Swansea ( ; , "mouth of the
Tawe"), officially known as the
City and County of Swansea, is a coastal
city and
county in
Wales. It is Wales's second largest city and the UK's twenty-fifth largest city. Swansea lies within the
historic county boundaries of
Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy
South West Wales coast, the county area includes the
Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands. According to its local council, the City and County of Swansea had a population of 241,300 in 2014. The last official census stated that the city, metropolitan and urban areas combined concluded to be a total of 462,000 in 2011, making it the second most
populous local authority area in Wales after
Cardiff. During its 19th-century industrial heyday, Swansea was a key centre of the copper industry, earning the nickname 'Copperopolis'. Since 2011, Swansea has started to expand into a larger region known as the
Swansea Bay City Region. After combining with other councils, it now includes
Tenby and other parts of
West Wales, its population including these areas an estimated 685,051. The chairman of the new region is Sir
Terry Matthews