The Welsh word “hiraeth” has no direct English translation but describes a deep longing for home or nostalgia (missing) for Wales!
Wales (UK) - Facts for Kids
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Facts About Wales (UK) For Kids
Children in Wales celebrate “Diwrnod Shwmae” (Shwmae Day) on October 15th each year, when everyone is encouraged to start conversations with “Shwmae” (Hello)!
Sports & Recreation
The Welsh national rugby team plays at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, which can hold 74,500 people—that’s like fitting the entire population of the city of Aberystwyth inside!
Wales hosted the first ever international rugby match against England in 1881, though they lost by seven goals!
Gareth Bale, one of the most famous Welsh soccer players, once held the world record for the most expensive soccer transfer (move to a new team) when he moved to Real Madrid for £85 million in 2013!
Snowdonia National Park offers some of the best mountain biking trails in the United Kingdom, with tracks for beginners and experts alike!
Bog snorkeling is a unique (special) Welsh sport where competitors swim through a muddy peat bog (wet, swampy ground) in the quickest time possible!
Wales has its own version of baseball called “Welsh baseball” that’s played mainly in Cardiff and Newport!
The Millennium Coastal Path in South Wales offers 13 miles (22 km) of traffic-free cycling and walking alongside beautiful beaches!
Science & Innovation
A Welsh-American named Samuel Cody made the first powered flight in the UK in 1908, flying his homemade aircraft through the skies of England!
Donald Davies, born in Treorchy, Wales, co-invented packet switching (a way to send information), which is the foundation of how the internet works today!
Wales’s first military first radar station (equipment that detects flying objects) was built on the Great Orme in North Wales in 1940 to detect enemy aircraft (planes)!
Welsh Influence Around the World
16 of the signers of the American Declaration of Independence had Welsh ancestry (Welsh family background)!
The Welsh town of Hay-on-Wye is known as “the town of books” and has more than 20 bookshops despite having fewer than 2,000 residents (people who live there)!
New South Wales in Australia was named by Captain James Cook because it reminded him of the coastline of Wales!
The Welsh flag is the only flag of the four UK nations not represented (shown) in the Union Jack!
Music & Arts
Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey, and Catherine Zeta-Jones are all famous Welsh performers who have achieved worldwide fame!
The harp has been an important part of Welsh music for over 1,000 years, and Wales is the only country with a harp on its national coat of arms (special symbol)!
Wales hosts Europe’s largest music and poetry festival, the National Eisteddfod, which has roots dating back over 800 years to 1176!
The Welsh folk dance “Dawnsio Gwerin” involves dancers weaving (moving) in and out while holding decorated (fancy) sticks or handkerchiefs!
The tradition of singing “Men of Harlech” at Welsh sporting events dates back to a siege (attack) at Harlech Castle that lasted seven years during the 1400s!
The Welsh love singing so much that many villages have their own choirs (singing groups), and some competitions between choirs are as popular as sporting events!
The Welsh national anthem “Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau” (Land of My Fathers) was the first national anthem to be sung at a sporting event, performed before a rugby match against New Zealand in 1905!
