Historic counties of Wales in the context of "Wrexham County Borough"

Cardiff (/ˈkɑːrdɪf/ ; Welsh: Caerdydd [kairˈdiːð, kaːɨrˈdɨːð] ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of 383,919 in 2024 and forms a principal area officially known as the City and County of Cardiff (Welsh: Dinas a Sir Caerdydd). The city is the eleventh largest in the United Kingdom. Located in the southeast of Wales and in the Cardiff Capital Region, Cardiff is the county town of the historic county of Glamorgan and in 1974–1996 of South Glamorgan. It belongs to the Eurocities network of the largest European cities. A small town until the early 19th century, its prominence as a port for coal when mining began in the region helped its expansion. In 1905, it was ranked as a city and in 1955 proclaimed capital of Wales. The Cardiff urban area covers a larger area outside the county boundary, including the towns of Dinas Powys and Penarth.

Cardiff is the main commercial centre of Wales as well as the base for the Senedd, the Welsh Parliament. At the 2021 census, the unitary authority area population was put at 362,400. The population of the wider urban area in 2011 was 479,000. In 2011, it ranked sixth in the world in a National Geographic magazine list of alternative tourist destinations. It is the most popular destination in Wales with 21.3 million visitors in 2017. It was voted as the best city in the UK at the 2023 Readers' Choice Awards.

Monmouthshire (/ˈmɒnməθʃər, ˈmʌn-, -ʃɪər/ MON-məth-shər, MUN-, -⁠sheer), also formerly known as the County of Monmouth (/ˈmɒnməθ, ˈmʌn-/ MON-məth, MUN-; Welsh: Sir Fynwy), was one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolition in 1974. Located in the south-east of Wales, on the border with England, its area now corresponds approximately to the present principal areas of Monmouthshire, Blaenau Gwent, Newport and Torfaen, and those parts of Caerphilly and Cardiff east of the Rhymney River.

The eastern part of the county was mainly agricultural, while the western valleys had rich mineral resources. This led to the area becoming highly industrialised with coal mining and iron working being major employers from the 18th century to the late 20th century. Its five largest towns were Newport, Cwmbran, Pontypool, Ebbw Vale and Abergavenny.

Glamorgan (/ɡləˈmɔːrɡən/), or sometimes Glamorganshire (Welsh: Morgannwg [mɔrˈɡanʊɡ] or Sir Forgannwg [ˈsiːr vɔrˈɡanʊɡ]), was one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolition in 1974. It is located in South Wales. Originally an early medieval petty kingdom of varying boundaries known in Welsh as Morgannwg (or Glywysing), which was then invaded and taken over by the Normans as the Lordship of Glamorgan. The area that became known as Glamorgan was both a rural, pastoral area, and a conflict point between the Norman lords and the Welsh princes. It was defined by a large concentration of castles.

After falling under English rule in the 16th century, Glamorgan became a more stable county, and exploited its natural resources to become an important part of the Industrial Revolution. Glamorgan was the most populous and industrialised county in Wales, and was once called the "crucible of the Industrial Revolution", as it contained the world centres of three metallurgical industries (iron, steel and copper) and its rich resources of coal.

Merionethshire, or Merioneth (Welsh: Meirionnydd or Sir Feirionnydd), was one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolition in 1974. It was located in the north-west of Wales.

The Bishop of Monmouth (Welsh: Esgob Mynwy) is the diocesan bishop of the Church in Wales Diocese of Monmouth.

The episcopal see covers the historic county of Monmouthshire with the bishop's seat located at Newport Cathedral (commonly known as St Woolos' Cathedral) in the city of Newport. The former Church of St Woolos, which had existed in Newport since the sixth or seventh century AD, was originally the temporary seat of the Bishop when the Diocese of Monmouth was created in 1921. St Woolos was eventually raised to Cathedral status in 1949.

Montgomeryshire (Welsh: Sir Drefaldwyn 'the shire of Baldwin's town', or simply Maldwyn) was one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolition in 1974, later becoming a district of Powys from 1974 to 1996. It was named after its county town, Montgomery, which in turn was named after one of William the Conqueror's main counsellors, Roger de Montgomerie, who was the 1st Earl of Shrewsbury.

The area of what was Montgomeryshire, now constitutes the northern part of the county of Powys. The current area was 2,174 square km (839 square miles).

Chirk (Welsh: Y Waun) is a town and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, 10 miles (16 kilometres) south of Wrexham, between it and Oswestry. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 4,468. Historically in the traditional county of Denbighshire, and later Clwyd, it has been part of Wrexham County Borough since a local government reorganisation in 1996. The border with the English county of Shropshire is immediately south of the town, on the other side of the River Ceiriog.

The town is served by Chirk railway station and the A5/A483 roads.

South Wales (Welsh: De Cymru [ˌdeː ˌkəmri]) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards to include Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire. In the western extent, from Swansea westwards, local people would probably recognise that they lived in both south Wales and west Wales. The Brecon Beacons National Park covers about a third of south Wales, containing Pen y Fan, the highest British mountain south of Cadair Idris in Snowdonia.

A point of some discussion is whether the first element of the name should be capitalised: 'south Wales' or 'South Wales'. As the name is a geographical expression rather than a specific area with well-defined borders, style guides such as those of the BBC and The Guardian use the form 'south Wales'. The Welsh Government, in their international gateway website, Wales.com, state that it should always be capitalised; however, they use the term to refer to a tourism marketing area which excludes the Swansea and Neath Port Talbot local authority areas (placing them in 'West Wales'). In contradiction, the style guide for the Welsh Government's main website, Gov.wales, uses 'south Wales'. It is always capitalised on motorway signs.