Carnarvonshire; St Davids Head, the most westerly point of South Wales; Worms Head, the western extremity of Gower; and Lavernock Point to the W. of Cardiff. The principal islands are Holy Island, off the W. coast of Anglesea; Bardsey (Ynys Enlli), near Braich-y-Pwll; and the islands of Ramsey, Grassholm, Skomer, Skokholm and Caldy (Ynys Pyr) off the Pembrokeshire coast. The chief inlets are the mouth of the Dee, dividing Flint from Cheshire; the Menai Straits, separating Anglesea from the mainland; Carnarvon Bay; Cardigan Bay, stretching from Braich-y-Pwll to St Davids Head; St Brides Bay; Milford Haven; Carmarthen Bay; and Swansea Bay.
In common parlance, as well as for judicial purposes of circuits, the Principality is divided into North Wales and South Wales, each of which consists of six counties.
North Wales.
| Acreage. | Population (1901). | |
| Anglesea (Ynys Fôn) | 176,630 | 50,606 |
| Carnarvon (Sîr Arfon) | 361,156 | 126,883 |
| Denbigh (Sîr Dinbych) | 423,499 | 129,942 |
| Flint (Sîr Fflint) | 164,744 | 81,700 |
| Merioneth (Sîr Feirîonydd) | 427,810 | 49,149 |
| Montgomery (Sîr Drefaldwyn) | 510,111 | 54,901 |
South Wales
| Acreage. | Population (1901). | |
| Brecon or Brecknock (Sîr Frycheiniog) | 475,224 | 59,907 |
| Cardigan (Sîr Aberteifi) | 440,630 | 60,240 |
| Carmarthen (Sîr Gaerfyrddin) | 587,816 | 135,328 |
| Glamorgan (Sîr Forganwg) | 518,863 | 859,931 |
| Pembroke (Sîr Benfro) | 395,151 | 88,732 |
| Radnor (Sîr Faesyfed) | 301,164 | 23,281 |
Mountains.—Almost the whole surface of Wales is mountainous or undulating. The most important hill system is that of the North Wales mountains, covering the county of Carnarvon and parts of Merioneth and Denbigh, wherein the Snowdonian range reaches the height of 3571 ft. in Snowdon itself; of 3484 ft. in Carnedd Llywelyn; and of 3426 ft. in Carnedd Dafydd. South of this system, and separated from it by the upper valley of the Dee, the Berwyn range extends from N.E. to S.E., and is itself adjacent to Aran-fawddy (2970 ft.), the highest point in the Cader Idris group. The system of Mid-Wales or Powys stretches from Cardigan Bay to the English border, and contains Plinlimmon (2462 ft.) in north Cardigan; Drygarn Fawr (2115 ft.) in north Brecon; and Radnor Forest (2163 ft.) in mid-Radnor. From Plinlimmon a range of hills runs in a south-westerly direction towards St Davids, terminating in the Preselly range of north Pembroke (1760 ft.) and dividing the broad valleys of the Teifi and Towy. The three combined ranges of the Black Mountains, the Brecknock Beacons and the Black Forest sweep across south Brecon from W. to E., the chief elevations being the Carmarthen Van (2632 ft.), the Brecon Beacon (2862 ft.) and Pen-y-gader fawr (2660 ft.) near the English border.
Lakes and Rivers.—Small lakes, such as Llyn Ogwen, Llyn Safaddan (Llangorse Lake), Talyllyn, the Teifi Pools, &c., are fairly numerous in the mountainous districts, but the only natural lake of importance is Bala Lake, or Llyn Tegid, in Merionethshire, 4 m. long and about 1 m. wide. But the great reservoir known as Lake Vyrnwy, which supplies Liverpool with water, is equal in size to Bala; and the chain of four artificial lakes constructed by the Birmingham corporation in the valleys of the Elan and Claerwen covers a large area in west Radnorshire. The longest river in Wales is the Severn (180 m.), in Welsh Hafren, which rises in Plinlimmon, and takes a north-easterly direction through Montgomeryshire before reaching the English border. The Wye (130 m.) also rises in Plinlimmon, and forms for some 30 m. the boundary between the counties of Radnor and Brecon before encountering English soil near Hay. The Usk (56 m.) flows through Breconshire, and joins the Bristol Channel at Newport in Monmouthshire. The Dee (70 m.) traverses Bala Lake, and drains parts of the counties of Merioneth, Denbigh and Flint. The Towy (68 m.) flows through Carmarthenshire, entering Carmarthen Bay at Llanstephan; the Teifi (50 m.) rises near Tregaron and falls into Cardigan Bay below the town of Cardigan. The Taff (40 m.), rising amongst the Brecon Beacons, enters the Bristol Channel at Cardiff. Other rivers are the Dovey (30 m.), falling into Cardigan Bay at Aberdovey; the Tâf (25 m.), entering Carmarthen Bay at Laugharne; and the broad navigable Conway (24 m.), dividing the counties of Carnarvon and Denbigh.
