dance, comedy, musicals and is home to theBBC National Orchestra of Wales. St David's Hall (which hosts the Singer of the World competition) has regular performances of classical music and ballet as well as music of other genres. The largest of Cardiff's theatres is theNew Theatre, situated in the city centre just off Queen Street. Other such venues include theSherman Theatre,Chapter Arts Centre andthe Gate Arts Centre.
Cardiff has held aphotomarathon in the city each year since 2004, in which photographers compete to take the best 12 pictures of 12 previously unknown topics in 12 hours. An exhibition of winners and other entries is held in June/July each year.[205]
Cardiff's former municipal baths opened in 1862, as Turkish Baths, and were taken over by the City Council in 1873, before closing over a century later.[206]
Cardiff has strong nightlife. Most clubs and bars are situated in the city centre, especially St Mary Street. More recently Cardiff Bay has built up a strong night scene, with many modern bars and restaurants. The Brewery Quarter on St Mary Street is a recently developed venue for bars and restaurant with a central courtyard. Charles Street is also a popular part of the city.
Cardiff is known for its extensive parks and other green spaces covering around 10% of the city's total area.[209] Cardiff's main park, Bute Park (which was formerly the castle grounds) extends northwards from the top of one of Cardiff's main shopping street (Queen Street); when combined with the adjacentLlandaff Fields and Pontcanna Fields to the north-west it produces a massive open space skirting the River Taff. Other popular parks includeRoath Park in the north, donated to the city by the3rd Marquess of Bute in 1887, which includes a popular boating lake;Victoria Park, Cardiff's first official park; andThompson's Park, formerly home to anaviary removed in the 1970s. Wild open spaces include Howardian Local Nature Reserve, 32 acres (13 ha) of the lower Rhymney valley in Penylan noted for its orchids,[210] andForest Farm Country Park, over 150 acres (61 ha) along the River Taff in Whitchurch.
Cardiff is the Welsh base for the main national broadcasters (BBC Cymru Wales,ITV Wales andS4C). A locally based television station,Made in Cardiff, is also based in the city centre. Major filming studios in Cardiff include the BBC'sRoath Lock Studios andPinewood Studios Wales.
The main local newspaper is theSouth Wales Echo; the national paper is theWestern Mail. Both are based in Park Street in the city centre.Capital Times,Echo Extra and the South Wales edition ofMetro are also based and distributed in the city.
Cardiff hosts many high-profile sporting events at local, national and international level and in recognition of the city's commitment to sport for all was awarded the title of European Capital of Sport 2014.[213][214][215] Organised sports have been held in the city since the early 19th century.[216] national home sporting fixtures are nearly always played in the city. All Wales' multi-sports agencies and many of thecountry'ssports governing bodies have their headquarters in Cardiff and the city's many top quality venues have attracted world-famous sports events, sometimes unrelated to Cardiff or to Wales. In 2008/09, 61% of Cardiff residents regularly participated in sport and active recreation, the highest percentage in ll 22 local authorities in Wales.[217]
Rugby union fans around the world have long been familiar with the old National Stadium, Cardiff Arms Park, and its successor thePrincipality Stadium, which hosted theFA Cup for six years (from 2001 to 2006) it took to rebuildWembley Stadium. In 2009, Cardiff hosted the firstAshes cricket test between England and Australia to be held in Wales. Cardiff hosted eight football matches of theLondon 2012 Olympics.[218]
Cardiff City F.C. (founded 1899 as Riverside AFC) played their home games atNinian Park from 1910 until the end of the 2008–09 season. The club's new home is theCardiff City Stadium, which they initially rented to theCardiff Blues, the city's professional rugby union team, the Blues returning to the Arms Park in 2012. Cardiff City have played in the EnglishFootball League since the 1920–21 season, climbing to Division 1 after one season.[219][220] Cardiff City are the only non-English team to have won theFA Cup, beatingArsenal in the1927 final atWembley Stadium.[220] They were runners up toPortsmouth in the2008 final, losing 1–0 at the new Wembley Stadium.[221] In the 2013/14 and 2018/19 seasons Cardiff City played in the EnglishPremier League.
