North Wales (known in some archaic texts as Northgalis) is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales, bordered to the south by Mid Wales and to the east by England.

It comprises the island of Anglesey, the Llŷn peninsula and the Snowdonia mountain range, together with the catchments of the Rivers Conwy, Clwyd and Dee.

Traditionally, most of North Wales was covered by the kingdom of Gwynedd.

The region is currently made up of the following administrative areas:

• the county borough of Wrexham (Wrecsam)
• the county of Flintshire (Sir y Fflint)
• the county of Denbighshire (Sir Ddinbych)
• the county borough of Conwy
• the county of Gwynedd
• the county of the Isle of Anglesey (Ynys Môn)

However, "North Wales" could be used to describe the northern half of Wales, which would also include the northern parts of Powys and Ceredigion.

The area is mostly rural with many mountains and valleys. This, in combination with its coast (on the Irish Sea), has ensured that tourism is the principal industry. Farming, which was once the principal economic force in the area, is now much reduced in importance. The average income per capita of the local population is the lowest in the United Kingdom and much of the region has EU Objective 1 status [1].

The eastern part of North Wales contains the most populous areas, with more than 300,000 people living in the areas around Wrexham and Deeside. Wrexham is North Wales' largest town, with a population of 68,000 in 2005. The majority of other settlements are along the coast, including some popular resorts, such as Rhyl, Llandudno and Pwllheli. The A55 expressway links these towns with the north of England and the port of Holyhead for ferries to Ireland; few routes connect North Wales with South Wales. There are two cathedral cities — Bangor and St. Asaph, and a number of mediaeval castles (e.g.: Harlech, Caernarfon, Beaumaris, Conwy).

North Wales has a somewhat separate identity to the rest of Wales. Its dialect of the Welsh language differs to that of South Wales in some ways; for example llefrith is used in some areas instead of llaeth for "milk"; a simple sentence such as go upstairs now would be Dos i fyny'r grisiau rwan in North Wales, where it would be Cer lan y stâr nawr in the South. Colloquially, a person from North Wales (especially one who speaks with this dialect or accent) is known as a North Walian, or a gog (from the Welsh gogledd, meaning "north").

For many purposes Wales can be divided into only three regions, North Wales, South Wales and West Wales. In this scenario the boundary between North Wales and West Wales is marked by the Ceredigion - Powys border. Powys itself is divided with the Traditional County of Brecknockshire being included in South Wales with Montgomeryshire included in North Wales.

Local media

• Television is provided by BBC North West in eastern areas, and BBC Wales throughout the area. Many people in Flintshire, Denbighshire and Greater Wrexham prefer to watch ITVs Granada and Central West with Channel Four, as opposed to HTV Wales and S4C respectively.
• Independent local radio stations in this area include: Marcher Sound (Wrexham, Chester and Flintshire), Coast 96.3 (North Wales coast), Champion 103 (Gwynedd and Anglesey), and Radio Maldwyn (mid Wales; signal particularly strong in Greater Wrexham). Radio City 96.7, Dee 106.3, Signal One, Beacon Radio, Buzz 97.1 (a sister station of Marcher Sound) and other stations are very much accessible in the north-east.
• No local BBC radio stations exist for North Wales, but the national services BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio Cymru serve much of the area. BBC Radios Merseyside, Manchester and Lancashire are strong in northeastern areas, with reception of BBC Radio Cumbria in some coastal areas.

Related Constituencies

North Wales was a European Parliament constituency until 1999.

Currently, there is an electoral region for the National Assembly for Wales with the name (used, in parallel with the smaller constituencies, to elect top-up members under the Additional Member System), which covers the North-East of Wales (specifically the entire area of the former pre-1996 county of Clwyd) as well as the Northern-most coastal areas of north-western Wales; the rest of North Wales is covered by Mid and West Wales (National Assembly for Wales electoral region).

See also

• North Wales Police
• North Wales Fire and Rescue Service

External links

• Ancient Tenures of North Wales PDF book by Alfred Neobard Palmer published in 1910
• Accommodation in North Wales Hotels, B&Bs, Farmhouses, Self Catering and log cabins.
• Attractions North Wales Over 200 tourist attractions in North Wales.
• Events in North Wales Weekly and month events happening in North Wales
• Things to do in North Wales
• Snowdon Route Walking Guide at Snowdon.com
• Images of North Wales Photographs of North Wales
• www.rob-photography.com