A country in the west of the island of Great Britain, next to England, and one of the four parts of the United Kingdom, along with England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. About three million people live there; the capital is Cardiff. It has its own language, Welsh, which is a Celtic language and looks nothing like English on the page — and in Welsh the country's own name for itself is Cymru, not Wales at all. It was an independent land until Edward I of England conquered it in 1284. The picture people carry of Wales is mountains, sheep, rain, castles, coal mines that have now closed, male voice choirs, and rugby. Two grammar points. The word looks plural because of the -s, but it is singular: Wales is a small country. And be careful with the family of words around it — the country is Wales, the adjective and the language are Welsh, and a person is a Welshman, a Welshwoman, or simply Welsh.