Administrative and non-administrative areas of Wales
The
subdivisions of Wales
constitute a hierarchy of administrative divisions and non-administrative ceremonial areas.
For the purposes of
local government
, the country is divided into
principal areas
, of either
counties
or
county boroughs
, and
communities
.
The current system is the result of incremental reform which has its origins in legislation enacted in
1972
and
1994
.
Administrative
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Principal areas
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There are 22
principal areas of Wales
. They were established on 1 April 1996 by the
Local Government (Wales) Act 1994
(1994 c. 19). Eleven are styled "counties", including the
cities
of Cardiff and Swansea, and eleven are styled "county boroughs", including the cities of Newport and Wrexham.
[1]
[2]
[3]
The location of each council headquarters is indicated by a yellow marker
.
County boroughs are marked by a dagger (†).
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Areas marked † are county boroughs, while unmarked areas are counties. Welsh-language forms are given alongside the English where they differ.
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Name changes
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Five of the principal areas use different names to those given in the
Local Government (Wales) Act 1994
. In each case the council renamed the area immediately, with the changes taking effect on 2 April 1996.
[4]
The changes were:
Other smaller changes were also made, such as:
Communities
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At the lowest level of administrative subdivision in Wales are the
communities
, into which each principal area is subdivided. They may have elected
community councils
which perform a number of roles, such as providing local facilities, and representing their communities to larger local government bodies. Community councils are the equivalent of English
parish councils
. A community council may call itself a "town council" if it so wishes. The councils of three communities with
city status
? Bangor, St Asaph, and St Davids ? are known as "city councils". Communities which are too small to have a council may have a
community meeting
instead: an example of
direct democracy
. The communities in the urban areas of the cities of Cardiff, Swansea and Newport do not have community councils.
[5]
[6]
[7]
Non-administrative
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Preserved counties
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]
For ceremonial purposes of Lieutenancy and Shrievalty, Wales is divided into eight
preserved counties
. These were based on the counties (created by the Local Government Act 1972) which were used for local government and other purposes between 1974 and 1996.
There are eight preserved counties:
Historic
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Former districts
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Historic counties
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The historic counties of Wales are ancient subdivisions of Wales, used for various functions for several hundred years. Pembrokeshire was formed as a county palatine in 1138. In the south east, Norman advancement led to the creation of marcher lordships, such as Glamorgan, which served as semi-autonomous administrative divisions, although these were not counties in the true sense as they lacked the formal structure. Some towns within these areas did, however, receive charters which outlined rights and duties in much the same way as a borough. Counties in the strict sense first appeared with the establishment of Cardiganshire and Carmarthenshire in the 1240s. In 1284 the Principality of Gwynedd was divided into three counties: Anglesey, Caernarvonshire and Merionethshire. Before the end of the century, Flintshire had also become a county, and thus nearly half the territory of Wales was under the rule of the English Crown. While the arrangement did not officially bring the marcher lordships in the South directly under the King's control, many such lordships were held by the King personally, although some remained under the semi-autonomous control of powerful local families. The formation of counties was completed under the Laws in Wales Act 1535, which created Montgomeryshire, Denbighshire, Radnorshire, Brecknockshire and Monmouthshire, many from existing marcher lordships now recreated as counties proper.
These 13 counties were the main administrative subdivisions of Wales from 1536 until the implementation in 1974 of the
Local Government Act 1972
, although the definition and role of the smaller
county boroughs
within the counties during that period saw considerable change, as it did across the United Kingdom.
Cantrefi and Commotes
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Hundreds
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Regions
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Regional partnership areas
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Wales is subdivided into four regional areas for its
Corporate Joint Committees
and its conterminous
regional economic growth deals
. City deals have been agreed for the
Cardiff Capital Region
and
Swansea Bay City Region
, which cover south-east and south-west Wales respectively, and growth deals have been agreed for Mid Wales (
Growing Mid Wales
) and North Wales (
Ambition North Wales
). There are four equivalent CJCs which may oversee the deals, and they also cover
Mid Wales
,
North Wales
,
South East Wales
, and
South West Wales
. The CJC's were established by The Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021.
[8]
CJCs have powers relating to economic well-being, strategic planning and the development of regional transport policies.
[9]
Senedd
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Other subdivisions
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Service areas
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Police services
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There are four
police forces
in Wales:
Dyfed-Powys Police
,
Gwent Police
,
North Wales Police
and
South Wales Police
.
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2
3
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- North Wales Police
- Dyfed-Powys Police
- South Wales Police
- Gwent Police
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Fire and rescue services
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There are three
fire and rescue services
in Wales, established in 1996:
Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service
,
North Wales Fire and Rescue Service
and
South Wales Fire and Rescue Service
.
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2
3
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- North Wales Fire and Rescue Service
- Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service
- South Wales Fire and Rescue Service
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Health boards
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]
There are seven
local health boards
in Wales.
Trunk road agents
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Trunk road agents are partnerships between two or more local authorities for the purposes of managing, maintaining, and improving the network of
trunk roads
(including any
motorways
) in their respective areas. Each trunk road agent can employ
Welsh Government traffic officers
. There are two agents, covering
North and Mid Wales
and
South Wales
.
International Territorial Level
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Wales is divided into statistical regions by the UK's
Office for National Statistics
, using the
International Territorial Level
geocode standard since 2021. Before
Brexit
, as part of the
European Union
and
Eurostat
, the system used was
Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics
(NUTS). Wales is a level 1 ITL region alongside
Scotland
,
Northern Ireland
and the
9 statistical regions of England
, with the code "TLL". It is subdivided into two ITL 2 regions, which are themselves divided into twelve ITL 3 regions.
Electoral
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Wales is divided into various electoral districts:
Settlement-based
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Built-up areas
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Cities
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There are seven cities in total in Wales: in addition to the four principal areas with
city status
(Cardiff, Swansea, Newport and Wrexham), the
communities
of Bangor, St Davids and St Asaph also have the status. City status is granted by
letters patent
.
St Asaph, as the seat of a bishopric, was historically referred to as a city, and was described as such in the
1911 Encyclopædia Britannica
. The status was, however, not officially recognised for many years. When city status was restored to St Davids in 1994, St Asaph town council submitted a petition for the same purpose. The petition was refused as, unlike St Davids, there was no evidence of any charter or letters patent in the past conferring the status. Applications for city status in competitions in 2000 and 2002 were unsuccessful.
[10]
However, city status was finally granted to St Asaph in 2012 as part of the Queen's
Diamond Jubilee
celebrations:
[11]
St Asaph was selected "to recognise its wealth of history, its cultural contribution and its metropolitan status as a centre for technology, commerce and business". Wrexham was awarded city status as part of the Queen's
Platinum Jubilee
in September 2022.
[12]
[13]
[14]
See also
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References
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Links to related articles
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Local government in Europe
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Sovereign states
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States with limited
recognition
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Dependencies and
other entities
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