Rhondda Cynon Taf

Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Bwrdeistref Sirol Rhondda Cynon Taf (Welsh)
County borough
Coat of arms
Admin HQ	Pontypridd
Largest town	Aberdare
Government
• Type	Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council
• Control	Labour
• MPs	Chris Bryant (Rhondda, L) Beth Winter (Cynon Valley, L) Alex Davies-Jones (Pontypridd, L) Chris Elmore (Ogmore, L)
• MSs	Elizabeth Williams (Rhondda, L) Vikki Howells (Cynon Valley, L) Mick Antoniw (Pontypridd, L) Huw Irranca-Davies (Ogmore, L)
Area
• Total	424 km2 (164 sq mi)
• Rank	Ranked 13th
Population  (2022)
• Total	239,018
• Rank	Ranked 3rd
• Density	564/km2 (1,460/sq mi)
• Rank	Ranked 8th
• Ethnicity	98.9% White
Welsh language
• Rank	Ranked 13th
• Speakers	12.4%[1]
Geocode	00PF (ONS) W06000016 (GSS)
ISO 3166 code	GB-RCT

Rhondda Cynon Taf (Welsh pronunciation: [ˈr̥ɔnða ˈkənɔn ˈtaːv]; RCT; also spelt as Rhondda Cynon Taff) is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It consists of five valleys: the Rhondda Fawr, Rhondda Fach, Cynon, Taff (Welsh: Taf) and Ely valleys, plus a number of towns and villages away from the valleys.

Results from the 2011 census showed 19.1% of its 234,410 residents self-identified as having some ability in the use of the Welsh language.^[2] The county borough borders Merthyr Tydfil County Borough and Caerphilly County Borough to the east, Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan to the south, Bridgend County Borough and Neath Port Talbot to the west and Powys to the north. Its principal towns are - Aberdare, Llantrisant with Talbot Green and Pontypridd, with other key settlements/towns being - Maerdy, Ferndale, Hirwaun, Llanharan, Mountain Ash, Porth, Tonypandy, Tonyrefail and Treorchy.

The most populous individual town in Rhondda Cynon Taf is Aberdare (Welsh: Aberdâr) with a population of 39,550 (2011), followed by Pontypridd with 32,694 (2011). The largest built-up area as defined by the Office for National Statistics is the Tonypandy built-up area, with a population of 62,545 (2011), which covers much of the Rhondda valley.^[3] The National Eisteddfod will be held at Rhondda Cynon Taf in 2024, postponed twice from 2022.^[4]