Swansea

Swansea , town (1990 est. pop. 15,500), Bristol co., SE Mass., a suburb of Fall River , on an inlet of Mount Hope Bay; founded 1667, inc. 1785. Once a vast farmland, it has become chiefly residential. Many of its inhabitants were massacred in King Philip's War (1675), but the town was later rebuilt and prospered.

Swansea (Abertawe) City and county district on Swansea Bay at the mouth of the River Tawe, West Glamorgan, s Wales. The second-largest Welsh city, it is the administrative centre of West Glamorgan and an industrial city that grew with the export of coal in the 19th century. Formerly noted for its production of steel, it is now dominated by light industry. Pop. (1996 est.) 230,180.

Swansea. Town of south Wales located at the mouth of the river Tawe (Abertawe). The name, Scandinavian in origin, reflects post-Roman Viking activity, but there is no evidence of settlement until the site was developed as a castle borough by Henry de Beaumont, the first Norman lord of Gower. After 1717 it became the centre of the early Welsh metallurgical industry, mainly copper, lead, and silver. Coal and coke transformed the industry and a specialization developed in coated steel plate, tinplate, and galvanized sheet. Initially production was in small mills but now only one integrated plant remains. An associated chemical industry devastated the lower Swansea valley but it has been extensively reclaimed. The port role is reflected in an oil refinery. Swansea acquired city status in 1969 and is now an industrial and administrative centre for the western coalfield. Its population in 2002 was 231,000. Ten per cent spoke Welsh.

Harold Carter