Editing Gwynedd (section)

==History==
{{See also|Kingdom of Gwynedd}}
[[File:Districts Gwynedd 1974-96 Wales.svg|thumb|Gwynedd (red) as a [[Subdivisions of Wales#Counties|county]] split into its districts from 1974 to 1996 when it also included the isle of Anglesey and the [[District of Aberconwy]].]]
[[File:Gwynedd Preserved County in Wales.svg|thumb|The preserved county of Gwynedd used for lieutenancy purposes, covering all of the modern county of the same name and the Isle of Anglesey.]]

Gwynedd was an independent kingdom from the end of the [[Roman Britain|Roman period]] until the 13th century, when it was conquered by [[Kingdom of England|England]]. The modern Gwynedd was one of eight Welsh counties created on 1 April 1974 under the [[Local Government Act 1972]]. It covered the entirety of the [[historic counties of Wales|historic counties]] of [[Isle of Anglesey|Anglesey]] and [[Caernarfonshire]], and all of [[Merionethshire]] apart from [[Edeirnion|Edeirnion Rural District]] (which went to [[Clwyd]]); and also a few parishes of [[Denbighshire (historic)|Denbighshire]]: [[Llanrwst]], [[Llansanffraid Glan Conwy]], [[Eglwysbach]], Llanddoged, Llanrwst and Tir Ifan.

The county was divided into five [[districts of Wales|districts]]: [[Aberconwy (district)|Aberconwy]], [[Arfon (district)|Arfon]], [[Dwyfor]], [[Meirionnydd]] and [[Isle of Anglesey|Anglesey]].

The [[Local Government (Wales) Act 1994]] abolished the 1974 county (and the five districts) on 1 April 1996, and its area was divided: the [[Isle of Anglesey]] became an independent unitary authority, and Aberconwy (which included the former Denbighshire parishes) passed to the new [[Conwy County Borough]]. The remainder of the county was constituted as a principal area, with the name ''Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire'', as it covers most of the areas of those two historic counties. As one of its first actions, the Council renamed itself ''Gwynedd'' on 2 April 1996. The present Gwynedd local government area is governed by [[Gwynedd Council]]. As a [[unitary authority]], the modern entity no longer has any districts, but Arfon, Dwyfor and Meirionnydd remain as [[area committee]]s.

The pre-1996 boundaries were retained as a [[preserved counties of Wales|preserved county]] for a few purposes such as the [[Lord-Lieutenant|Lieutenancy]]. In 2003, the boundary with [[Clwyd]] was adjusted to match the modern local government boundary, so that the preserved county now covers the two local government areas of Gwynedd and Anglesey. Conwy county borough is now entirely within Clwyd.

A [[Gwynedd Constabulary]] was formed in 1950 by the merger of the Anglesey, Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire forces. A further amalgamation took place in the 1960s when Gwynedd Constabulary was merged with the [[Flintshire (historic)|Flintshire]] and [[Denbighshire (historic)|Denbighshire]] county forces, retaining the name Gwynedd. In one proposal for local government reform in Wales, Gwynedd had been proposed as a name for a local authority covering all of north Wales, but the scheme as enacted divided this area between Gwynedd and Clwyd. To prevent confusion, the Gwynedd Constabulary was therefore renamed the [[North Wales Police]].

The [[Snowdonia National Park]] was formed in 1951. After the 1974 local authority reorganisation, the park fell entirely within the boundaries of Gwynedd, and was run as a department of Gwynedd County Council. After the 1996 local government reorganisation, part of the park fell under [[Conwy County Borough]], and the park's administration separated from the Gwynedd council. Gwynedd Council still appoints nine of the eighteen members of the Snowdonia National Park Authority; Conwy County Borough Council appoints three; and the [[Welsh Government]] appoints the remaining six.

There has been considerable inwards migration to Gwynedd, particularly from England. According to the 2021 census, 66.6% of residents had been born in Wales whilst 27.1% were born in England.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/censusareachanges/W06000002/ |title=How life has changed in Gwynedd: Census 2021 |date=2023-01-19 |access-date=2023-12-21 |website=Office for National Statistics}}</ref>