City status in the United Kingdom is granted by the monarch of the United Kingdom to specific centres of population, which might or might not meet the generally accepted definition of cities. As of 22 November 2022, there are 76 cities in the United Kingdom—55 in England, seven in Wales, eight in Scotland, and six in Northern Ireland. Although it carries no special rights, the status of city can be a marker of prestige and confer local pride.
The Church in Wales is an Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses.
The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 2002, the league was known as the League of Wales (LoW), but changed its name as part of a sponsorship deal to the Welsh Premier League. The league was rebranded as the Cymru Premier for the 2019–20 season.
Arriva Trains Wales was a British train operating company owned by Arriva UK Trains that operated the Wales & Borders franchise. It ran urban and inter-urban passenger services to all railway stations in Wales, including Cardiff Central, Cardiff Queen Street, Newport, Swansea, Wrexham General and Holyhead, as well as to certain stations in England such as Hereford, Shrewsbury, Chester, Crewe, Manchester Piccadilly and Birmingham New Street.
The post of Archbishop of Wales was created in 1920 when the Church in Wales was separated from the Church of England and disestablished. The four historic Welsh dioceses had previously formed part of the Province of Canterbury, and so came under its Archbishop. The new Church became the Welsh province of the Anglican Communion.
The FAW Premier Cup was a Welsh football cup competition, organised annually by the Football Association of Wales from 1997 to 2008. Since the FAW excluded clubs playing in English leagues from playing in the Welsh Cup from 1996 onwards, the FAW needed another competition where the best Welsh teams could compete.
St Asaph is a cathedral city and community on the River Elwy in Denbighshire, Wales. In the 2011 Census it had a population of 3,355, making it the second-smallest city in the United Kingdom in terms of population and urban area. It was historically in Flintshire.
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.
A community is a division of land in Wales that forms the lowest tier of local government in Wales. Welsh communities are analogous to civil parishes in England but, unlike English parishes, communities cover the whole of Wales. There are 878 communities in Wales.
The National Eisteddfod of Wales is the largest of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales. Its eight days of competitions and performances are considered the largest music and poetry festival in Europe. Competitors typically number 6,000 or more, and overall attendance generally exceeds 100,000 visitors, the highest recently being 186,000 attending the 2024 festival in Pontypridd. The 2018 Eisteddfod was held in Cardiff Bay with a fence-free 'Maes'. In 2020, the event was held virtually under the name AmGen; events were held over a one-week period.
Association football is one of the most popular sports in Wales, along with rugby union. Wales has produced club teams of varying fortunes since the early birth of football during the Victorian period, and in 1876 a Wales national football team played their first international match. Football has always had a close rivalry with the country's de facto national sport rugby union, and it is much discussed as to which is Wales' more popular game. The Football Association of Wales (FAW), was established in 1876 to oversee the Wales national team and govern the sport in Wales, later creating and running the Welsh football league system.
Islam in Wales is a minority faith followed by 2.1% of the population of Wales, making Islam the second most practiced religion in the country after Christianity.
The subdivisions of Wales constitute a hierarchy of administrative divisions and non-administrative ceremonial areas.
Layton Jonathan Maxwell A former professional footballer and manager.
In Wales, the office of Mayor or Lord Mayor had long been ceremonial posts, with little or no duties attached to it. Traditionally mayors have been elected by town, borough and city councils. Since 2000, councils can decide to have directly elected mayors with extensive powers if such a proposal is approved in a local referendum.
As part of the Platinum Jubilee, Queen Elizabeth II awarded a number of civic honours, most notably the creation of new cities in a competition. Another competition for lord mayor or lord provost status was held.
