"Wales"

Wales is a country in the United Kingdom to the west of England. The population of Wales is about two and a quarter million. St.David is the patron saint of Wales, and on the 1st of March, St.David’s Day, patriotic Welsh people wear a leek or a daffodil, both symbols of Wales. The capital of Wales is Cardiff.Cardiff is an industrial city and the main port, which also has a Roman castle, a cathedral, a university, a modern shopping centre. There are other big towns in Wales, too, Swansea and Newport among them.

Wales is also famous for its castles. They stretch like an iron chain across the country. Visitors often go to see Caernarfon Castle, where Prince Charles became Prince of Wales in 1969. Perhaps the most impressive castle in Wales is Caerphilly, it is still one of the greatest castles of the western world.

At the same time, there are a lot of places in Wales that haven’t been damaged by tourism, agriculture or industry. Wales is famous for its beautiful scenery: mountains, valleys, waterfalls, streams. The west coast, mid Wales and North Wales are wild and beautiful. Wales has high mountains, including Snowdon, the second highest mountain in Britain.

In summer, when the sun is shining, Snowdon looks very peaceful and beautiful. A little train runs to the top and the walk is not at all hard. But in winter the mountains can become very dangerous. Climbers are very brave people, they often take dangerous routes nobody used before them. They prepare food, medicines and the equipment and look up the information on the mountain in all kinds of books. But they must be prepared for all kinds of accidents. Every year climbers get lost in bad weather or fall and injure themselves. When this happens, the Mountain Rescue Service has to go out to look for them.

If you don’t feel like climbing, you can go riding along the narrow rocky path in the Snowdonia National Park, one of the three National Parks in Wales, or go boating on the picturesque Llangollen Canal.
Llangollen is a town where an international festival called Eisteddfod is held. People from all over the world come there to recite poetry, sing and dance in this colourful competition.

Llangollen, Caernarfon, Caerfilly – it’s not that easy to pronounce these words. Welsh has difficult sounds and very musical intonation. Welsh – the language that the Welsh speak – is a Celtic language, like Scottish and Irish Gaelic, and is very different from English. Even if you speak English fluently, you won’t be able to understand Welsh. The Welsh speak English, of course, but the Welsh language is spoken widely, especially in the north of the country and it is still the first language for many people. English is taught side by side with Welsh in schools, most road signs are in English and in Welsh, and the fourth channel on Welsh television gives programmes mainly in Welsh.

The Welsh call their country Cymru and themselves Cymry, a word which has the same root as “camrador” – friend, comrade.