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The earliest recorded history of settlements in the region we now know as Wales is from Roman times. The area was split according to tribal occupancy with the southeast dominated by the Silures and the central and northwest areas dominated by the larger and more powerful Ordovice tribes.

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In 500 AD the Saxons were defeated at Mount Badon and from the on the Celts began to set up sites across the country, spreading Christianity wherever they went. Saxon rule still continued in many parts of Wales and in 784, King Offa of Mercia built the famous Offa\'s Dyke in order to mark the country’s eastern boundary.

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In 1349, the Black Death swept through the country leaving devastation in its wake with around 40 per cent of the population thought to have died from it. Later in the mid-15th century, the Wars of the Roses began and the ensuing Battle of Bosworth in 1485 was instrumental in bringing Henry Tudor to the throne and hence establishing the first ever Welsh King of England. In 1536, Henry VIII’s part in the Acts of Union ensured that the political and legal union of England and Wales was put firmly on track.

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The 20th century also saw a nationalist revival in Wales with the establishment of the political party, Plaid Cymru in 1925. The party sought a more autonomous position for Wales, however public opinion on the matter remained inconsistent with a 1979 referendum on the issue of Welsh assembly being rejected. However a 1997 referendum on the same issue was won on a very small majority. Wales continues to be proudly nationalistic and maintain an identity distinctly different from that of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

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