Swansea

City and County of Swansea

*Dinas a Sir Abertawe* (Welsh)
City and County of Swansea Dinas a Sir Abertawe (Welsh)
County and city
	Clockwise from top: Swansea City Centre; Swansea Guildhall; St Thomas Church, Swansea; Maritime Quarter; Swansea Castle ruins; Three Cliffs Bay
	Coat of arms
	Motto(s): Latin: Floreat Swansea, lit. 'let Swansea flourish'
	Swansea shown within Wales
	Coordinates: 51°37′N 3°57′W / 51.617°N 3.950°W
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Country	Wales
Preserved county	West Glamorgan
Town charter	1158–1184
City status	1969
Administrative HQ	Guildhall
Government
• Type	Principal council
• Body	Swansea Council
• Control	Labour
• MPs	3 MPs Tonia Antoniazzi (L) ; Carolyn Harris (L) ; Tosten Bell (L) ;
• MSs	3 MSs Rebecca Evans (L) ; Mike Hedges (L) ; Julie James (L) ;
Area
• Total	146 sq mi (378 km2)
• Rank	14th
Population (2022)
• Total	241,282
• Rank	2nd
• Density	1,660/sq mi (639/km2)
Ethnicity (2021)
• Ethnic groups	List 91.4% White ; 4.4% Asian ; 1.6% Mixed ; 1.4% other ; 1.2% Black ;
Religion (2021)
• Religion	List 47.3% no religion ; 41.3% Christianity ; 3.2% Islam ; 0.4% Hinduism ; 0.4% Buddhism ; 0.1% Sikhism ; 0.1% Judaism ; 0.5% other ; 6.7% not stated ;
Time zone	UTC+0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)
Postcode areas	SA1–9
Dialling codes	01792
ISO 3166 code	GB-SWA
GSS code	W06000011
Website	swansea.gov.uk

Swansea (/ˈswɒnzi/; Welsh: Abertawe [abɛrˈtawɛ]) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea (Welsh: Dinas a Sir Abertawe).^[4]

The city is the twenty-fifth largest in the United Kingdom. Located along Swansea Bay in southwest Wales, with the principal area covering the Gower Peninsula, it is part of the Swansea Bay region and part of the historic county of Glamorgan and the ancient Welsh commote of Gŵyr.^[5]

The principal area is the second most populous local authority area in Wales, with an estimated population of 241,282 in 2022.^[2] Swansea, along with Neath and Port Talbot, forms the Swansea Urban Area, with a population of 300,352 in 2011. It is also part of the Swansea Bay City Region.

During the 19th-century industrial heyday, Swansea was the key centre of the copper-smelting industry, earning the nickname Copperopolis.^[6]^[7]

^ "Council". Swansea Council. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Mid-Year Population Estimates, UK, June 2022". Office for National Statistics. 26 March 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
^ ^a ^b UK Census (2021). "2021 Census Area Profile – Swansea Local Authority (W06000011)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
^ "Largest Cities in the UK". UKCities. Archived from the original on 22 October 2017. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
^ W.S.K. Thomas The History of Swansea from Rover Settlement to the Restoration. ISBS 0 86383 600 3
^ "Swansea". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 22 January 2009. Retrieved 9 January 2009.
^ Hughes, S. (2000) Copperopolis: landscapes of the early industrial period in Swansea Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales