Gwynedd

Gwynedd, former county, north-western Wales, bounded on the north and west by the Irish Sea, on the east by Clwyd, and on the south by Powys. The administrative centre of Gwynedd was Caernarfon. Gwynedd was formed under the local government reorganization of 1974 out of the former counties of Caernarvonshire, Anglesey, Merionethshire, and part of Denbighshire. Under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1994, which changed the structure of local administration in Wales from a two-tier system of county and district councils to a single-tier system of unitary authorities, the five districts which comprised Gwynedd were reorganized into two counties and a county borough. These changes became effective on April 1, 1996. The Isle of Anglesey regained the county status it enjoyed before 1974, while the districts of Dwyfor, Arfon, and Meirionnydd—comprising the majority of mainland Gwynedd—were combined into the new county of Caernarfonshire and Merionthshire, which then took the name Gwynedd. The fifth district, Aberconwy, in the north-east of the county, was joined with the greater part of the district of Colwyn in Clwyd to form the new county borough of Conwy.

Gwynedd had an area of 3,867 sq km (1,494 sq mi), and was a predominantly mountainous region, dominated in the north-west by Snowdonia; lowland areas were confined mainly to the coast on the mainland and to Anglesey. The county's economy depended primarily on tourism and agriculture. There was also some manufacturing concentrated on the mainland in Llandudno and Bangor; the latter, with a university and the Museum of Wales, is also the main cultural centre of north Wales. Holyhead, on Holy Island, Anglesey, was also a focus of industry in Gwynedd, as well as an important container port and the main ferry terminal for Ireland. The area was the last part of Wales to be conquered by the Norman kings of England and was the base for Owen Glendower's rebellion in the 15th century against English rule. More than 60 per cent of the population of Gwynedd spoke Welsh, and the county was an important centre of Welsh nationalism.