(''Meirionnydd'' in
Welsh ) is a
Traditional County of
Wales .
Merionethshire is a maritime county, bounded to the north by
Caernarfonshire , to the east by
Denbighshire , to the south by
Montgomeryshire and
Cardiganshire , and to the west by
Cardigan Bay . Its total area is 1,731 km², and it is one of the more sparsely populated counties of the
UK . It is also one of the strongest
Welsh-speaking parts of
Wales . The coastline consists alternately of cliffs and stretches of sand and the county generally is the most mountainous in Wales; a large part of the
Snowdonia National Park lies within it. The greatest heights are
Aran Fawddwy 905 m (2970 ft) and
Cadair Idris 893 m (2929 ft). The chief rivers are the
Dwyryd , the
Mawddach and the
Dyfi . Waterfalls and small lakes are numerous, the largest being
Bala Lake (4 miles long and 1 mile broad).
The county was formed in
1284 under the terms of the
Statute Of Rhuddlan from the ''
Cantrefi '' of:
The main towns are
Bala ,
Barmouth ,
Blaenau Ffestiniog ,
Corwen ,
Dolgellau ,
Ffestiniog and
Tywyn . The main industries are agriculture and tourism.
Places of special interest ( (); Cymer Abbey ();
Ffestiniog Railway ();
Harlech Castle ();
Portmeirion Italianate village (); Rhug Chapel (); Tomen-y-mur Roman Fort ().
For administrative purposes it is governed by
Gwynedd and the small north-eastern
Edeyrnion District by
Denbighshire (from 1974 to 1996 by the now-defunct
Clwyd ). Its own county council, created in
1889 was abolished in
1974 .
