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 town of Caerleon, immediately upstream, and gained its first charter in 1314. It grew significantly in the 19th century, when its port became the focus of coal exports from the eastern valleys of South Wales. Until the rise of Cardiff from the 1850s, Newport was Wales' largest coal-exporting port. Newport was the site of the last large-scale armed insurrection in Britain, the Newport Rising of 1839 led by the Chartists. During the 20th century, when the docks declined in importance, Newport remained an important manufacturing and engineering centre. It was granted city status in 2002. Newport hosted the Ryder Cup