II.

Land and People

The area that was occupied by the former county has a varied coastline of salt marshes, estuaries, sandy bays, high limestone cliffs, and sheltered coves. The south comprises a narrow coastal plain that carries the railway, the M4 motorway, and the coastal road. To the north the land rises to 610 m (2,000 ft) becoming mainly open moorland with farms on the fringe. West Glamorgan also included the Gower Peninsula, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The rivers Neath and Tawe cut through the sandstone plateau of the interior of the area of the former county from north-east to south-west, flowing into Swansea Bay.

The population of West Glamorgan was concentrated in and around Swansea, and along the coastal strip around Port Talbot (population, 1991, 37,647). The other main settlements in the area of the former county include Neath (1991, 45,965), Mumbles, and seaside resorts such as Port Eynon and Rhossilli on the Gower coast. Inland there are no towns of any size. About 15 per cent of the population of the area speaks Welsh. As well as the county council based in Swansea, West Glamorgan had four district councils: Swansea, Lliw Valley, Neath, and Port Talbot.