Welsh Place-Names.—The place-names throughout the Principality may be said to group themselves roughly into four divisions: (i.) Pure and unaltered Celtic names; (ii.) Corrupted or abbreviated Celtic names; (iii.) English names; (iv.) Scandinavian and foreign names. To the first division belong the vast majority of place-names throughout the whole of Wales and Monmouthshire. Except in some districts of the Marches and in certain tracts lying along the South Wales coast, nearly all parishes, villages, hamlets, farms, houses, woods, fields, streams and valleys possess native appellations, which in most cases are descriptive of natural situation, e.g. Nantyffin, the boundary brook; Aberporth, mouth of the harbour; Talybont, end of the bridge; Troedyrhiw, foot of the hill; Dyffryn, a valley, &c. Other place-names imply a personal connexion in addition to natural features, e.g. Nantygôf, the blacksmith's brook; Trefecca, the house of Rebecca; Llwyn Madoc, Madoc's grove; Pantsaeson, the Saxons' glen, &c. An historical origin is frequently commemorated, notably in the many foundations of the Celtic missionaries of the 5th, 6th and 7th centuries, wherein the word llan (church) precedes a proper name; thus every Llanddewi recalls the early labours of Dewi Sant (St David); every Llandeilo, those of St Teilo; and such names as Llandudno, Llanafan, Llanbadarn and the like commemorate SS. Tudno, Afan, Padarn, &c. To the second division—those place-names which have been corrupted by English usage—belong most of the older historic towns, in striking contrast with the rural villages and parishes, which in nearly all cases have retained unaltered their original Celtic names. Anglicized in spelling and even to some extent changed in sound are Carmarthen (Caerfyrddin); Pembroke (Penfro); Kidwelly (Cydweli); Cardiff (Caerdydd); Llandovery (Llanymddyfri); while Lampeter, in Welsh Llanbedrpont-Stephan, affords an example of a Celtic place-name both Anglicized and abbreviated. In not a few instances modern English nomenclature has supplanted the old Welsh place-names in popular usage, although the town's original appellation is retained in Welsh literature and conversation, e.g. Holyhead is Caergybi (fort of Cybi, a Celtic missionary of the 6th century); Presteign is Llanandras (church of St Andrew, or Andras); St Asaph is Llanelwy; the English name commemorating the reputed founder of the see, and the Welsh name recalling the church's original foundation on the banks of the Elwy. Cardigan, in Welsh Aberteifi, from its situation near the mouth of the Teifi, and Brecon, in Welsh Abcrhonddu, from its site near the confluence of the Usk and Honddu, are examples of corrupted Welsh names in common use—Ceredigion, Brychan—which possess in addition pure Celtic forms. In the third division, English place-names are tolerably frequent everywhere and predominate in the Marches and on the South Wales coast. Even in so thoroughly Welsh a county as Cardiganshire, English place-names are often to be encountered, e.g. New Quay, High Mead, Oakford, &c.; but many of such names are of modern invention, dating chiefly from the 18th and 19th centuries. Of the many English names occurring in south Pembroke and south Glamorgan, some are exact or fanciful translations of the original Welsh, e.g. Cowbridge (Pontyfon) and Ludchurch (Eglwys Llwyd), others are of direct external origin, as Bishopstone, Flemingstone, Butter Hill, Briton Ferry, Manselfield, &c. Names derived straight from an Anglo-Norman source are rare; Beaupré, Beaumaris, Beaufort, Fleur-de-Lis, Roche, may be cited as examples of such. Scandinavian influence can easily be traced at various points of the coast-line, but particularly in south Pembrokeshire, wherein occur such place-names as Caldy, Tenby, Goodwick, Dale, Skokholm, Hakin and Milford Haven. Specimens of Latinized names in connexion with ecclesiastical foundations are preserved in Strata Florida and Valle Crucis Abbeys. Hybrid place-names are occasionally to be met with in the colonized portions of Wales, as in Gelliswick (a combination of the Celtic gelli, a hazel grove, and the Norse wick, a haven), and in Fletherhill, where the English suffix hill is practically a translation of the Celtic prefix. A striking peculiarity of the Principality is the prevalence of Scriptural place-names; a circumstance due undoubtedly to the popular religious movements of the 10th century. Not only are such names as Horeb, Zion, Penuel, Siloh, &c., bestowed on Nonconformist chapels,
