Community Assembly of Swansea

Community Assembly of Swansea

Serving, supporting and protecting our local communities

The Community Assembly of Swansea (Welsh: Abertawe) is located in a coastal city which is the second largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea (Welsh: Dinas a Sir Abertawe). It is located along Swansea Bay in southwest Wales with the principal area covering the Gower Peninsula. It is part of the Swansea Bay region and part of the historic county of Glamorgan and the ancient Welsh commote of Gŵyr.

The Welsh name, Abertawe, translates as 'mouth/estuary of the Tawe', and this name was likely used for the area before a settlement was established. The first written record of the Welsh name for the town itself dates from 1150 and appears in the form Aper Tyui. The name Swansea has nothing to do with swans and is derived from the old Norse name of the original Viking trading post that was founded by King Sweyn Forkbeard (c. 960–1014). It was the name of the king, 'Svein' or 'Sweyn', with the suffix of '-ey' (island), referring either to a bank of the river at its mouth or to an area of raised ground in marshland.