Bangor, Wales - Definition and Overview

Bangor Gwynedd

This article is about the Welsh city of Bangor. For other places named Bangor, see Bangor.

Bangor is located in the administrative county of Gwynedd (and traditional county of Caernarfonshire) in North Wales, UK. It is one of the smallest cities in the United Kingdom. It is a university city with a population of around 20,000, of whom about a third are students at the University of Wales, Bangor.

The origins of the city date back to the founding of a cathedral by the Celtic saint Deiniol in the early 6th century AD. The name 'Bangor' itself comes from a Welsh word for a type of fenced-in enclosure, such as was originally on the site of the cathedral. The present cathedral is a somewhat more recent building and has been extensively modified throughout the centuries. While the building itself isn't the oldest, and certainly not the biggest, the bishopric of Bangor is one of the oldest in the UK. Another claim to fame is that Bangor allegedly has the longest High Street in Wales.

Radio stations Champion FM broadcasts to the city in English and Welsh and Storm FM broadcasts from the University.

Bangor hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1890, 1902, 1915, 1931, 1940 (through the medium of radio) and 1971, as well as an unofficial National Eisteddfod event in 1874.

Bangor is twinned with Lannion, France and Soest, Germany.