I.

Introduction

Cardiff (county) (Welsh, Caerdydd), county and unitary authority, South Wales, bounded on the north by the county borough of Caerphilly, on the east by the county borough of Newport, on the south by the Bristol Channel, on the west by the Vale of Glamorgan county borough, and on the north-west by Rhondda Cynon Taff county borough. Originally within the ancient county of Glamorgan, the territory became part of South Glamorgan under the local government reforms introduced in 1974. The county of Cardiff came into existence on April 1, 1996, under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1994, which changed the structure of local administration in Wales from a two-tier system of county and district councils to a single-tier system of unitary authorities. It comprises the district of Cardiff in the east of South Glamorgan, plus, in the north-west, a small part of the district of Taff-Ely in Mid Glamorgan. The county of Cardiff has an area of 139 sq km (54 sq mi), and is dominated by the city of Cardiff and its environs.