Cardiff

Cardiff, South Wales, is both the capital and the largest city in Wales, United Kingdom, with a population of 336,200 according to the 2009 census.http://www.cardiff.gov.uk/objview.asp?object_ID=9648 It was established as a city in 1905 and declared the country's capital in 1955.http://whycardiff.com/Media/Cardiff-Fast-Facts.html Home to multiple national cultural and sporting institutions, such as the National Museum and Gallery and the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff is the most visited destination in Wales with 14.6 million visitors in 2009. http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/cardiff/ http://www.millenniumstadium.com/travel/travel_uk_view.php http://www.walesonline.co.uk/cardiffonline/cardiff-news/2010/07/07/city-s-new-look-pulls-in-foreign-tourists-91466-26799475/

The headquarters of BBC Cymru Wales, which produces television shows such as Doctor Who and Torchwood, are also located in Cardiff.http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/ Cardiff serves as the principal commercial center for Wales, and in 2010, Cardiff’s St. David’s Centre was named the international shopping center of the year by Retail & Leisure International.http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2010/06/17/cardiff-s-st-david-s-is-world-s-top-retail-arcade-91466-26668936/

Cardiff was originally settled by the Romans in 55 AD and, according to Historian William Rees, was abandoned in the 380s AD.http://www.wales-tourist-information.co.uk/marketarea/Cardiff/index.html The first written mention of Cardiff, however, was not made until 445 AD in the Annales Cambriae (Welsh Annals).http://www.theosophycardiff.care4free.net/One%20Minute%20History%20of%20Cardiff.htm

In the 850s AD Vikings attacked the Welsh coast and used Cardiff as a base, and then later as a port.http://www.theosophycardiff.care4free.net/One%20Minute%20History%20of%20Cardiff.htm By the year 1100, settlers from England had begun to establish a small town, though Wales was not annexed by England until the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542.http://www.cardiffians.co.uk/timeline.shtml http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/content.aspx?activeTextDocId=1517920&versionNumber=1 http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/content.aspx?activeTextDocId=1517920&versionNumber=1 Ralph “Prepositus de Kardi” was the first Mayor of Cardiff to take up office in 1126, but the first elected Lord Mayor, Thomas Revel Guest, did not take office until 1835.http://www.cardiff.gov.uk/content.asp?nav=2872,4951,5030&parent_directory_id=2865 By then, Cardiff had become the largest coal exporting port in the world and was shipping almost half of British overseas iron exports. This led to King Edward VII granting Cardiff city status in 1905.http://www.visitcardiff.com/site/about-cardiff/cardiff-history

Though Cardiff lost population in the 1980s (coinciding with the closing of the East Moors Steelworks in 1978), it was one of the few British cities to grow in population during the 1990s.http://sticerd.lse.ac.uk/dps/case/cbcb/census1.pdf In March of 2004, Cardiff was named the world’s first FairTrade Capital City. This was achieved by the Cardiff Council ensuring the availability of FairTrade products in cafes, stores, and supermarkets in Cardiff.http://www.visitcardiff.com/site/about-cardiff/cardiff-history

At latitude 51°29'N and longitude 03°10'W, Cardiff sits on the estuary of the Severn River.http://www.cardiff.gov.uk/ObjView.asp?Object_ID=7004 It is 139 sq. km (54 sq. miles), bordered to the west by the Vale of Glamorgan (also known as The Garden of Cardiff), to the east by the city of Newport, to the north by the South Wales Valleys, and to the south by the Bristol Channel.http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Cardiff http://www.virtualtenby.co.uk/map-of-south-wales.asp?lon=-3.808313&lat=51.656803&zoom=9 The maximum and minimum monthly temperatures of Cardiff average to 21.3 °C (70.3 °F) in August and 2.1 °C (35.8 °F) in January and February; this is marginally warmer than the average temperatures for Wales as a whole.http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/averages/19712000/sites/cardiff.html http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/averages/19712000/areal/wales.html

• Cardiff Castle: 2000 year-old castle, formerly a Roman Garrison and Norman stronghold http://www.cardiffcastle.com/content.asp?nav=7%2C27&parent_directory_id=1
• Wales Millennium Centre: An arts center in the Cardiff Bay area. Home to the national orchestra and opera, as well as the dance, theater, and literature companies of Wales. Includes shops, bars, and restaurants.http://www.wmc.org.uk/
• Millennium Stadium: The national stadium of Wales that hosts various sporting events including the Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain, the Super Special Stage of Wales Rally Great Britain, boxing, and music concerts. http://www.millenniumstadium.com/events/index.php
• National Museum and Gallery: Wales’s national museum and gallery featuring art, archaeology, natural history, and geology exhibits and events. http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/cardiff/
• Llandaff Cathedral: A historical cathedral dating from 1107 and the seat of the Bishop of Llandaff. http://www.llandaffcathedral.org.uk/
• St. David’s Hall: National Concert Hall and Conference Centre of Wales with free exhibitions, conferences, and participation workshops.http://www.cardiff.gov.uk/content.asp?nav=2%2C2868%2C2963%2C2974%2C3654 http://www.stdavidshallcardiff.co.uk/
• The Cardiff Story: A museum focused on the history of Cardiff to be opened in Spring 2011. http://www.cardiffmuseum.com/

• Dannie Abse: Poet http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/?p=auth151
• Charlotte Church: Singer http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0161355/bio
• Roald Dahl: Author http://www.roalddahl.com/
• ‘Peerless’ Jim Driscoll: Boxer http://boxingbiographies.com/bio/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=107&Itemid=27
• Ryan Giggs: Soccer player http://www.ryangiggs.cc/v2/
• Brian David Josephson: Nobel Prize laureate http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1973/josephson-cv.html
• Terry Nation: Writer and producer http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/southeast/halloffame/arts/terry_nation.shtml

Cardiff has been governed by The City Council of Cardiff (based at County Hall in Atlantic Wharf, Cardiff Bay) since the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 came into effect in 1996.http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1994/19/schedule/16/paragraph/68 Seventy-five councilors are elected by the public every four years.http://www.cardiff.gov.uk/objview.asp?Object_ID=16882& Currently, 35 of the councilors are Liberal Democrats, seventeen are Conservative, thirteen are Labour, seven are Plaid Cymru, and three councilors are Independents. The current Council leader, Cllr Rodney Berman, is a liberal Democrat. http://www.cardiff.gov.uk/content.asp?nav=2872%2C4274%2C4956&parent_directory_id=2865

In addition to the City Council, the National Assembly for Wales, which has legislative power for the country, has been based in Cardiff since 1999. http://www.assemblywales.org/conhome.htm