Swansea

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Region: Wales
Country: Wales

§ This page provides an overview of an officially designated city in the UK, bringing together various information to help you better understand this city.

Swansea was granted city status in 1969 to mark the Investiture of the Prince of Wales, capping a story that runs from medieval trading port to Victorian copper and coal powerhouse, to late-20th-century regeneration of docks and valley industry. The authority moved from a county borough to a district within West Glamorgan in 1974, and then in 1996 became the City and County of Swansea, a single-tier principal council responsible for both city and county functions.

City Council Status

The City and County of Swansea is a unitary authority (since 1996) acting as the city council; city status was granted in 1969.

Civic Honours: Lord Mayors & Lord Provost

Swansea’s mayoralty was raised to a Lord Mayoralty by Letters Patent on 22 March 1982 and reaffirmed at local-government reorganisation in 1996.

In the UK, city status and the dignity of Lord Mayor (or Lord Provost in Scotland) are separate honours, each granted by the monarch via letters patent. Of the 76 cities, 28 have a Lord Mayoralty and 4—Scotland’s four cities—have a Lord Provost; these titles don’t automatically follow from city status. A Lord Mayoralty exists in 24 cities in England, 2 in Wales, and 2 in Northern Ireland.

Only 2 cities in Wales have Lord Mayors: Cardiff and Swansea.

In the UK, a city is not defined by size or population but by formal status granted by the monarch, often through historical charters or, more recently, civic honours competitions. There are 76 officially recognised cities, some of which are relatively small compared to other urban areas. In contrast, local authority districts (361 in total) are administrative areas created for local government purposes and may include a mix of urban centres, suburbs, and rural communities. Within districts, there may be one or more towns, which generally refer to sizeable urban settlements but do not hold city status unless it has been formally granted. In practice, a city can exist within a district, and a district can cover multiple towns, showing the clear distinction between legal status, administrative boundaries, and everyday usage.

Cities in Wales