South East Wales is a loosely defined region of Wales generally corresponding to the preserved counties of Mid Glamorgan, South Glamorgan and Gwent. Highly urbanised, it includes the cities of Cardiff and Newport as well as large towns in the South Wales Valleys.
The term South East Wales is used by the Welsh Government. [1]
In the Wales Spatial Plan, South East Wales is defined for statistical purposes as comprising the local authorities of Vale of Glamorgan, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Cardiff, Newport, Blaenau Gwent, Torfaen, Monmouthshire and Bridgend (i.e. the preserved counties of Mid Glamorgan, South Glamorgan and Gwent). [1] This area has a population of about 1,430,000 (2007 estimate), just under half the total population of Wales. [1]
The South East Wales Biodiversity Records Centre definition of South East Wales includes the whole of the ancient counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, an area which has a population of approximately 2 million (2007 estimate).[ citation needed ]
The Wales Spatial Plan, a national planning policy document revised in 2008, states that the area "largely had a hand and fingers pattern of urban development over the last 150 years, reflecting its major role in the industrial revolution and the rapid expansion of the iron, coal and steel industries initially in the Heads of the Valleys, then within the South Wales Valleys, then on the coastal plain." [2]
The promotion of tourism in South East Wales is the responsibility of Capital Region Tourism, one of four regional tourism partnerships across Wales. [3]
In March 2017, ten local authorities in the region formed the Cardiff Capital Region, following the ratification of a regional city deal.
In April 2021, a South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee was formed to allow the ten local councils in the region to collaborate in areas relating to economic well-being, strategic planning and the development of regional transport policies.
The population, density and areas are estimates for 2022 from the Office for National Statistics. [4]
| Principal area | Created | Population | Density (/km2) | Area (km2) | Style |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cardiff | 1996 [lower-alpha 1] | 372,089 | 2,641 | 141 | City and county |
| Rhondda Cynon Taf | 1996 | 239,018 | 564 | 424 | County borough |
| Caerphilly | 1996 | 176,130 | 635 | 277 | County borough |
| Newport | 1996 [lower-alpha 1] | 161,506 | 848 | 190 | County borough/City |
| Bridgend | 1996 | 146,136 | 583 | 251 | County borough |
| Vale of Glamorgan | 1996 | 133,492 | 403 | 331 | County borough |
| Monmouthshire | 1996 [lower-alpha 1] | 93,886 | 111 | 849 | County |
| Torfaen | 1996 | 92,860 | 739 | 126 | County borough |
| Blaenau Gwent | 1996 | 67,014 | 616 | 109 | County borough |
| Merthyr Tydfil | 1996 | 58,883 | 528 | 111 | County borough |
| South East Wales | 2017 | 1,541,014 | 548 | 2,810 | Region |
The M4 motorway runs through the region, connecting it with South Wales and London. The A470 road connects Cardiff on the south coast to Llandudno on the north coast.
Mainline rail services run through South East Wales on the South Wales Main Line towards Bristol and London. Other national rail services run from Cardiff and Newport to Birmingham and Nottingham on the Gloucester to Newport Line and to Manchester on the Welsh Marches Line. An urban rail network centred on Cardiff operates in the region and is known as Valley Lines.
Cardiff Airport is the only international airport in Wales.
Monmouthshire is a county in the south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the south, and Torfaen, Newport and Blaenau Gwent to the west. The largest town is Abergavenny, and the administrative centre is Usk.
Until 1974, Monmouthshire, also formerly known as the County of Monmouth, was an administrative county in the south-east of Wales, on the border with England, and later classed as one of the thirteen historic counties of Wales. Its area now corresponds approximately to the present principal areas of Monmouthshire, Blaenau Gwent, Newport and Torfaen, and those parts of Caerphilly and Cardiff east of the Rhymney River.
South Glamorgan is a preserved county of Wales.
Mid Glamorgan is a preserved county of Wales. From 1974 until 1996 it was also an administrative county with a county council.
