Glamorgan

The county is bounded to the north by Brecknockshire, east by Monmouthshire, south by the Bristol Channel, and west by Carmarthenshire and Carmarthen Bay. Its total area is 518,863 acres, and total population around 1,220,000. Its highest point is at Craig-y-llyn (1,969 ft).

Glamorgan is the most populous and industrialised County in Wales. The northern part of the county is a mountainous area, dissected by deep narrow valleys, with urbanisation typified by ribbon devlopment. Although the coal industry, which shaped these valleys and their communities, has now all but disappeared, this area remains heavily populated with light industry and the service sector now providing the economic base.

The Vale of Glamorgan, a lowland area mainly comprising farmland and small villages stretches across most of the south of the county from Porthcawl to Cardiff. Further west, beyond Swansea, lies the Gower peninsula, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The major rivers of Glamorgan include the River Taff, the Ely, the Ogmore, the Dulais, the Rhymney (which forms the border with Monmouthshire) and the Lougher (which forms the border with Carmarthenshire). The main towns include Aberdare, Barry, Bridgend, Cardiff, Caerphilly, Cowbridge, Maesteg, Merthyr Tydfil, Mountain Ash, Neath, Penarth, Pontypridd, Porthcawl, Port Talbot and Swansea.

The County has a wide and diverse economic base including public administration, agriculture, light industry, manufacturing, service sector and tourism.

Places of special interest include: Aberdulais Falls, Barry Island pleasure beach, Caerphilly Castle, Cardiff Castle, Castell Coch, Tongwynlais, Ewenny Priory, Llandaff Cathedral, Dare Valley Country Park, Dunraven Park, Southerndown, Museum of Welsh Life, St. Fagans, National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, Old Beaupre Castle, Ogmore Castle, Oxwich Castle, Margam Country Park, Penscynor Wildlife Park, Cilfrew, Swansea Maritime and Industrial Museum, Tinkinswood burial chamber and Weobley Castle.

History

By virtue of its location and geography, Morgannwg was the first part of Wales, after Gwent, to be overrun by the Normans.

Administration

The county of Glamorgan falls into several distinct regions: the industrial valleys, the agricultural Vale of Glamorgan, and the scenic Gower peninsula. Being by far the most populous of the counties, the administrative county of Glamorgan was divided into three at the time of the local government reorganisation of the 1970s, and has now been further subdivided into several unitary authorities.

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