National borders
Wales covers an area of 20,779 km² and forms together with England and Scotland Great Britain, which covers an area of 229,850 km². The “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland” covers an area of 244,820 km².
Wales itself has no land border with any other state, it only has a “border” with England.
Coastline
Wales has a coastline of 1,200 km, made up of both cliffs and wide sandy beaches.
Wales: geography
Area and boundaries
Wales covers an area of 20,779 km². The island of Great Britain covers an area of 229,850 km² and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has an area of 244,820 km².
Wales itself has no direct land border, just a “border” with England.
Coastal
Wales has a coastline of 1,200 km, made up of both cliffs and wide sandy beaches.
Tidal range
In the Bristol Channel, into which the River Severn merges before it flows into the Irish Sea, the tidal range can be up to 15 m – making it the second highest in the world.. (For a detailed explanation of ebb and flow, see Tides, Ebb and Flow).
Longitude and latitude
Wales covers the following latitude (abbreviation Δφ) and longitude (abbreviation Δλ):
| Δφ = from 51 ° 15 ‘to 53 ° 20’ north latitude Δλ = from 005 ° 15 ‘to 02 ° 30’ west longitude |
You can find detailed information on this subject under Longitude and Latitude.
Time
In Great Britain and thus also in Wales there is a one-hour time difference (GMT = Greenwich Mean Time) to Central European Time (CET). It’s an hour earlier there.
| Δt (CET) = – 1 h |
Further and detailed explanations of the time can be found under Time zones, time.
Highest sun in Cardiff
Cardiff (center) lies at a north latitude of around φ = 51 ° 30` = 51.5 ° If the sun is at the tropic, i.e. at δ = 23.5 °, summer begins in Cardiff, this is June 21. Then, for the highest position of the sun at noon, according to Eq. 1 (see position of the sun):
51.5 ° = (90 ° – h) + 23.5 °
so:
| H = 62 ° |
This is the highest level above the horizon (exactly: above the chimney) that the sun takes in Cardiff during the year.
Mountains, Snowdon
Snowdon
The highest mountain in Wales is Snowdon with a height of 1,085 m.
The highest mountain in Great Britain is Ben Nevis in Scotland with a height of 1,344 m.
Other high mountains in Great Britain:
- Ben Macdhui in Scotland at an altitude of 1,310 m
- Braeriach in Scotland with a height of 1,296 m
- Cairn Toul in Scotland with an altitude of 1,291 m
- The highest mountain in Northern Ireland is Slieve Donard with a height of 852 m
Rivers, Severn
Severn
The longest river in Wales is the Severn, around 354 km long, which merges into the Bristol Channel before flowing into the Celtic Sea. The source of the Severn
Other rivers in Wales:
Dee with a length of around 110 km
Conwy with a length of around 43 km
Glaslyn with a length of around 30 km
Wye, which is a natural border between England and Wales, with a length of around 215 km
Lakes
Islands off Wales
Anglesey
Anglesey – in Welsh Ynys Môn – is an island in the Irish Sea off the north-west coast of Wales. It covers an area of 714 km² with around 69,000 residents. The largest town on the island is Holyhead Ferry Terminal, with ferries to Dublin – including the M/S Ulysses, one of the largest ferries in the world – and to Dun Laoghaire in the Republic of Ireland. The island is connected to Wales by two bridges.
Skomer
The only 3 km² large island lies off the coast of Pembrokeshire and is part of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park in south-west Wales. It is known for its bird populations
Skokholm
The uninhabited and only 1 km² large island is located south of Skomer and is also a bird paradise and is also part of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park
Grassholm
This island, which is only about 1 km² in size, is also a bird paradise and uninhabited and is also part of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.
Islands in Great Britain
The term “British Isles” refers to the entire archipelago of Great Britain, from Scilly in the south to the Shetland Islands in the north and from the western Blasket Islands to eastern East Anglia. The entire area includes over 6,000 islands.
Some of the UK’s main islands or archipelagos:
- The Isles of Skye with a total area of 1,735 km² is located in the Atlantic and belongs to Scotland
- The Shetland Islands with a number of 100 islands and a total area of 1,466 km². The archipelago belongs to Scotland
- The Isle of Man with an area of 572 km² is located in the Irish Sea. The island belongs neither to Great Britain nor to the EU, but is legally an “autonomous crown possession” and directly subordinate to the British crown.
- The Isle of Wight with an area of 381 km² is located in the English Channel just off the coast of England.
- The Isles of Scilly with a total of 55 different larger islands cover an area of 16 km² and belong to England. They lie in the Atlantic before the beginning of the English Channel
Bristol Channel
The Bristol Channel is a bay on the west coast of Great Britain and forms the border between the English county of Cornwall and Wales. The Bristol Channel, however, is not a channel in the strict sense, but a funnel-shaped bay of the Celtic Sea, which at its end forms the mouth of the River Severn. The shape of the bay results in an extremely high tidal range. The main port cities in Wales are Newport, Cardiff and Swansea. The width of the Bristol Channel is around 40 km at Swansea and around 15 km at Cardiff. The English city of Bristol is connected to the canal of the same name by the River Avon. The 4.5 km² island of Lundy, which belongs to England, is located in the Bristol Channel.
On January 30, 1607, there was a huge tidal wave with an estimated 2,000 deaths and considerable destruction. Cardiff, in particular, was badly affected. Markings on some structures still indicate the water level at that time. According to the latest findings, however, it was probably not a storm surge, as previously assumed, but a tsunami that was triggered by a seaquake.
Irish Sea, Celtic Sea
Wales borders to the north of the St. George Canal, which is roughly at a latitude of 52 °.
