Wales is one of the countries in Britain and the United Kingdom and is to the west of England. It has a continuous coastlinearound 1,300km long, and has some of the most beautiful beaches in the UK, making it a popular holiday destination. As well as water sports, there are mountains and three national parks. The highest mountain in Wales is Snowdon, which is 1,085m high. The population of Wales is just over three million people. Most Welsh people live in south Wales in the capital city, Cardiff, and two other big cities: Swansea and Newport.
Language
The official languages of Wales are English and Welsh, and ‘Wenglish’, a Welsh-English dialect. Everyone speaks English, but if you go to school in Wales you have to learn Welsh until you are sixteen. Street signs are written in Welsh and English, and villages, towns and cities have an English name and a Welsh name. The Welsh language is an old, Celtic language which is very different from English. For example, the Welsh name for ‘Wales’ is ‘Cymru’. It is one of the oldest languages in Europe and around 20 per cent of people in Wales speak Welsh.
Music
The Welsh love music and there are a lot of singing festivals and competitions in Wales. One of the largest cultural festivals in Europe is the National Eisteddfod of Wales. All the events are in Welsh and include literature, singing, art, exhibitions, dance and theatre.
Sport
The Welsh enjoy watching and playing sport, especially rugby and football. The modern Millennium Stadium in Cardiff can hold 74,500 spectators and is where you go if you want to watch a football or rugby match or a concert.
Water sports are also popular. You can go surfing, wakeboarding or coasteering. If you like unusual sports, visit the small town of Llanwrtyd Wells; every year in this town there is a man versushorse marathon and a bog snorkelling competition. Bog snorkelling is similar to swimming in extremely dirty water.
Food
There are lots of sheep in Wales, so people eat a lot of lamb. Typical Welsh dishes include cawl, which is lamb stew, sausages and rarebit, which is a type of cheese on toast. There are also Welsh cakes, which are small, sweet, round cakes with dried raisins inside.
SYMBOLS
If you ever go to Wales, you will see dragons everywhere; red dragons are a symbol of Wales. Other symbols include the leek (a long, green vegetable) and the daffodil (a white or yellow flower). The patron saint of Wales is St. David whose day is celebrated on 1 March.
