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Denbighshire

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Denbighshire principal area
WalesDenbighshire.png
Geography
Area
- Total
- % Water
Ranked 8th
844 km²
? %
Admin HQ Ruthin
[[ISO 3166-2:GB>ISO 3166-2]] GB-DEN
ONS code 00NG
Demographics
Population:
- Total ()
- Density
 
Ranked ) is a principal area and traditional county in North Wales.

Principal area

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

See List of places in Denbighshire for a list of towns and villages.

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.

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. 28% of the population speaks Welsh, mainly in the upland area and the Vale of Clwyd.

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.

Traditional county

Arms of the former Denbighshire County Council
Enlarge
Arms of the former Denbighshire County Council

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:

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.

The main towns are Rhyl, Denbigh, Llangollen, Llanrwst, and Ruthin . The most important industries are agriculture and tourism.

Places of special interest


Principal areas of Wales

Subdivisions created by the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994
Anglesey | Blaenau Gwent | Bridgend | Caerphilly | Cardiff | Carmarthenshire | Ceredigion | Conwy | Denbighshire | Flintshire | Gwynedd | Merthyr Tydfil | Monmouthshire | Neath Port Talbot | Newport | Pembrokeshire | Powys | Rhondda Cynon Taff | Swansea | Torfaen | Vale of Glamorgan | Wrexham

| | Traditional counties of Wales

Counties which originate prior to 1889

Anglesey | Brecknockshire | Caernarfonshire | Cardiganshire | Carmarthenshire | Denbighshire | Flintshire | Glamorganshire | Merionethshire | Monmouthshire | Montgomeryshire | Pembrokeshire | Radnorshire

 


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