{i} principality of the United Kingdom located in the western part of the island of Great Britain
A principality in the west of and one of the constituent nations of the United Kingdom
Word History: Although Celtic-speaking peoples were living in Britain before the arrival of the invaders from Friesland and Jutland whose languages would eventually develop into English, it was the Celts and not the invaders who came to be called "strangers" in English. Our words for the descendants of one of the Celtish peoples, Welsh, and for their homeland, Wales, come from the Old English word wealh, meaning "foreigner, stranger, Celt." Its plural wealas is the direct ancestor of Wales, literally "foreigners." The Old English adjective derived from wealh, wælisc or welisc, is the source of our Welsh. The Germanic form for the root from which wealh descended was *walh-, "foreign." We also have attested once in Old English the compound walhhnutu in a document from around 1050; its next recording appears in 1358 as walnottes. This eventually became walnut in Modern English, which is thus literally the "foreign nut." The nut was "foreign" because it was native to Roman Gaul and Italy. a country in the United Kingdom, west of England, which was an independent country until it was brought under English rule in 1284. Population: 2,903,085 (2001). Capital: Cardiff. The country's Welsh name is Cymru. Traditionally, its main industries were farming, especially sheep farming and, in South Wales, coal mining. The mines have now all closed. The Welsh language is spoken by many people, especially in the north. The Welsh assembly gives the Welsh people more power to govern themselves while still being part of the UK. Some people, including the political party Plaid Cymru, want Wales to be an independent country. The national symbols of Wales are the leek, the daffodil, and the red dragon. The patron saint is Saint David. Welsh Cymru Principality, constituting an integral part of the United Kingdom. It occupies a peninsula on the western side of the island of Great Britain. Area: 8,015 sq mi (20,758 sq km). Population (2001): 2,903,085. Capital: Cardiff. The population is of Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, and Anglo-Norman ancestry. Languages: English, Welsh. Religion: Methodism. Wales is almost entirely an upland area the core of which is the Cambrian Mountains. The highest peak in England and Wales, Mount Snowdon, is found in Snowdonia National Park. The Severn, Wye, and Dee are the longest rivers. Economic activities include mining coal (though coal mining suffered a sharp decline in the late 20th century), slate, and lead; importing and refining petroleum; and manufacturing consumer electronics. Tourism is an important industry. In prehistoric times, tribal divisions of the British Celtic speakers who dominated all of Britain south of the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde inhabited the region. The Romans ruled from the 1st century AD until the 4th-5th century. Welsh Celts fought off incursions from the Anglo-Saxons. A number of kingdoms arose there, but none was successful in uniting the area. The Norman conquerors of England brought all of southern Wales under their rule in 1093. English King Edward I conquered northern Wales and made it a principality in 1284. Since 1301 the heir to the English throne has carried the title Prince of Wales. Wales was incorporated with England in the reign of Henry VIII. It became a leading international coal-mining centre during the 19th century. The Plaid Cymru, or Welsh Nationalist Party, was founded in 1925, but its influence did not gather force until the 1960s, when Welsh nationalist aspirations rose. In 1997 a referendum approved the devolution of power to an elected assembly, which first convened in 1999. Charles Philip Arthur George prince of Wales Diana princess of Wales Gerald of Wales New South Wales Prince of Wales Strait Wales Prince of