Area 1,130 km2
Administrative HQ Conwy
ISO 3166-2 GB-CWY
ONS Code 00NE
Population (Est. 2004) 111,800
Website www.conwy.gov.uk
Conwy [county borough] is a local government principal area in north Wales. It contains the major settlements of Llandudno, Llandudno Junction, Llanrwst, Betws-y-Coed, Conwy, Colwyn Bay, Abergele, Penmaenmawr and Llanfairfechan and has a total population of about 110,000.
The River Conwy (after which the county borough is named) lies wholly within the area: rising in Snowdonia and flowing through Llanrwst en route to the Irish Sea by Conwy. The borough straddles the traditional counties of Caernarfonshire and Denbighshire.
Conwy is represented in Parliament by Betty Williams (Lab), Elfyn Llwyd (PC), and David Jones (Con), though these members all represent constituencies that only partially cover Conwy. In the National Assembly for Wales, it is represented by Denise Idris Jones (Lab).
The borough was formed on April 1, 1996 by merging the districts of Aberconwy and Colwyn when it was originally named Aberconwy and Colwyn. However, its council renamed the district a day later, on April 1, 1996 to Conwy. The new name has caused confusion with the town of Conwy; for instance, Royal Mail tell people to not use the name ‘Conwy’ on mail to the area lest it go to the town of the same name (NB: they advise against the use of the former postal counties generally).
