Denbighshire

From Free net encyclopedia

**Denbighshire principal area**
Image:WalesDenbighshire.png
Geography
Area - Total - % Water	Ranked 8th 844 km² ? %
Admin HQ	Ruthin
ISO 3166-2	GB-DEN
ONS code	00NG
Demographics
Population: - Total (2004 est.) - Density	Ranked 16th 95,600 Ranked 14th 113 / km²
Ethnicity	99.3% White.
Welsh language - Any skills	Ranked 6th 36.0%
Politics
Image:Denbighshirearms.PNG Denbighshire County Council http://www.denbighshire.gov.uk/
Control	Multi-party
MPs	David Jones Martyn Jones Chris Ruane
AMs	Karen Sinclair Ann Jones Alun Pugh (Constituency) North Wales (Regional)
MEPs	Wales

Template:Infobox Wales traditional county Denbighshire (Welsh: Sir Ddinbych) is a principal area and traditional county in North Wales.

1 Principal area
2 Traditional county
- 2.1 Geography
- 2.2 Places of special interest

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Principal area

The current principal area of Denbighshire was created in 1996, with substantially different borders to the traditional county of the same name. Places in the principal area include:

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Geography

The area is mostly hilly moorland, with the Clwydian range in the east, the Hiraethog Moors in the west and the Berwyn range adjacent to the southern boundary. The broad, fertile Vale of Clwyd runs south to north in the centre, and there is a narrow coastal plain in the north. Average temperatures are 2°C in January and 19°C in July.

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Population

Denbighshire's total population at the 2001 census was 93,065, with the largest towns on the coast at Rhyl (pop. c.25,000) and Prestatyn (pop. c.15,000). The inland towns are much smaller, Denbigh having a population of 8,500, Ruthin 5,000, and Llangollen 3,300. 18% of the population speaks Welsh, mainly in the upland area and the Vale of Clwyd.

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Economy

There are no heavy industrial sites in the county although most of the towns have small industrial estates for light industry, the economy of the area being based on agriculture and tourism. A large proportion of the working population is employed in service industries. The uplands support the rearing of sheep and beef cattle, while in the Vale of Clwyd dairy farming and the growing of wheat and barley predominates.

On November 19, 2004, Denbighshire was granted Fairtrade County status.

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Traditional county

Image:Denbighshire 1962 arms.png The borders of the traditional county are substantially different to that of the principal area of the present administrative county of Denbighshire. The traditional county of Denbighshire was created in 1284 under the terms of the Statute of Rhuddlan. It was formed from Cantrefi taken from Gwynedd Is Conwy and Powys Fadog, to include:

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Geography

Traditional Denbighshire is a maritime county, bounded to the north by the Irish Sea, to the east by Flintshire, Cheshire and Shropshire, to the south by the traditional counties of Montgomeryshire and Merionethshire, and to the west by Caernarfonshire. In the south and west of the county the mountains of the Clwydian Range rise from 1000 to 2500ft high. The east of the county is hilly. There is some level ground along the coastal strip. The highest points are Moel Sych and Cader Berwyn at 2,713 feet. Pistyll-y-Rhaeader is a spectacular 240 feet waterfall. The chief rivers are the Clwyd and the Dee. The River Conwy runs north along the western boundary. The modern county of Denbighshire borders Powys ot the south, Flintshire and Wrexham to the east and Gwynedd to the west.