North Wales (Welsh: Gogledd Cymru) is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales, bordered to the south by Mid Wales and to the east by England.
It comprises the island of Anglesey, the Llŷn peninsula and the Snowdonia mountain range, together with the catchments of the Rivers Conwy, Clwyd and Dee.
Traditionally, most of North Wales was covered by the kingdom of Gwynedd.
The region is currently made up of the following administrative areas:
However, "North Wales" could be used to describe the northern half of Wales, which would also include the northern parts of Powys and Ceredigion.
The area is mostly rural with many mountains and valleys. This, in combination with its coast (on the Irish Sea), has ensured that tourism is the principal industry. Farming, which was once the principal economic force in the area, is now much reduced in importance. The average income per capita of the local population is the lowest in the UK and much of the region has EU Objective 1 status policy/atlas/united_kingdom/ukl1_en.htm" target="_blank">http://europa.eu.int/comm/regional_policy/atlas/united_kingdom/ukl1_en.htm.
The eastern part of North Wales contains the most populous areas, with more than 300,000 people living in the areas around Wrexham and Deeside. Wrexham is North Wales' largest town, with a population of 68,000 in 2005. The majority of other settlements are along the coast, including some popular resorts, such as _Rhyl, Llandudno and Pwllheli. The A55 expressway links these towns with the north of England and the port of Holyhead for ferries to Ireland; few routes connect North Wales with South Wales. There are two cathedral cities — Bangor and St. Asaph, and a number of mediaeval castles (e.g.: Criccieth, Dolbadarn, Harlech, Caernarfon, Beaumaris, Conwy).
North Wales has a distinct regional identity. Its dialect of the Welsh language differs from that of other regions such as South Wales in some ways; for example llefrith is used in most of the North instead of llaeth for "milk"; a simple sentence such as go upstairs now would be Dos i fyny'r grisiau rwan in North Wales, where it would be Cer lan y stâr nawr in the South. Colloquially, a person from North Wales (especially one who speaks with this dialect or accent) is known as a North Walian, or a gog (from the Welsh gogledd, meaning "north").
For many purposes Wales can be divided into only three regions, North Wales, South Wales and West Wales. In this scenario the boundary between North Wales and West Wales is marked by the Ceredigion - Powys border. Powys itself is divided with the Traditional County of Brecknockshire being included in South Wales with Montgomeryshire included in North Wales.
