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Swansea is situated in south Wales. It is believed to have got its name from the Germanic ‘ey’, meaning island and the name ‘Sweyn’, which is thought to be a person of Viking origin from the time when they plundered the south Wales cities. Its name in Welsh is: Abertawe – which is from "aber" meaning ‘river-mouth’ and the river Tawe. It has a 2001 estimate population of 223,301 and a population density of 591 per km˛, which is relatively small for Wales’ second city behind Cardiff.
The city grew in importance during the 18th and 19th centuries due to its heavy industry. However, it did not attract as many immigrants as Cardiff and retained close links with the countryside and rural life. For this reason it has a relative large number of Welsh speaking population, at 13.4% in 2001, which can be compared favourably with Cardiff at 11% in the same year.
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