Preserved counties of Wales

Wales is split into eight preserved counties. They are areas used for the ceremonial purposes of lieutenancy and shrievalty.

Flag of Wales

Preserved counties of Wales
Gwent South Glamorgan Mid Glamorgan West Glamorgan Dyfed Powys Gwynedd Clwyd
Category	Lieutenancy areas
Location	Wales
Created by	Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 (c. 19)
Created	1 April 1996
Number	8 (as of 2008)

Between 1974 and 1996, they were used for local government purposes.

Seven of the eight preserved counties are now split into counties and principal areas. Powys is the only one that still exists.

Name	Now split into	Area (km²)	Population
Clwyd	Conwy Denbighshire Flintshire Wrexham	2,910	491,100
Dyfed	Carmarthenshire Ceredigion Pembrokeshire	5,780	375,200
Gwent	Blaenau Gwent Caerphilly Monmouthshire Newport Torfaen	1,553	560,500
Gwynedd	Gwynedd Isle of Anglesey	3,262	187,400
Mid Glamorgan	Bridgend Merthyr Tydfil Rhondda Cynon Taf	781	423,200
Powys	Powys	5,196	132,000
South Glamorgan	Cardiff Vale of Glamorgan	475	445,000
West Glamorgan	Neath Port Talbot Swansea	820	365,500