I.

Introduction

Powys (in Welsh, Powys), unitary authority and county, east-central Wales, bounded on the east by the English county of Shropshire and unitary authority of Herefordshire; on the north by the county of Denbighshire and the county borough of Wrexham; on the south-east by the county of Monmouthshire; on the south by the county boroughs of Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Merthyr Tydfil, Rhondda Cynon Taff, and Neath Port Talbot; and on the west by Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, and Gwynedd. Powys was created under the local government reforms of 1974 from the former counties of Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire, and most of Breconshire (sometimes called Brecknockshire). Powys was the only one of the eight Welsh counties established in 1974 to survive the restructuring of Welsh local government that came into effect on April 1, 1996. Implemented under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1994, the restructuring involved the replacement of the two-tier administrative system of county and district councils with a single-tier system of unitary authorities. Powys' boundaries were largely unchanged, except in the north-east where it gained some territory from the Glyndwr district of the former county of Clwyd. With an area of 5,205 sq km (2,009 sq mi), equivalent to almost one quarter of the area of Wales, Powys is by far the largest of the new unitary authorities.