pop (2001e) 75 400; area 1797 km² / 694 sq mi. County (unitary authority from 1996) in W Wales, UK; administrative centre, Aberystwyth; other chief town, Cardigan; tourism, crafts, agriculture; Aberystwyth university and National Library of Wales; Devil's Bridge (12th-c).
Cardiganshire (Welsh: Sir Aberteifi) is a traditional county in Wales that came into being in 1282.
In 1282 Edward I conquered the principality of Wales and divided the area into counties. The area of the county became a district under the name Ceredigion in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, and since 1996 has formed the county of Ceredigion.
Geography
Cardiganshire is a maritime county bounded to the west by Cardigan Bay, to the north by Merionethshire, to the east by Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire and Brecknockshire, and to the south by Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire. The Cambrian Mountains cover much of the east of the county.
The main towns are Aberaeron, Aberystwyth, Cardigan, Lampeter, New Quay, Newcastle Emlyn (partly in Carmarthenshire) and Tregaron.
Places of special interest: Ceredigion Museum, Aberystwyth (grid reference SN5881);
Government
Cardiganshire's county council took over the functions of county administration from the Quarter Sessions court in 1889. It was abolished 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 — and it was succeeded by the district of Ceredigion in the new county of Dyfed.
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