County Dossier
Cardiganshire
A coastal county of scholars, saints and sea.
Cardiganshire (Sir Aberteifi or Ceredigion) is a maritime county in west Wales, lying along Cardigan Bay (Bae Ceredigion).
At a glance
Cardiganshire at a glance
A coastal county of scholars, saints and sea.
- Welsh 5th century kingdom
- Formed of the ancient Welsh Cantrefs of Ceredigion and Penweddig
- Vale of Rheidol Railway
- Area 693 sq mi 1,795 km²
- Population: 75,784
- County top: Plynlimon 2,467 ft / 752 m
County Geography
Cardiganshire meets Merionethshire to the north, Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire to the south, and Cardigan Bay forms the county’s western edge. The county is shaped by its long bay frontage, the inland rise to the Cambrian Mountains, and the Teifi valley closing much of the southern side.
Cardigan Bay, the Cambrian rise, and the Teifi-side south make Cardiganshire readable as a west-coast county with a strong inland edge.
Map Reference
View Cardiganshire on the map
Cardiganshire is the county. The map also shows lieutenancies and council areas that use the county name.
The county.
The lieutenancy.
Council areas.
Places and routes
Aberystwyth, Cardigan, Lampeter, Aberaeron, and Tregaron show the county from its central coast and Teifi-side south to its inland upland district.
Connections
Routes have long followed the coast through Aberystwyth and Aberaeron, crossed inland toward Tregaron, and run south along the Teifi side toward Lampeter and Cardigan. Movement follows the county’s coast, upland, and river structure.
Names
- Cardiganshire
- County of Cardigan
- Ceredigion / Sir Aberteifi
Ceredigion and Sir Aberteifi are the Welsh forms used with Cardiganshire. County of Cardigan is the formal historical style, Cardiganshire preserves the later English county form, and the older background lies in the kingdom and cantrefs of Ceredigion.
Cardiganshire was established as a county in 1284, but its coastal and upland setting had long marked it out as a recognisable western Welsh territory. The bay, upland, and Teifi-side pattern still give the historic county a clear shape.