[1][2][3][note 2][4] It is commonly defined administratively as its six most northern principal areas, but other definitions exist, with Montgomeryshire historically considered to be part of the region.

Through their over 800 year existences', their rulers acclaimed themselves to be the "King(s) of the Britons", and Gwynedd would lead the charge in the subsequent formation of the Principality of Wales.

The mountainous stronghold of Snowdonia formed the nucleus of that realm and would become the last redoubt of independent Medieval Wales — only overcome in 1283 by English forces under Edward I.

These are Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal,[11] the Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales and, collectively, the Edwardian castles and town walls of the region[12] which comprise those at Caernarfon, Beaumaris,[13] Conwy and Harlech.

The most common definition for statistical and administrative purposes of North Wales contains the 6 principal areas of: Isle of Anglesey, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd, and Wrexham.

It is argued that using a lower case 'n' is to be only used to signify "north" as merely a geographic identifier, and a capital 'N' to distinctly separate the region for cultural, organisational, or statistical purposes from the rest of Wales.

The most notable difference between these six counties and the present six (seven with Montgomeryshire) is that Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire were combined into one principal area, initially called 'Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire' until a day after its formation where it took the name Gwynedd instead, and the formation of two county boroughs, Conwy carved out of Caernarfonshire and Denbighshire, and Wrexham carved out of Denbighshire and Flintshire.

The majority of other settlements are along the coast, including some popular resort towns, such as Rhyl, Llandudno, Pwllheli, Prestatyn and Tywyn.

The majority of the road is part of the E-road network as E22 (until Ewloe, where it goes along the A494 into England), and is a dual carriageway, grade-separated, for its entire 88-mile length.

The road crosses the Menai Suspension Bridge and is regarded as a more scenic route, with its historical importance as a connection between London and the Port of Holyhead, superseded by the A55.

Other roads transiting North Wales, from east to west include the A458 from Halesowen to Mallwyd, and the A494 from Dolgellau to Saughall (originally to Birkenhead).

The busiest north-south road travelling through the region is the A483 from Chester (originally from Manchester) through Wrexham and into England near Oswestry, before re-entering Montgomeryshire and passing Welshpool and Newtown, before continuing onto Swansea.

Other major north-south roads include the single-carriageways of the A470 from Llandudno to Cardiff via the Conwy valley, and the A487 from Bangor to Haverfordwest via Caernarfon and Snowdonia.

However, due to falling passenger numbers, the emergence of automobiles and other factors, the region's railways came under review, resulting in the Beeching cuts to the network.

The Welsh Marches Line connects Crewe to Newport, via Shrewsbury, with services from Holyhead usually continuing to Cardiff Central.

As part of the North Wales Metro, from Chester (and Wrexham General at limited times), via the Halton Curve, direct trains run to Liverpool Lime Street, linking to the Merseyrail.

North Wales has very diverse and complex geology with Precambrian schists along the Menai Strait and the great Cambrian dome behind Harlech and underlying much of western Snowdonia.

In the Ordovician period much volcanism deposited a range of minerals and rocks over the northwestern parts of Gwynedd whilst to the east of the River Conwy lies a large area of upland rolling hills underlain by the Silurian mudstones and grits comprising the Denbigh and Migneint Moors.

To the east, around Llangollen, to the north on Halkyn Mountain and the Great Orme and in eastern Anglesey are beds of limestone from which metals have been mined since pre-Roman times.

Added to all this are the complexities posed by Parys Mountain and the outcrops of unusual minerals such as Jasper and Mona Marble which make the area of special interest to geologists.

The North Wales region is made up of the following six principal council areas; Isle of Anglesey, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd and Wrexham.

In 2016 the UK Government invited North Wales to submit a Growth Deal Bid, to "create thousands of jobs, boost the economy, improve transport and communication links, focus on renewable energy, support tourism and more".

The region-wide "North Wales edition" of the Daily Post, based at Bryn Eirias on Colwyn Bay's Abergele Road,[35] is distributed from Monday to Saturday, whilst The Leader (formerly the Evening Leader) publishes two editions for Wrexham and Flintshire and is based at the headquarters of Newsquest in Mold after NWN Media Ltd dissolved after existing since 1920.

The weekly Aberystwyth-based Cambrian News covers southern Gwynedd and publishes separate editions for the Arfon/Dwyfor and Meirionydd districts.

Yr Herald Gymraeg is distributed by Trinity Mirror as a pull-out section in the Wednesday edition of the Daily Post.

A full-time citizen-led online news site Deeside.com started in early 2013 and covers Connah's Quay, Mancot, Pentre, Shotton, Queensferry, Sealand, Broughton, Hawarden, Ewloe, Sandycroft and parts of Saltney.

Capital Cymru airs an extended local programming service, predominantly in the Welsh language, for Gwynedd and Anglesey.

Across the entire region, Heart North Wales also airs local peak-time programming in English, including an extended news programme on weeknights.

Towards the western side of North Wales, local hills mean national BBC FM coverage can be quite poor, often suffering interference from Irish stations from the west.

[38] It was envisaged that this would both help the growth of the game in the area, and provide a larger pool of players for the Welsh national team to be selected from.