The coastal city of Swansea Neath – Port Talbot, Wales (in actuality, Swansea refers also to the county, and Neath Port Talbot is more properly a county borough) is part of the historic Vale of Glamorgan. It has a current population — when all areas considered part of Swansea are added in — of around 271,000 people, though most would say that it actually has 171,000 or so in its urban area.
It is easy to become somewhat confused about what is and isn’t Swansea, Swansea Neath or Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and just what area is sitting in what Welsh county, county borough or wider urban area within a unitary authority in Wales. What’s not so hard, though, is to appreciate the area for all that it offers in terms of tourist and sightseeing opportunities.
Swansea is located along the southwestern coastline of Wales in a stretch of sandy coast. It’s the second most populous city in Wales next to Cardiff and was quite a big player in the global copper industry of the 19th century. It earned the nickname ‘Copperopolis’ for its almost fanatic devotion to working with that particular metal.
Historically, humans seem to have been in the area through all of the major ages, including the Bronze Age and the Iron Age as well as the Stone Age. The Romans visited the region on occasion when they held sway in Britannia and the Vikings are the people who gave the town its name, being that Swansea is a variation of an Old Norse name for the town.
As a Viking seaport and as a port throughout its history, the city saw much industry evolve, shipping wool and wines out of its port as well as coal in later centuries. It gained worldwide renown for its copper-working workforce and most industrial scholars would say that the 1700s and 1800s were probably the time of the city’s most important prosperity.
Swansea made sure that it was fully involved in the progress gained during the Industrial Revolution, not only from coal mining but several other heavy industries and the work done around its port. The 20th century hit Swansea hard on several occasions and it was in a period of general decline throughout the entire time, it seems. Nowadays, the city is undergoing an extensive renaissance, though.
The county borough of Neath Port Talbot shouldn’t be confused with Port Talbot or any other of several different variations on the name of the region that has lived extremely close-in with Swansea. Both are a big part of the Welsh Vale of Glamorgan, it has to be said, and both are quite emblematic of the history and sweep of Wales and its part in the United Kingdom.
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