Powys
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the county of Wales. For the ancient kingdom, see Kingdom of Powys.
| |
| Geography | |
| Area - Total - % Water | Ranked 1st 5,196 km² ? % |
|---|---|
| Admin HQ | Llandrindod Wells |
| ISO 3166-2 | GB-POW |
| ONS code | 00NN |
| Demographics | |
| Population: - (2005 est.) - Density | Ranked 9th 131,500 Ranked 22nd 25 / km² |
| Ethnicity | 99.3% White |
| Welsh language - Any skills | Ranked 7th 30.1% |
| Politics | |
| Image:Powys-coa.png Powys Council http://www.powys.gov.uk/ | |
| Control | Independent |
| MPs | |
| AMs |
|
| MEPs | |
Powys is a local government principal area and a preserved county in Wales.
Contents |
[edit] Geography
- See the list of places in Powys for all towns and villages in Powys.
Powys covers the former administrative counties of Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire, most of Brecknockshire, and a small part of Denbighshire — an area of 5,196 km², making it the largest principal area in Wales by land area.
It is bounded the north by Gwynedd, Denbighshire and Wrexham; to the west by Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire; to the east by England (counties of Shropshire and Herefordshire); and to the south by Rhondda Cynon Taff, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly (county borough), Blaenau Gwent and Monmouthshire.
Most of Powys is very mountainous with north-south transportation by car and rail being quite difficult.
Just over a fifth of the residents are Welsh-speakers and they are concentrated mainly in the area around Machynlleth, Llanfyllin and Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant in north and west Montgomeryshire, and the town of Ystradgynlais in the extreme south-west of Brecknock. Radnorshire was almost completely anglicised by the end of the 18th century.
[edit] History
This area is named after the older Welsh/British Kingdom of Powys, which occupied the northern two thirds of the area as well as lands now in England, and came to an end when it was occupied by Llywelyn ap Gruffydd of Gwynedd during the 1260s.
[edit] Government
Powys was originally created on April 1, 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, and originally had Montgomery and Radnor and Brecknock as districts under it, which were based directly on the former administrative counties.
On April 1, 1996, the districts were abolished, and Powys was reconstituted as a unitary authority, with a minor border adjustment in the north-east (specifically the addition of the communities of Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant, Llansilin and Llangedwyn from Glyndwr district in Clwyd, all historically part of Denbighshire).
The first Lord Lieutenant of Powys was previously the Lord Lieutenant of Montgomeryshire. The Lord Lieutenant of Brecknockshire and Lord Lieutenant of Radnorshire were appointed as Lieutenants.
The present Lord Lieutenant is The Honourable Mrs Legge-Bourke LVO.
[edit] Electoral divisions
Powys is administered by Powys County Council and has 73 elected councillors representing 73 council wards. Local elections take place every 4 years. Some of these wards are coterminous with communities (parishes) of the same name. There are 112 communities in the principal area. Nearly all communities have a local community council.
The following table lists council wards, communities and associated geographical areas. Communities with a community council are indicated with a '*':
[edit] Places of interest
[edit] Cave systems[edit] Museums and exhibitions |
[edit] Elan Valley |
[edit] Others
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[edit] External links
- Powys county council (official site)
- Powys Heritage
- Powys Web Links
- Tourism in Powys
- Business Information in Powys
| Principal areas of Wales | Image:Flag of Wales 2.svg |
|---|---|
| Subdivisions created by the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 Anglesey | Blaenau Gwent | Bridgend | Caerphilly | Cardiff | Carmarthenshire | Ceredigion | Conwy | Denbighshire | Flintshire | Gwynedd | Merthyr Tydfil | Monmouthshire | Neath Port Talbot | Newport | Pembrokeshire | Powys | Rhondda Cynon Taff | Swansea | Torfaen | Vale of Glamorgan | Wrexham | |
| United Kingdom | Wales | Preserved counties of Wales | Image:Flag of Wales 2.svg |
|
Counties of the Lieutenancies Act 1997 Clwyd - Dyfed - Gwent - Gwynedd - Mid Glamorgan - Powys - South Glamorgan - West Glamorgan |
| Local government counties and districts of Wales 1974 – 1996 | Image:Flag of Wales 2.svg |
|
Local authorities created by the Local Government Act 1972
CLWYD: Alyn and Deeside | Colwyn | Delyn | Glyndŵr | Rhuddlan | Wrexham Maelor |
cy:Powys de:Powys es:Powys fr:Powys it:Powys no:Powys nds:Powys pl:Powys ru:Поуис sv:Powys uk:Поуйс