South Wales is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards to include Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire. In the western extent, from Swansea westwards, local people would probably recognise that they lived in both south Wales and west Wales. The Brecon Beacons National Park covers about a third of south Wales, containing Pen y Fan, the highest British mountain south of Cadair Idris in Snowdonia.
The South Wales Valleys are a group of industrialised peri-urban valleys in South Wales. Most of the valleys run north–south, roughly parallel to each other. Commonly referred to as "The Valleys", they stretch from Carmarthenshire in the west to Monmouthshire in the east; to the edge of the pastoral country of the Vale of Glamorgan and the coastal plain near the cities of Swansea, Cardiff, and Newport.
The Ebbw Valley Railway is a branch line of the South Wales Main Line in South Wales. Transport for Wales Rail provides an hourly passenger service each way between Ebbw Vale Town and Cardiff Central, and an hourly service each way between Ebbw Vale Town and Newport.
East Wales is either a ITL 3 statistical region of Wales or generally a region encompassing the easternmost parts of the country.
Transport in Wales is heavily influenced by the country's geography. Wales is predominantly hilly or mountainous, and the main settlements lie on the coasts of north and south Wales, while mid Wales and west Wales are lightly populated. The main transport corridors are east–west routes, many continuing eastwards into England.
Gwent is a preserved county and former local government county in southeast Wales. A county of Gwent was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972; it was named after the ancient Kingdom of Gwent. The authority was a successor to both the administrative county of Monmouthshire and the county borough of Newport.
South Wales Fire and Rescue Service is the fire and rescue service covering the ten Welsh principal areas of Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouthshire, Newport, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Torfaen and Vale of Glamorgan.
South East Wales Transport Alliance (Sewta) was a consortium established by the 10 local authorities in South East Wales to promote and develop transport strategies and projects in the region. Founded on 1 April 2003, Sewta worked in close liaison with partners representing public transport operators.
The history of local government in Wales in a recognisably modern form emerged during the late 19th century. Administrative counties and county boroughs were first established in Wales in 1889. Urban and rural districts were formed in 1894. These were replaced in 1974 by a two-tier authority system across the country comprising eight counties and, within them, thirty-seven districts. This system was itself replaced by the introduction of 22 single-tier authorities in 1996.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Wales:
The South Wales Metro is an integrated heavy rail, light rail and bus-based public transport services and systems network currently being developed in South East Wales around the hub of Cardiff Central railway station. The first phase was approved for development in October 2013. Works are currently under way, with a new depot under construction at Taff's Well and new trains being built by Stadler Rail in Switzerland. The development will also include the electrification of the core Valley Lines and new stations. All nine lines will be electrified, and the service is expected to be in operation by the end of 2024.
The Blaenavon Railroad was a horse drawn tramroad built to link Blaenavon Ironworks with the Monmouthshire Canal in south east Wales.
The Cardiff–Newport metropolitan area is a metropolitan area in south east Wales in the United Kingdom. It includes the cities of Cardiff and Newport, with a number of towns in the South Wales Valleys, including Merthyr Tydfil, Pontypridd, Caerphilly, Bridgend and Ebbw Vale. With these outlying settlements the metropolitan area has a population of 1.09 million. Also referred to as the "Cardiff and South Wales Valley metropolitan area", it corresponds to the preserved counties of Gwent and South Glamorgan. It is the largest metropolitan area in Wales, with the next largest being centred on the Swansea Urban Area.
The Cardiff Capital Region is a city region in Wales, centred on the capital city of Wales, Cardiff, in the southeast of the country. It is a partnership between the ten local authorities of Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouthshire, Newport, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Torfaen, and the Vale of Glamorgan, local businesses in southeast Wales and other organisations. The regional city deal is funded by the UK Government and Welsh Government. The Cardiff Capital Region includes the cities of Cardiff and Newport, and most of the South Wales Valleys, with the region being coterminous with the area defined as South East 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.
The South East Wales Corporate Joint Committee is the Corporate Joint Committee for South East Wales that was established in April 2021 by statutory instruments made under the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021. It is an indirectly elected body made up of leaders of principal councils and national park authorities in the region.
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