Wales has traditionally been divided into a number of ambiguous and ill-defined areas described asregions, reflecting historical, geographical, administrative, cultural and electoral boundaries within the country. Presently, the most common form of division of Wales into "regions" has been usingcardinal andintercardinal references: north or south-west for example.[1] None of the variously described "regions" have official status or defined boundaries; neither is there a fixed number of regions. Various organisations use different regions and combinations of regions for their individual purposes. This includesdevolved institutions, such asVisit Wales,[2]Natural Resources Wales,[3] and theWelsh Government itself,[4][5][6] using different sets of Wales' regions. Wales is most commonly sub-divided into between two and four regions, with a North–South divide, and North, Mid, South East and South West division being common. This article lists the various terms applied to be the "regions of Wales" and the regions used by various organisations.
19th Century Map using the term "North and South Wales"
The regions of Wales have little administrative status, as of 2022, nor are they officially defined.Local government is primarily managed by thetwenty-two principal areas.
Some argue that Wales should stop using terms to describe regions of Wales, as they lack both strict definitions and boundaries, and instead consider Wales as a single entity. However, others campaign for more recognition of Wales' various regions, such as the north and west.[1][7]
Map ofNorth Wales; common modern day definition in dark red, historical definition in dark red and light red (Montgomeryshire).Map ofSouth Wales, defined either by combiningSouth East andSouth West Wales (dark red); or the historic definition (dark red and light red); there are other definitions.
There may be anorth-south divide, betweenNorth Wales andSouth Wales.[8] TheCambrian Mountains form a mountainous interior of Wales, limiting the connection between North and South with few transport links between them.[9] Most of the population of Wales is concentrated on opposing sides of Wales. Transport links between North and South Wales are significantly weak,[10] with major north–south links passing through England, and both the North and South, having closer transport links withNorth West England, andSouth West England respectively.[11][12]Liverpool is sometimes described as the "Capital of North Wales", as it is the largest city closest to North Wales.[13] Historical maps divide North and South Wales using the boundaries betweenMontgomeryshire andRadnorshire, and betweenCardiganshire andMerionethshire, but the modern-day divide is described as ambiguous or arbitrary.[14]
Since devolution, the Welsh Government is making efforts to increase connection between north and south.[8][15] However in 2013 there were reports that the Welsh Government may have short-changed the north by £131.53 million, which critics describe as proof of a modern north–south divide. The government responded that the figures are "highly misleading", as they ignore funding through Wales-wide programmes, and that the government has spent more on health and transport in the north than in the south-east, and more on education than the national average. The thenFirst Minister of Wales,Carwyn Jones, disagreed that there was a north–south divide in Wales, but stated that there would "never be a time" that people will no longer see a north–south divide.[16]
There is a north–south divide in language, not only between more and less Welsh-speaking areas, but also in terms of accents (both relating to English and Welsh) and dialects of Welsh.[20] There is also a cultural divide between "gogs" in the north and "hwntws" in the south.
There may be a tourism divide between north and south Wales due to geographic and existing transport capabilities, with tourism in the north aimed at nearby tourists from the rest of the UK and closer airports inLiverpool andManchester, for day trips and staycations; whereas strategies for the south by the devolved administrations aim for more international and longer-term tourism through Cardiff Airport in the south. Strategies based on drawing tourists through Cardiff Airport may not have a big impact on the north due to a lack of connectivity with Cardiff Airport and the north of Wales.[21]
There is a debate whether to spell the regions of Wales with a capitalised letter or a lowercase letter, for example either a lower case 'n' fornorth Wales or a capitalised 'N' forNorth Wales (seeNorth Wales#Capitalisation). The debate has been coined as the "to cap or not to cap" debate in media.[22] Usage varies,BBC News[23] and the Welsh Government[24] for example use lowercase, whereasVisit Wales uses capitalised, with the latter having their own version of Wales' regions.[25] David Williams, chairman of the North Wales Business Club, announced his support for capping the term "North" in "North Wales" stating that the region should be "very recognisable [...] in our own right".[22]
For many administrative purposes, most of the regions follow the boundaries of the twenty-twoprincipal areas of Wales. Those listed below are based on the usage by organisations further down.
"North East Wales" —Clwyd with boundaries between 1974 and 1996[35]
"North West Wales" —Gwynedd with boundaries between 1974 and 1996 (excludingMeirionnydd); (Modern Isle of Anglesey, half of Gwynedd and half of Conwy County Borough)
Development Board for Rural Wales — Mid Wales (Powys and Ceredigion) and Meirionnydd of Gwynedd.
"West Wales" — Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire (excludingLlanelli).
South Wales (West) — Llanelli, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and parts of Bridgend County Borough
South Wales (Valleys) — Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly County Borough, Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Torfaen, and parts of Bridgend County Borough.
South Wales (East) — City and County of Cardiff, Newport, Monmouthshire, and the Vale of Glamorgan.
"North Wales" — Clwyd and Gwynedd with boundaries between 1974 and 1996 (excludingMeirionnydd)[35]
Development Board for Rural Wales — Mid Wales (Powys and Ceredigion) and Meirionnydd of Gwynedd.
"West Wales" — Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, City and County of Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend County Borough
"South Wales" — Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly County Borough, City and County of Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Monmouthshire, Newport, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Torfaen, and Vale of Glamorgan
For theNational Forest for Wales Welsh Government programme, Wales was divided into three "areas", North, Mid, South based on the use of lettering ("N", "M", "S").[36]
Map of the four city regions; North (pink); Mid (yellow); Swansea Bay (purple); and Cardiff (orange)
North Wales Economic Ambition Board — consisting the principal areas of: Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd, Isle of Anglesey, and Wrexham County Borough, in the north of Wales. (A common definition of North Wales).
Swansea Bay City Region — consisting the principal areas of: Carmarthenshire, Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire, and Swansea, around Swansea Bay in south-west Wales. (Similar definition to South West Wales).
Cardiff Capital Region — consisting the principal areas of: Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend County Borough, Caerphilly County Borough, Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Monmouthshire, Newport, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Torfaen, and Vale of Glamorgan, in south-east Wales. (Similar definition to South East Wales).
The Mersey Dee Alliance, composed of Cheshire West and Chester, Flintshire, Wirral and Wrexham councils, describes an "economic sub-region" known as the Mersey Dee.[41] Sometimes expanded to also include the rest of North Wales as "North Wales (and) Mersey Dee".[42]
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