Encyclopaedia of Wales

The Encyclopædia of Wales is a single volume publication encyclopædia on Wales. The publication was released in November of 2007. The encyclopædia indexes 5,000 facts of Wales compiled by 400 researchers over ten years. Publishers claim they have included facts from every community in Wales. Ashley Drake of the University of Wales said that it is a "celebration of Wales and Welshness. With everything you could think of about Wales in [the encyclopædia]," adding "Every town, every village, every city is mentioned in there," and including famous people in the fields of science, religion, politics, popular culture, amongst others.

Included in the encyclopædia are such things as:

• the equal sign was created by Welshman Robert Recorde of Tenby in the 1540s.
• the first brewery to can beer in Europe.
• the nearest point between Wales and Ireland is the lighthouse on Strumbels Head
• Wales' largest metal dragon is in Newport.
• Newtown had the first mail-order service in Great Britain.
• The worlds tallest mountain was named after Welshman George Everest.
• Swansea is the wettest city in Great Britain.
• World's rarest apple was discovered on Bardsey in 2000.
• Wales produces more energy then it consumes.

"It is a long way from the infamous entry in an index of a 19th century encyclopædia which read "For Wales, See England," said correspondent Caroline Evans in her report on BBC Wales Today, July 12th, 2007.

A Welsh language version called Gwyddoniadur Cymru was released at the same time.

Sources

BBC Wales Today broadcast extracted from online July 12, 2007