Swansea included land around Swansea Bay as far as the River Tawe, the manor of Kilvey beyond the Tawe, and the peninsula itself. Swansea was designated chief town of the lordship and received a borough charter at some point between 1158 and 1184 (and a more elaborate one in 1304). From the early 1700s to the late 1800s, Swansea was the world’s leading copper-smelting area. Numerous smelters along the River Tawe received copper and other metal ores shipped from Cornwall and Devon, as well as from North and South America, Africa, and Australia. The industry declined severely in the late 1800s,
Swansea Urban Area Swansea Urban Area The Swansea Urban Area or Swansea Built-up Area is an area of land in south Wales, defined by the Office for National Statistics for population monitoring purposes. It is an urban conurbation and is not coterminous with the City and County of Swansea. It consists of the urban area centred on Swansea city centre; the Swansea Valley including Clydach, Ystradgynlais and Pontardawe; and includes Neath and Port Talbot which lay outside the county boundaries, but excludes the urban area of Gorseinon within the county boundaries. The total population of the area in 2011 was 300,352 making it