Cardiff is the capital and largest city of Wales. It is located in the historic county of Glamorgan. It was a relatively small town until the early nineteenth century and came to prominence quite suddenly as a result of the coal mining industry and the export of coal.

During the late Victorian Period and the early twentieth century, Cardiff was one of the busiest ports in the world, long holding the world record for coal exportation. Today, Cardiff would be unrecognisable to its former inhabitants. The city is a real crucible of change as Cardiff develops ‘phoenix like’ into a modern, thriving, multi-faceted capital city, from the ashes of industrialism. It is now Europe’s youngest capital city, in fact.
Cardiff's port area once known as Tiger Bay, was one of the busiest ports in the world. After a long period of neglect, and as the newly 'branded' 'Cardiff Bay', it is now being revived as a popular area for arts, entertainment and nightlife. Much of the explosive growth in south Cardiff has been due to the building of the Cardiff Barrage.

Cardiff is now one of the livelist cities in the UK with a wide range of culture on offer. It has an excellent International Arts Centre at Chapter, a wide range of performance spaces including the Wales Milennium Centre in Cardiff Bay and some of the best museums in Britain including the National Museum of Wales which houses one of the finest collection of French Impressionist Paintings outside of Paris.
On the ‘street level’ Cardiff has a great range of shops, pubs, night clubs, bars, coffee shops, community centres, sports and culture clubs, ten indoor swimming pools, dozens of health clubs, the National Sports Centre and a great listings magazine - in BUZZ magazine

Cardiff has a population of about 300,000.

Cardiff was probably named after a Norman family dominant in the area in medieval times. A Norman castle still exists, on the site of an earlier Roman fort, but was substantially altered and extended during the Victorian period by the Marquess of Bute and the architect William Burges.
It is a university town and has four universities
The city has a professional football team, Cardiff City F.C and a leading rugby union club. The city also features an international sporting venue, the Millennium Stadium.

As well as the castle, Cardiff is home to the National Assembly for Wales, St. Davids Hall, the aforementioned National Museum of Wales, Cathays Park (including municipal buildings modelled on those in New Delhi) and Spillers Records which claims to be the oldest record shop in the world!

Cardiff has great pubs, shops and parkland!