The history of local government in Wales in a recognisably modern form emerged during the late 19th century. Administrative counties and county boroughs were first established in Wales in 1889. Urban and rural districts were formed in 1894. These were replaced in 1974 by a two-tier authority system across the country comprising eight counties and, within them, thirty-seven districts. This system was itself replaced by the introduction of 22 single-tier authorities in 1996.

From 1889 to 1974, counties made up of administrative counties and county boroughs were used for local government purposes. The counties were created by the Local Government Act 1888 (51 & 52 Vict. c. 41), which applied without distinction across Wales and England, and in Wales the administrative counties were based on the historic counties of Wales, but they were not entirely identical.

The 1888 act did not create elected district councils, but anticipated their later creation, which came with the Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73). The 1894 act created 'urban districts' and 'rural districts'.

Administrative counties

The table shows the area and population of administrative counties in Wales as recorded at the censuses of 1891 and 1961.^[1][2]

More information Administrative county, Area 1891 acres (km2) ...

Administrative county	Area 1891 acres (km2)	Population 1891	Area 1961 acres (km2)	Population 1961
Anglesey	175,836 (712)	50,098	176,694 (715)	51,705
Brecknockshire	469,894 (1,902)	51,393	469,281 (1,899)	55,185
Cardiganshire	443,071 (1,793)	63,467	443,189 (1,794)	53,648
Carmarthenshire	587,816 (2,379)	130,566	588,271 (2,381)	168,008
Caernarfonshire(1)	360,138 (1,457)	117,233	364,108 (1,473)	121,767
Denbighshire	424,235 (1,717)	118,843	427,978 (1,732)	174,151
Flintshire	164,051 (664)	77,277	163,707 (662)	150,082
Glamorgan	505,815 (2,047)	467,954	468,808 (1,897)	523,253
Merionethshire	427,810 (1,731)	49,212	422,372 (1,709)	38,310
Monmouthshire	342,548 (1,386)	203,347	346,779 (1,403)	336,556
Montgomeryshire	510,111 (2,064)	58,003	510,110 (2,064)	41,165
Pembrokeshire	392,710 (1,589)	88,296	393,008 (1,590)	94,124
Radnorshire	301,164 (1,219)	21,791	301,165 (1,219)	18,471

Close

⁽¹⁾Renamed from Carnarvonshire, 1 July 1926^[3]

In 1974, the existing administrative counties and county boroughs were abolished and replaced by eight new two-tier authorities, instead called 'counties' by the Local Government Act 1972 (1972 c. 70). These counties were sub-divided into lower-tier districts.

The counties were all given names in Welsh only, apart from the three in Glamorgan, which had English names as well as Welsh. The creation of these new administrative areas effectively separated the administrative function from the traditional counties, although in reality this had occurred in 1889.

These two-tier counties were abolished in 1996 and replaced with principal areas, each of which is designated as either a county or county borough. The names and areas of the pre-1996 counties were retained with slight modifications for some ceremonial purposes such as Lieutenancy, and became known as the preserved counties of Wales, which were amended in 2003 by S.I. 2003/974 to ensure that each principal area is wholly within one preserved county.

The redistribution of these districts into the current principal areas is as follows:

• Local government in Wales
• History of local government in the United Kingdom