During the 1990s, London-based football clubWimbledon FC expressed interest in relocating to Cardiff, having been without a home of their own since exitingPlough Lane stadium in 1991 and sharing withCrystal Palace FC atSelhurst Park. The relocation of the club to Cardiff did not happen; in 2003, the club moved toMilton Keynes and a year later rebranded asMilton Keynes Dons.[224]
Cardiff Arms Park (Welsh:Parc yr Arfau Caerdydd), in central Cardiff, is among the world's most famous venues—being the scene of three WelshGrand Slams in the 1970s (1971,1976 and1978) and sixFive Nations titles in nine years—and was the venue for Wales' games in the1991 Rugby World Cup.[225][226][227][228] The Arms Park has a sporting history dating back to at least the 1850s, when Cardiff Cricket Club (formed 1819) relocated to the site.[216] The ground was donated to Cardiff CC in 1867 by the Marquess of Bute. Cardiff Cricket Club shared the ground with Cardiff Rugby Football Club (founded 1876) — formingCardiff Athletic Club between them — until 1966, when the cricket section moved to Sophia Gardens. Cardiff Athletic Club and theWelsh Rugby Union established two stadia on the site—Cardiff RFC played at their stadium at the northern end of the site, and the Wales national rugby union team played international matches at the National Stadium, Cardiff Arms Park, which opened in 1970. The National Stadium was replaced by the 74,500 capacity Millennium Stadium (Welsh:Stadiwm y Mileniwm) in 1999—in time for the1999 Rugby World Cup—and is home stadium to theWales national rugby andfootball teams for international matches.[216][225][229][230] In addition to Wales'Six Nations Championship and other international games, the Principality Stadium held four matches in the2007 Rugby World Cup and six FA Cup finals (from the2001–02 to2005–06 seasons) whileWembley Stadium was being rebuilt.[226]
Cardiff's professional ice hockey team, theCardiff Devils, plays in the 3,000-seatIce Arena Wales in the Cardiff International Sports Village. It plays in the 12-team professionalElite Ice Hockey League. Founded in 1986, it was one of the most successful British teams in the 1990s.
Cardiff's only American-flag football team is the Hurricanes. It won the British Championship in 2014 after falling short by 2 points in a quarter-final to eventual winners, the London Rebels, the previous year. It is based at Roath Recreational Ground.
The1958 Commonwealth Games were hosted by Cardiff. These involved 1,130 athletes from 35 national teams competing in 94 events.[233] One of the venues for those Games—The Wales Empire Swimming Pool—was demolished in 1998 to make way for the Principality Stadium. The GBP32mCardiff International Pool inCardiff Bay, opened to the public on 12 January 2008 — part of the GBP1bn International Sports Village (ISV) — is the only Olympic-standard swimming pool in Wales. When complete, the ISV complex will provide Olympic standard facilities for sports includingboxing andfencing, gymnastics,judo,white water events (includingcanoeing andkayaking) andwrestling as well as asnow dome with real snow forskiing andsnowboarding, anarena for publicice skating andice hockey and a hotel.[234][235] Some of the sports facilities at the ISV were to be used as training venues for theLondon 2012 Olympics.[236]
The Principality Stadium hosts motor-sport events such as theWorld Rally Championship, as part ofWales Rally GB. The first indoor special stages of the World Rally Championship were held at the Principality Stadium in September 2005 and have been an annual event since.[237] TheBritish Speedway Grand Prix, one of the World Championship events, is held at the Principality Stadium.[230] While the track—a temporary, purpose built, shale oval—is not universally loved, the venue is considered the best of the World Championship's 11 rounds.[238]
TheCardiff Half Marathon takes place each October and is one of the largest road races in the United Kingdom, attracting over 20,000 participants and many overseas visitors annually. The event is organised by the not-for-profit social enterprise Run 4 Wales, and has grown considerably since its establishment in 2003. It has hosted the World (2016) Commonwealth (2018) British (2014/2015) and Welsh (Annually) Half Marathon Championships and has held aWorld Athletics Elite Road Race Label since 2017.[244] The race is also a part of the SuperHalfs, a series of leading international half marathon races which also includes Lisbon, Prague, Berlin, Valencia and Copenhagen.
A total of 28 countries have a diplomatic presence in Cardiff.[247] Many of these, such as Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Denmark, Canada, Thailand and the Czech Republic, are represented byhonorary consulates. The United States Embassy to the UK operates a satellite office.[248][249][250][251][252][253][254][255]
The following people and military units have received theFreedom of the City of Cardiff; they are listed with the date that they received the honour.[256]
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