25 Facts About North Wales

1.

North Wales, known as the North of Wales, is a geographic region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas.

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2.

North Wales is imprecisely defined, lacking any exact definition or administrative structure.

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3.

Those from North Wales are sometimes referred to as "Gogs" ; in comparison, those from South Wales are sometimes called "Hwntws" by those from North Wales.

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4.

The Kingdom of Gwynedd controlled the majority of what is the commonly defined 6 counties of North Wales, including all of the North Wales coast, with Powys retaining control over what is modern Powys, and parts of Wrexham and Flintshire, in addition to part of Shropshire.

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5.

The mountainous stronghold of Snowdonia formed the nucleus of that realm and would become the last redoubt of independent Medieval Wales — only overcome in 1283 by English forces under Edward I To this day it remains a stronghold of the Welsh language and a centre for Welsh national and cultural identity.

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6.

Boundaries and status of North Wales are undefined, definitions, and the boundary of North Wales with South or Mid Wales differs between organisations.

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7.

The most common definition for statistical and administrative purposes of North Wales contains the 6 principal areas of: Isle of Anglesey, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd, and Wrexham.

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8.

North Wales contained 6 historic counties during these times, the counties were; Anglesey, Caernarfonshire, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Merionethshire, and Montgomeryshire.

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9.

North of Wales was traditionally divided into three regions during the middle ages: Upper Gwynedd, defined as the area north of the River Dyfi and west of the River Conwy; Lower Gwynedd, known as the Perfeddwlad and defined as the region east of the River Conwy and west of the River Dee; and Ynys Mon, a large island off the north coast.

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10.

North Wales is electorally divided into constituencies and electoral wards to elect local representatives to multiple layers of government.

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11.

Between 1979 and 1994, all of North Wales was a single European Parliament constituency, the North Wales European Parliament Constituency.

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12.

Division with the rest of North Wales is arbitrary and depends on the particular use being made.

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13.

The most common definition is that North Wales ends at the peripheries of the northern 6 principal areas, therefore the border is between Wrexham - Powys, Denbighshire - Powys, Gwynedd - Powys, and Gwynedd - Ceredigion .

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14.

The emphasis on east-west roadways has led to North Wales having closer connections with North West England rather than with South Wales.

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15.

North Wales has very diverse and complex geology with Precambrian schists along the Menai Strait and the great Cambrian dome behind Harlech and underlying much of western Snowdonia.

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16.

North Wales has an ageing population, as the proportion of residents over 65 has increased from 18.

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17.

North Wales is the most Welsh-speaking region of the 4 statistical regions of Wales, at 41.

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18.

North Wales is home to two universities, Bangor University, and Wrexham Glyndwr University.

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19.

Not all secondary schools in North Wales provide sixth form education, with it being common for students of a secondary school that does not provide sixth form education to study at a further education college.

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20.

North Wales additionally has a network of 22 acute and community hospitals, with patients commonly referred to hospitals in England for rare, more specialised treatment, unavailable under BCUHB, notably to Countess of Chester, Royal Liverpool University, and Royal Shrewsbury hospitals.

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21.

In 2016 the UK Government invited North Wales to submit a Growth Deal Bid, to "create thousands of jobs, boost the economy, improve transport and communication links, focus on renewable energy, support tourism and more".

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22.

News coverage of North Wales is generally provided within the BBC's Wales Today, Newyddion and Ffeil programmes and on ITV's ITV News Cymru Wales.

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23.

North Wales was represented in the Super League by the Crusaders RL, they re-located to Wrexham for the 2010 season from South North Wales.

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24.

North Wales has its own amateur league, in the fifth tier of the British rugby league system, the North Wales Championship.

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25.

In September 2008 it was announced by the Welsh Rugby Union that a development team based in North Wales would be created, with a long-term goal of becoming the fifth Welsh team in the Celtic League.

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