Islam in Wales Islam in Wales Islam is the largest non-Christian faith in Wales, with about 46,000 adherents recorded in the country in the 2011 Census. The earliest recorded connections between Wales and the Muslim world dates back to the early 12th Century. There has been a Somali and Yemeni Islamic community in Cardiff since the mid-19th century, founded by seafarers to Cardiff Docks. The first purpose-built mosque was erected in Cardiff in 1947. Today, Wales has about 40 mosques, most of which are in Cardiff, with others in Aberystwyth, Bangor, Barry, Haverfordwest, Lampeter, Neath, Newport, Port Talbot, Swansea and Wrexham. New Muslim
Newport, Wales and the new canals to ports such as Newport, and Newport Docks grew rapidly as a result. Newport became one of the largest towns in Wales and the focus for the new industrial eastern valleys of South Wales. By 1830 Newport was Wales' leading coal port, and until the 1850s it was larger than Cardiff. The Newport Rising in 1839 was the last large-scale armed rebellion against authority in mainland Britain. John Frost and 3,000 other Chartists marched on the Westgate Hotel at the centre of the town. The march was met with an attack by militia, called to the