10 Crazy Facts You Don’t Know About Wales
Wales is world renowned for its beautiful coastlines, mountainous national parks and unique language, but what else do you know about this magnificent country? Check out the following 10 crazy facts you don’t know about Wales.
1. The Longest Place Name in Europe
image via leroywatson4.wordpress.com
Wales is the home to the longest place name in Europe? What is it, you ask? Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. It’s also the longest single-word internet name in the world. In fact, it’s so long that it was used as the secret password in the 1968 cult film Barbarella.
2. The Mumbles
image via www.swanseabay4watersports.com
Mumbles is located on the beautiful western edge of Swansea Bay. However, it has a rather unusual name origin. It is called Mumbles from the French name ‘mamelles’, which means breasts, and is a reference to the two little islands located offshore.
3. The World’s First Radio Message
image via ukbeach.guide
Guglielmo Marconi, the inventor of the pioneering long-distance radio transmission, sent the world’s first radio message from Larvernock Point, South of Penarth, to the mast of Flat Holm in the Bristolchannel on 11th May 1897. The message was “Are you ready?” and travelled just three miles.
4. Mount Everest
image via snowbrains.com
Mount Everest is not located in Wales, but its name originates from Welshman Sir George Everest, who was a Welsh surveyor and geographer. He was responsible for complete the section of the Great Trigonometric Survey of India, along the meridian arc from southern India extending north to Nepal. However, unlike the mountain, the “eve” in Everest is pronounced like the female name, whilst the mountain is pronounced Ever-est, like evermore.
The mountain was named in his honour in the English language by the Royal Geographical Society in 1865, despite his objections, as the peak was surveyed by his successor, Andrew Scott Waugh, in his role as the Surveyor General of India. Waugh named the mountain after Everest as a professional tribute.
5. Crazy About Castles
image via www.roughguides.com
Wales offers stunning landscapes that will simply take your breath away – and no beautiful landscape is complete without a castle. It’s therefore not surprising to learn the Wales reportedly offers more castles per square mile than anywhere else on the planet. So, if you would like to marry in a castle, visit Wales.
6. Sheep Population
image via www.telegraph.co.uk
It’s not just castles that dominate the Welsh landscape. There population of sheep is believed to be FOUR TIMES greater than the Welsh population of humans. Bear in mind that Wales has a population of approximately 3 million.
7. The Seven Wonders of Wales
image via www.telegraph.co.uk
Forget The Seven Wonders of the World, you need to know about The Seven Wonders of Wales, which are: Snowdon (the country’s highest mountain), the Gresford Bells (bell in the medieval church All Saints at Gresford), the Wrexham Steeple, Llangollen Bridge in Flintshire, the Overton Yew Trees, St Winefride’s well and the Pistyll waterfall.
8. Welsh History and the Romans
image via www.fotolibra.com
It’s believed that Wales has been inhabited since 230,000 BC; however, the country’s history was only first recorded in 48 BC. The historic records of Wales were probably started by the Welsh, right? Wrong. The Romans began recording the records when they conquered Wales in 78AD, and they remained there until 383 AD.
9.The Welsh Language
image via www.partyof.wales
Only 21% of Welsh residents can speak Welsh, and the highest concentration of first-language Welsh speakers can be found in the north or West of Wales.
10. Welsh Alphabet
image via naturalresources.wales
Speaking of the Welsh language, it does not contain the letters K, Q, V and Z, as it follows the Latin alphabet with its use of digraphs – which is two letters used together to make one sound, such as dd, ff, ll, ng, rh, ph and th.
Know you know a bit more about Wales, you can read some interesting facts about Scotland.
