WikiProject Wales
Wales is a country in the United Kingdom at latitude 52°26′56.40″ North, longitude 4°13′37.20″ West.
OpenStreetMap images (and underlying map data) are freely available under OpenStreetMap License. |
This page contains information relating to mapping activity that is specific to Wales.
See also WikiProject United Kingdom.
Contents
Welsh names
Most places in Wales have Welsh names - these are shown on road signs and on street signs.
Welsh names can be tagged using name:cy=* see Multilingual names#Wales for an in-depth discussion of when and where to use it.
An OSM rendering showing the Welsh names is available at OpenStreetMap Cymraeg, as of November 2017.
See also: Multilingual names#Wales
Principal areas
The Principal Areas are governed by unitary authorities and are the legislative regions of Wales[1].
Council | OSM relation | Note |
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Anglesey | 298793![]() |
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Blaenau Gwent | 2750598![]() |
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Bridgend | 99774![]() |
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Caerphilly | 2750677![]() |
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Cardiff | 1625787![]() |
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Carmarthenshire | 57534![]() |
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Ceredigion | 77904![]() |
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Conwy | 297287![]() |
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Denbighshire | 192442![]() |
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Flintshire | 198566![]() |
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Gwynedd | 297286![]() |
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Merthyr Tydfil | 2750939![]() |
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Monmouthshire | 358021![]() |
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Neath Port Talbot | 89846![]() |
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Newport | 335184![]() |
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Pembrokeshire | 57535![]() |
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Powys | 134324![]() |
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Rhondda Cynon Taf | 2751428![]() |
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Swansea | 87944![]() |
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Torfaen | 2750460![]() |
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Vale of Glamorgan | 103776![]() |
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Wrexham | 137981![]() |
Preserved counties
Preserved counties are counties based on the historic counties of Wales and used for lieutenancy.
Preserved county | OSM relation | Note |
---|---|---|
Clwyd | Relation not defined yet | |
Dyfed | Relation not defined yet | |
Gwent | Relation not defined yet | |
Gwynedd | 77961![]() |
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Mid Glamorgan | Relation not defined yet | |
Powys | 2699713![]() |
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South Glamorgan | Relation not defined yet | |
West Glamorgan | Relation not defined yet |
Historic counties
There are thirteen historic counties of Wales (including Monmouthshire), the last of which were created by the Laws in Wales Act 1535. For the purposes of biological recording each historic county forms an eponymous vice county, with the detached parts of Flintshire treated as being in Denbighshire.
Historic county | OSM relation | Vice county | OSM relation | Note |
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Anglesey | VC52 | 360939![]() |
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Brecknockshire | VC42 | 359909![]() |
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Caernarvonshire | VC49 | 298872![]() |
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Cardiganshire | VC46 | 361613![]() |
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Carmarthenshire | VC44 | 361616![]() |
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Denbighshire | 363513![]() |
VC50 | 298843![]() |
VC50 includes Maelor and Marford. |
Flintshire | 363512![]() |
VC51 | 298834![]() |
VC51 excludes Maelor and Marford. |
Glamorgan | VC41 | 359902![]() |
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Merionethshire | VC48 | 298875![]() |
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Monmouthshire | VC35 | 359815![]() |
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Montgomeryshire | VC47 | 298880![]() |
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Pembrokeshire | VC45 | 361615![]() |
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Radnorshire | VC43 | 359950![]() |
National parks
Historic county | Vice county | Note |
---|---|---|
Brecon Beacons | 357283![]() |
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Pembrokeshire Coast | 165598![]() |
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Snowdonia | 287425![]() |
Cities, towns and villages
The following list of cities has been provided here for convenience. More detail will normally be available on the relevant county page. See also Category:Cities in United Kingdom, Category:UK towns and Category:UK villages
Boundary
The Welsh boundary can be best considered as split into three types:
- The land-based border between Wales and England. This is well defined, but the lack of copyright-free data means that the OSM boundary has been derived from NPE data and its accuracy may be limited.
- The maritime border between Wales and international waters. This was defined by the Government of Wales Act 2006, section 158: “Wales” includes the sea adjacent to Wales out as far as the seaward boundary of the territorial sea. The territorial boundary is in general 12 nautical miles (22.22 km) from the mean low water mark. In OSM, this has been automatically derived from coastline data.
- The maritime border between Wales and England, extending from land along the Dee and Severn estuaries to the territorial limit. This remains poorly defined and has been arbitrarily mapped as following a line roughly equidistant between the English and Welsh mean low water marks.
See United Kingdom boundaries for more discussion regarding UK boundaries.
The boundary for Wales' maritime unitary authorities is generally at the 3 mile limit except where special provisions apply where islands are within three miles of more than one Unitary authority or where unitary authorities are themselves closer than 3 miles to one another. Thus the division between Anglesey and Gwynedd is a notional line down the Menai Strait. For Gwynedd the boundary includes Bardsey island and out to a limit of 3 miles beyond.
References
- ↑ Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 accessed 16 September 2009