South West Wales is one of the

regions of 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 f ...

comprising the unitary authorities of

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

Neath Port Talbot Neath Port Talbot () is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. Its principal towns are Neath, Port Talbot, Briton Ferry and Pontardawe. The county borough borders Bridgend County Borough and Rhon ...

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire (; or informally ') is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. ...

and

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...

Definition

This definition is used by a number of government agencies and private organisations including: *

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Welsh Government The Welsh Government ( ) is the Executive (government), executive arm of the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of Cabinet secretary, cabinet secretaries and Minister of State, ministers. It is led by the F ...

*South West Wales Economic Forum (SWWEF) * South West Wales Integrated Transport Consortium (SWWITCH) *South West Wales Tourism Partnership (SWWTP) *Travel About Britain *West Cheshire & North Wales Chamber of Commerce A different definition is used in the EU

Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics or NUTS () is a geocode standard for referencing the administrative divisions of countries for statistical purposes. The standard, adopted in 2003, is developed and regulated by the European ...

, which refers to ''South West Wales'' as a subdivision of '' West Wales and the Valleys'' comprising Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire.

History

The area that is now considered to be South West Wales was established as

Deheubarth Deheubarth (; , thus 'the South') was a regional name for the Welsh kingdoms, realms of south Wales, particularly as opposed to kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd (Latin: ''Venedotia''). It is now used as a shorthand for the various realms united under ...

Hywel Dda Hywel ap Cadell, commonly known as Hywel Dda, which translates to Howel the Good in English, was a Welsh king who ruled the southern Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth and eventually came to rule most of Wales. He became the sole king of Seisyllw ...

in around the year 920. Although not a kingdom ''per se'', it was ruled dynastically and fought over for centuries, until the

conquest of Wales by Edward I The conquest of Wales by Edward I took place between 1277 and 1283. It is sometimes referred to as the Edwardian conquest of Wales,Examples of historians using the term include Professor J. E. Lloyd, regarded as the founder of the modern academ ...

, completed in 1283, when it was divided into the historic counties that exist today.

Governance

South West Wales is made up of the four principal areas of

and

. The

Swansea Bay City Region The Swansea Bay City Region (), is a city region in Wales. It is a partnership between the local authorities of Carmarthenshire, Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire and Swansea, local businesses in southwest Wales and other organisations with the s ...

is a partnership between local authorities, businesses and other organisations. In April 2021, a

South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee The South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee () is the Corporate Joint Committee for South West Wales that was established in April 2021 by statutory instruments made under the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021. It is an indir ...

was formed to allow the four local councils in the region to collaborate in areas relating to economic well-being, strategic planning and the development of regional transport policies.

References

External links

Corporate Joint Committee for South West WalesOne Big Garden (gardens and parkland in South West Wales)Visit Wales: South West WalesInspirational South West Wales Wales.com: south west Wales
{{Regions of Wales, state=collapsed Regions of Wales

Definition

History

Governance

See also

References

External links