This article lists and provides a summary of the content of some of those broadcast, print, and other media currently being produced in the Welsh language.
S4C broadcasts exclusively in Welsh and has an annual budget of approximately £100 million. BBC Cymru Wales and HTV carried some Welsh programmes prior to S4C's formation in 1982 and still produce programmes for the commissioning broadcaster, alongside independent production companies. The station has 3% of the audience share in Wales, which is similar to that of TG4 of Ireland. Up until the digital switchover in March 2010, a bilingual analogue service was broadcast consisting of S4C and Channel 4 programming.
S4C's Clic service (the Welsh counterpart of the BBC iPlayer) allows viewers to watch its programmes again - programmes are also available to watch via iPlayer.
The BBC offers Welsh-language commentary on a number of sporting events on BBC One Wales and BBC Two Wales using the red button feature on digital TV. Sky Sports also previously offered a similar service for Wales international football matches.
ITV Local offered Welsh-medium programmes produced by ITV Cymru Wales including Y Ddau Ffranc featuring Rhys Ifans and the current affairs programmes Y Byd ar Bedwar and Hacio. Following the demise of ITV Local, the website was relaunched as Y Dydd, but closed shortly afterwards.
Plans for a daily Welsh-language newspaper, Y Byd , were abandoned owing to insufficient funding.
(Known as papurau bro in Welsh)
A considerable number of websites are now available in Welsh or bilingually. Notable examples include:
Popular internet sites such as Google, Facebook and Wikipedia (known as Wicipedia in Welsh) are also available in Welsh. Most Welsh public bodies and a number of private sector companies in Wales have bilingual websites.
There is a growing demand in Welsh medium computer games, here are a few listed;
On 21 Apr 2016, Pro Evolution Soccer released the first ever Welsh language video games cover, released for Euro 2016; PES 2016, although not sold in shops, they are available to download for free for you to replace the default English cover [8]
In August 2009, the mobile phone maker Samsung (with provider Orange) unveiled a new Welsh language mobile phone to be available from September 2009, which would include Welsh language predictive text and menus. [9] [10] [11]
In June 2016 RWG Mobile launched the first Welsh based, bilingual (Welsh/English) mobile phone service for people who lives in Wales, [12] in July 2016 the company promoted their service at the Royal Welsh Show. [13]
Microsoft software such as Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Microsoft Office are available with Welsh language interfaces. There is also a Welsh spell check facility available on most Microsoft Office programmes.
Free software available in Welsh include OpenOffice.org, Mozilla Firefox, To Bach [14] and uTorrent.
Bangor University has developed Cysgliad, a software pack containing Cysill, a Welsh spelling and grammar checker, and Cysgair, a Welsh-English dictionary.
A number of publishing companies exist that publish mainly through the medium of Welsh including:
A number of record labels release Welsh language music including:
A number of bands also release material on their own labels such as Frizbee's Recordiau Cosh and Bryn Fôn's laBelaBel.
Some Welsh-medium films have had success overseas, most notably Hedd Wyn and Solomon a Gaenor , both nominated for Oscars in the 1990s.
A limited number of Welsh-medium videos and DVDs are sold, especially children's TV programmes such as Sali Mali , Tecwyn y Tractor, and a Welsh version of Bob the Builder (Bob y Bildar). Other popular DVDs include the comedy C'mon Midffîld! , with a series of ten DVDs being released, and the 1980s children's TV programme Syr Wynff a Plwmsan, which achieved cult status.[ citation needed ]
Ceredigion ( ), historically Cardiganshire, is a county in the west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. Aberystwyth is the largest settlement and, together with Aberaeron, is an administrative centre of Ceredigion County Council.
The Welsh Language Society is a direct action pressure group in Wales campaigning for the right of Welsh people to use the Welsh language in every aspect of their lives. The chair of the Welsh Language Society since October 2023 is Joseff Gnagbo.
North Wales is a region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdonia National Park and the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley, known for its mountains, waterfalls and trails, wholly within the region. Its population is concentrated in the north-east and northern coastal areas, with significant Welsh-speaking populations in its western and rural areas. North Wales is imprecisely defined, lacking any exact definition or administrative structure. It is commonly defined administratively as its six most northern principal areas, but other definitions exist, with Montgomeryshire historically considered to be part of the region.
These are lists of places in Wales.
Gwynedd Council, which calls itself by its Welsh name Cyngor Gwynedd, is the governing body for the county of Gwynedd, one of the principal areas of Wales. The council administrates internally using the Welsh language.
Y Fro Gymraeg is a name often used to refer to the linguistic area in Wales where the Welsh language is used by the majority or a large part of the population; it is the heartland of the Welsh language and comparable in that respect to the Gàidhealtachd of Scotland and Gaeltacht of Ireland. It has no official government recognition.
Menter Iaith is a community-based organisation which works to raise the profile of the Welsh language in a specific area. Each local Menter Iaith receives a basic grant from the Welsh Language Board, as well as financial support from a number of other sources, to work with individuals, organisations, and local business to promote the use of Welsh in its area.
Llanfihangel can refer to the following places in Wales:
Archives Wales is a web resource that allows cross-searching of Welsh archive collections. It was founded in 1995 as Archives Council Wales and was renamed to Archives and Records Council Wales (ARCW) in 2004. The archives are described at collection level only, although the ultimate intention is to allow for searching at item level. In July 2009, after a major refurbishment funded by CyMAL: Museums Archives and Libraries Wales, it was relaunched as Archives Wales, or Archifau Cymru in the Welsh language. The URL is Archives.Wales or archifau.cymru
Scouting in Wales provides an overview of Scouting activities in Wales. Scout troops have existed in the country since 1908 with the largest number of Scouts and volunteer leaders today linked to the Scout Association of the United Kingdom. This is done through ScoutsCymru, the Welsh Scout Council who split the region further into four regions and a total of 12 Scout Areas. In addition to the Scout Association, there are also traditional Scouting groups belonging to the Baden-Powell Scouts' Association and a number of Scouting clubs within Universities which are affiliated to the Student Scout and Guide Organisation.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Wales:
In Wales, a trunk road agent,, is a partnership between two or more county and/or county borough councils for the purposes of managing, maintaining, and improving the network of trunk roads in Wales in their respective areas on behalf of the Welsh Government.
The Wales Coast Path is a designated long-distance trail which follows, or runs close to, the coastline of Wales.
List of winners of the Welsh Learner of the Year, a competition held every year at the National Eisteddfod of Wales.
Wales has traditionally been divided into a number of ambiguous and ill-defined areas described as regions, reflecting historical, geographical, administrative, cultural and electoral boundaries within the country. Presently, the most common form of division of Wales into "regions" has been using cardinal and intercardinal references: north or south-west for example. None of the variously described "regions" have official status or defined boundaries; neither is there a fixed number of regions. Various organisations use different regions and combinations of regions for their individual purposes. This includes devolved institutions, such as Visit Wales, Natural Resources Wales, and the Welsh Government itself, using different sets of Wales' regions. Wales is most commonly sub-divided into between two and four regions, with a North–South divide, and North, Mid, South East and South West division being common. This article lists the various terms applied to be the "regions of Wales" and the regions used by various organisations.
This is a timeline of the development of radio in Wales.
Arfor is an economic support programme of the Welsh Government, partnering with Plaid Cymru, as a joint venture with local councils, in Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Gwynedd and the Isle of Anglesey, specifically catered to support the Welsh language. The programme covers large parts of Y Fro Gymraeg, the Welsh-speaking heartlands, in the north-west and west of Wales, and is to support the use of Welsh in its heartlands, therefore the language overall.