The results of the 2001 Census showed an increase in the number of Welsh speakers to 21% of the population aged 3 and over, compared with 18.7% in 1991 and 19.0% in 1981. This compares with a pattern of steady decline indicated by census results during the 20th century.
In Cardiff the Millennium Stadium, opened in 1999, was followed by the Wales Millennium Centre opened in 2004 as a centre for cultural events, notably opera. The new Welsh Assembly building, to be known as the Senedd, was completed in February 2006 and officially opened on St. David’s Day that year.
In 2006 the Government of Wales Act gained Royal Assent meaning that from May 2007 the Queen would have the new legal identity of ‘Her Majesty in Right of Wales’ and would for the first time appoint Welsh Ministers and sign Welsh Orders in Council. It also made provision for a future referendum to ask the Welsh people if they would like the Welsh Assembly to gain the power to pass primary legislation e.g. to make true Welsh laws.
Also on January 9th 2006 this website (Welsh Icons) was setup to provide a free resource for anyone wanting to know more about Wales, the Welsh, the Culture of the Welsh and Welsh History and Geography.
- Introduction
- Prehistoric Wales
- Wales under the Romans: 48–410
- Sub-Roman Wales and the Age of the Saints: 411–700
- Early Medieval Wales: 700–1066
- Wales and the Normans: 1067–1283
- Annexation: from the Statute of Rhuddlan to the Laws in Wales Acts
- From the Union to the Industrial Revolution 1543 – 1800
- The Nineteenth Century
- The Twentieth Century
- The Twenty-first Century
