Wales has seven cities as of September 2022. Bangor is Wales' oldest cathedral city,[1] whereas St Davids is the smallest city in the United Kingdom.[1] Cardiff is the capital city of Wales and its most-populous, followed by Swansea the second most-populous. Since 2000, Welsh towns have submitted bids to be awarded city status as part of jubilees of the reigning British monarch or for other events, such as the millennium celebrations, with Newport, St Asaph and Wrexham awarded city status through these contests. Wrexham is the newest to hold the status, being awarded it in September 2022 as part of the Platinum Jubilee Civic Honours of Queen Elizabeth II.

List of Welsh cities

Name in English Name in Welsh Principal area

(Welsh name)

 Year granted

or confirmed

 Cathedral Image Population[1]
Cardiff Caerdydd City and County of Cardiff
(Dinas a Sir Caerdydd)		 1905[2]
Llandaff Cathedral
Cardiff Castle		 362,750
Swansea Abertawe City and County of Swansea
(Dinas a Sir Abertawe)		 1969[3]
St Joseph's Cathedral
Swansea Beach
and The Tower, Meridian Quay		 245,480
Newport Casnewydd Newport
(Casnewydd)		 2002[4]
Newport Cathedral
(St Woolos Cathedral)
Celtic Manor Resort		 151,500
Wrexham Wrecsam Wrexham County Borough
(Bwrdeistref Sirol Wrecsam)		 2022[5]
Wrexham Cathedral		 Wrexham city centre
(Hope Street)		 65,359
Bangor Bangor Gwynedd Cathedral city since 6th century.[1]
Officially conferred in 1974[6]
Bangor Cathedral
Bangor from Port Penrhyn		 18,000
St Asaph Llanelwy Denbighshire
(Sir Ddinbych)		 2012[7]
St Asaph Cathedral
Kentigern Arms		 3,500
St Davids Tyddewi Pembrokeshire
(Sir Benfro)		 1994[8]
St Davids Cathedral
Porth Brâg		 1,840

City bids

Since 2000, Welsh towns have competed in a contest to be awarded city status, as part of civic honours in notable celebrations, like the millennium celebrations or the Jubilee of the reigning monarch. The 2000 contest was criticised for having no Welsh bid be successful.[9][10][11]

Successful

Unsuccessful

Merthyr Tydfil councillors voted against a proposal to bid for city status for 2022 which followed feedback.[17]

Future

In 2024, Llanelli Town Council announced that they'll submit a bid later in the year, for Llanelli to potentially get city status.[18]

Unrecognised cities

  • Llandaff – now within the city of Cardiff since 1922, it has been described and signposted locally as the "City of Llandaff" and "a city within a city".[19] It is informally referred to as a "city" because it was the seat of the Bishop of Llandaff, however the status is not formally recognised, nor was official city status awarded to it.[20]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Welsh cities". Wales. 2019-06-19. Retrieved 2022-09-01.
  2. ↑ "1905: Cardiff becomes a city". BBC. 2011-10-28. Retrieved 2022-03-09.
  3. ↑ "Swansea celebrates 50 years of city status". BBC News. 2019-07-02. Retrieved 2022-03-09.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Newport wins battle for city status". BBC News. 14 March 2002.
  5. ↑ "Crown Office | The Gazette". www.thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-09-05. THE QUEEN has been pleased by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm dated 1 September 2022 to ordain that the County Borough of Wrexham shall have the status of a City.
  6. ↑ "Bangor City Council - Cyngor Dinas Bangor - History". bangorcitycouncil.gov.wales. Retrieved 2022-03-09.
  7. 1 2 3 "St Asaph in north Wales named Diamond Jubilee city". BBC News. 2012-03-14. Retrieved 2022-03-09.
  8. ↑ "National Archives reveal St Davids city status row". BBC News. 2018-12-29. Retrieved 2022-03-09.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "MILLENNIUM CITY STATUS COMPETITION - WINNING CITIES ANNOUNCED". www.wired-gov.net. Home Office. 18 December 2000. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
  10. 1 2 3 Leader (2000-12-19). "The three Millennium cities". The Guardian. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
  11. ↑ "Welsh towns could miss city status". 2000-11-26. Retrieved 2022-09-24.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Newport wins battle for city status". 2002-03-14. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Five new cities creates row". 2002-03-14. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
  14. ↑ "Wrexham to make fourth city status bid despite opposition". BBC News. 2021-12-07. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
  15. ↑ "City status 2022 | Wrexham County Borough Council". www.wrexham.gov.uk. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
  16. ↑ "Wrexham in bid to gain city status". The Leader. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
  17. ↑ John, Lucy (2021-10-13). "Merthyr will not apply for city status after huge majority vote against it". WalesOnline. Retrieved 2023-01-20.
  18. ↑ Harries, Robert (2024-01-12). "The struggling Welsh town that wants to become a city". Wales Online. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
  19. ↑ Thomas, Elizabeth (2022-04-18). "The city within a city: The story of Cardiff's much-loved suburb Llandaff". Wales Online. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
  20. ↑ "The history of the suburb of Llandaff - Cardiffians.co.uk". www.cardiffians.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
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