Thesubdivisions of Wales constitute a hierarchy of administrative divisions and non-administrative ceremonial areas.
For the purposes oflocal government, the country is divided intoprincipal areas, of eithercounties orcounty boroughs, andcommunities.The current system is the result of incremental reform which has its origins in legislation enacted in1972 and1994.
There are 22principal areas of Wales. They were established on 1 April 1996 by theLocal Government (Wales) Act 1994 (1994 c. 19). Eleven are styled "counties", including thecities of Cardiff and Swansea, and eleven are styled "county boroughs", including the cities of Newport and Wrexham.[1][2][3]
The location of each council headquarters is indicated by a yellow marker.County boroughs are marked by a dagger (†).
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| Areas marked † are county boroughs, while unmarked areas are counties. Welsh-language forms are given alongside the English where they differ. | |
Some of the principal areas use different names to those given in theLocal Government (Wales) Act 1994. In each case the council renamed the area immediately, with the changes taking effect on 2 April 1996.[4] The changes were:
Other smaller changes were also made, such as:
At the lowest level of administrative subdivision in Wales are thecommunities, into which each principal area is subdivided. They may have electedcommunity councils which perform a number of roles, such as providing local facilities, and representing their communities to larger local government bodies. Community councils are the equivalent of Englishparish councils. A community council may call itself a "town council" if it so wishes. The councils of three communities withcity status – Bangor, St Asaph, and St Davids – are known as "city councils". Communities which are too small to have a council may have acommunity meeting instead: an example ofdirect democracy. The communities in the urban areas of the cities of Cardiff, Swansea and Newport do not have community councils.[5][6][7]
For ceremonial purposes of Lieutenancy and Shrievalty, Wales is divided into eightpreserved counties. These were based on the counties (created by the Local Government Act 1972) which were used for local government and other purposes between 1974 and 1996.
There are eight preserved counties:
The historic counties of Wales are ancient subdivisions of Wales, used for various functions for several hundred years. Pembrokeshire was formed as a county palatine in 1138. In the south east, Norman advancement led to the creation of marcher lordships, such as Glamorgan, which served as semi-autonomous administrative divisions, although these were not counties in the true sense as they lacked the formal structure. Some towns within these areas did, however, receive charters which outlined rights and duties in much the same way as a borough. Counties in the strict sense first appeared with the establishment of Cardiganshire and Carmarthenshire in the 1240s. In 1284 the Principality of Gwynedd was divided into three counties: Anglesey, Caernarvonshire and Merionethshire. Before the end of the century, Flintshire had also become a county, and thus nearly half the territory of Wales was under the rule of the English Crown. While the arrangement did not officially bring the marcher lordships in the South directly under the King's control, many such lordships were held by the King personally, although some remained under the semi-autonomous control of powerful local families. The formation of counties was completed under the Laws in Wales Act 1535, which created Montgomeryshire, Denbighshire, Radnorshire, Brecknockshire and Monmouthshire, many from existing marcher lordships now recreated as counties proper.
These 13 counties were the main administrative subdivisions of Wales from 1536 until the implementation in 1974 of theLocal Government Act 1972, although the definition and role of the smallercounty boroughs within the counties during that period saw considerable change, as it did across the United Kingdom.
Wales is subdivided into four regional areas for itsCorporate Joint Committees and its conterminousregional economic growth deals. City deals have been agreed for theCardiff Capital Region andSwansea Bay City Region, which cover south-east and south-west Wales respectively, and growth deals have been agreed for Mid Wales (Growing Mid Wales) and North Wales (Ambition North Wales). There are four equivalent CJCs which may oversee the deals, and they also coverMid Wales,North Wales,South East Wales, andSouth West Wales. The CJC's were established by The Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021.[8] CJCs have powers relating to economic well-being, strategic planning and the development of regional transport policies.[9]
There are fourpolice forces in Wales:Dyfed-Powys Police,Gwent Police,North Wales Police andSouth Wales Police.
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There are threefire and rescue services in Wales, established in 1996:Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service,North Wales Fire and Rescue Service andSouth Wales Fire and Rescue Service.
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There are sevenlocal health boards in Wales.
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Trunk road agents are partnerships between two or more local authorities for the purposes of managing, maintaining, and improving the network oftrunk roads (including anymotorways) in their respective areas. Each trunk road agent can employWelsh Government traffic officers. There are two agents, coveringNorth and Mid Wales andSouth Wales.
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Wales is divided into statistical regions by the UK'sOffice for National Statistics, using theInternational Territorial Level geocode standard since 2021. BeforeBrexit, as part of theEuropean Union andEurostat, the system used wasNomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS). Wales is a level 1 ITL region alongsideScotland,Northern Ireland and the9 statistical regions of England, with the code "TLL". It is subdivided into two ITL 2 regions, which are themselves divided into twelve ITL 3 regions.
| ITL 1 | Code | ITL 2 | Code | ITL 3 | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wales | TLL | West Wales and the Valleys | TLL1 | Isle of Anglesey | TLL11 |
 | Gwynedd | TLL12 | |||
| Conwy andDenbighshire | TLL13 | ||||
| South West Wales (Ceredigion,Carmarthenshire,Pembrokeshire) | TLL14 | ||||
| Central Valleys (Merthyr Tydfil,Rhondda Cynon Taff) | TLL15 | ||||
| Gwent Valleys (Blaenau Gwent,Caerphilly,Torfaen) | TLL16 | ||||
| Bridgend andNeath Port Talbot | TLL17 | ||||
| Swansea | TLL18 | ||||
| East Wales | TLL2 | Monmouthshire andNewport | TLL21 | ||
| Cardiff andVale of Glamorgan | TLL22 | ||||
| Flintshire andWrexham | TLL23 | ||||
| Powys | TLL24 | ||||
Wales is divided into various electoral districts:
There are seven cities in total in Wales: in addition to the four principal areas withcity status (Cardiff, Swansea, Newport and Wrexham), thecommunities of Bangor, St Davids and St Asaph also have the status. City status is granted byletters patent.
St Asaph, as the seat of a bishopric, was historically referred to as a city, and was described as such in the1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. The status was, however, not officially recognised for many years. When city status was restored to St Davids in 1994, St Asaph town council submitted a petition for the same purpose. The petition was refused as, unlike St Davids, there was no evidence of any charter or letters patent in the past conferring the status. Applications for city status in competitions in 2000 and 2002 were unsuccessful.[10] However, city status was finally granted to St Asaph in 2012 as part of the Queen'sDiamond Jubilee celebrations:[11] St Asaph was selected "to recognise its wealth of history, its cultural contribution and its metropolitan status as a centre for technology, commerce and business". Wrexham was awarded city status as part of the Queen'sPlatinum Jubilee in September 2022.[12][13][14]
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