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[2] and The Guardian[3] use the form 'south Wales'.

This natural environment changed to a considerable extent during the early Industrial Revolution when the Glamorgan and Monmouthshire valley areas were exploited for coal and iron.

With coal mining and iron smelting being the main trades of south Wales, many thousands of immigrants from the Midlands, Scotland, Ireland, Cornwall, and even Italy came and set up homes and put down roots in the region.

Whilst some of the migrants left, many settled and established in the south Wales Valleys between Swansea and Abergavenny as English-speaking communities with a unique identity.

The large influx over the years caused overcrowding which led to outbreaks of Cholera, and on the social and cultural side, the near-loss of the Welsh language in the area.

The 1930s inter-war Great Depression in the United Kingdom saw the loss of almost half of the coal pits in the South Wales Coalfield, and their number declined further in the years following World War II.

In addition, many once heavily industrialised sites have reverted to wilderness, some provided with a series of cycle tracks and other outdoor amenities.

By the 1831 census, the population of Merthyr was 60,000—more at that time than Cardiff, Swansea and Newport combined—and its industries included coal mines, iron works, cable factory, engine sheds and sidings and many others.

The Heads of the Valleys towns, including Rhymney, Tredegar and Ebbw Vale, rose out of the industrial revolution, producing coal, metal ores and later steel.

Large factory units, either empty or turned over to retail use, bear witness to the lack of success in replacing older industries.

[11] The South Wales landscape is marked by numerous chapels, places of worship (past and present) of the various Christian Nonconformist congregations.

[16][17] There are a number of Brethren Assemblies in Cardiff and in the Swansea area and Free Presbyterian Churches in Rhiwderin, near Newport and at Merthyr Tydfil.

The Roman Catholic community, despite systematic persecution, survived in the 17th to 19th centuries, especially in Brecon and among minor gentry such as the Vaughans of Welsh Bicknor, on the Monmouthshire–Herefordshire border.

[18][19] Among members of foreign origin of later urban Catholic congregations were the Bracchi, Italians in the café and catering trades often from Bardi in the Apennines.

[20][citation needed] Post-war diversity has brought mosques, especially in Cardiff and Newport, Sikh gurdwaras, including one on the mountain near Abercynon and a growing number of Evangelical and Pentecostal congregations.

These often add a strongly international element into local life, such as the "Pont" twinning project between Pontypridd and Mbale, Uganda, and the creation of "Fairtrade" relationships with primary producers worldwide.

[21] Further closures left the region with just one deep mine by the early 1990s,[22] and this finally closed in January 2008, by which time it had transferred to private ownership after being sold off by the National Coal Board.

The cities along the M4 corridor are home to a number of high-profile blue-chip companies such as Admiral Insurance, Legal & General and the Welsh-based Principality Building Society.

Radio stations include: The Welsh national media is based in Cardiff where the BBC and ITV have their main studios and offices.