Swansea

Swansea (Welsh: Abertawe), officially the City and County of Swansea (Welsh: Dinas a Sir Abertawe), is a city and county in Wales. It is Wales' second largest city and the largest is Cardiff. It is in the country's south coast. It has a temperate oceanic climate, with the most rain of any city in the United Kingdom. The city has a population of around 240,000. ^[1]

Swansea Dinas a Sir Abertawe
Principal area & City
A view of the Swansea coastline, near the city centre.
Motto:  Floreat Swansea
City and County of Swansea and (inset) within Wales
Coordinates: 51.616666666667°N 3.95°W / 51.616666666667; -3.95
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	Wales
Ceremonial county	West Glamorgan
Historic county	Glamorganshire
Admin HQ	Swansea Guildhall
Town charter	1158–1184
City status	1969
Government
• Type	Principal area, City
• Leader of Swansea Council	David Phillips
• Welsh Assembly and UK Parliament Constituencies	Swansea East, Swansea West, Gower
• European Parliament	Wales
• MPs	Martin Caton (Lab), Sian James (Lab), Geraint Davies (Lab)
• AMs	Edwina Hart (Lab), Mike Hedges (Lab), Julie James (Lab)
Area
• Principal area & City	146 sq mi (378 km2)
Population  (2011, urban area figures from 2001)
• Principal area & City	270,506
• Density	1,560/sq mi (601/km2)
• Urban	169,880
• Ethnicity	97.8% White 1.2% S. Asian 0.3% Afro-Caribbean 0.3% Chinese
Time zone	UTC0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)
Post codes	SA1-SA7
Area codes	01792
ISO 3166-2	GB-SWA
ONS code	00NX (ONS) W06000011 (GSS)
OS grid reference	SS6593
NUTS 3	UKL18
Police Force	South Wales Police
Fire Service	Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service
Ambulance Service	Welsh Ambulance Service
Vehicle area codes	CP, CR, CS, CT, CU, CV
Website	http://www.swansea.gov.uk/

History

Swansea was built in the early 12th century by the Normans. A castle was built here and a town started to form around it.^[2]

Gallery

• 
  Coat of arms of Swansea
• 
  Wind Street, Swansea
• 
  Crymlyn Burrows Beach
• 
  Swansea skyline at dusk