Cornwall, ENG - Postcode - PL27 7FS

Cornwall

Cornwall, located in southwestern England, is both a ceremonial and historic county. It is the traditional homeland of the Cornish people and is officially recognized as a Celtic nation. The county of Devon lies to Cornwall's east, with the River Tamar serving as a natural divider between the two. The Atlantic Ocean and the English Channel lie to Cornwall's north and west. Cornwall is the tip of the South West Peninsula, which is the westernmost point of Great Britain. Land's End is the most westerly point, and Lizard Point is the most southern. Cornwall is home to 568,210 people and spans 3,563 square kilometres. Since 2009, Cornwall Council has served as the county's unitary government. Isles of Scilly are part of the ceremonial county of Cornwall but are independently governed. Truro, Cornwall's one and only city, serves as the county seat and administrative hub.

Before becoming a duchy, Cornwall was a Brythonic kingdom. The Cornish diaspora can trace its cultural and ethnic roots back to Cornwall. The Cornish nationalist movement challenges Cornwall's current constitutional standing and advocates for devolved legislative powers for the Cornish Assembly inside the United Kingdom, on par with those enjoyed by the devolved governments of Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. A minority status under the European Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities was awarded to the Cornish people in 2014. This allowed them to be recognized as a separate ethnic group.

A stronger Roman presence in Cornwall than was previously supposed has been suggested by recent finds of Roman ruins.

As evidenced by folklore traditions derived from the Historia Regum Britanniae, after the fall of the Roman Empire, Cornwall (along with Devon, parts of Dorset and Somerset, and the Scilly Isles) became a part of the Brittonic kingdom of Dumnonia, ruled by chieftains of the Cornovii who may have included figures regarded as semi-historical or legendary, such as King Mark of Cornwall and King Arthur. The Cornovii subtribe of the Dumnonii tribe was cut off from the rest of the Brythons of Wales after the Battle of Deorham in 577 AD, and they frequently fought with the growing English kingdom of Wessex. By 838 A.D., the English had acquired most of Dumnonia, with the exception of Cornwall and Dartmoor. High water on the east bank of the River Tamar was designated as the border between English and Cornish territory by King Athelstan in 936 A.D. From the very beginning of the Middle Ages, Brythons trading over the Channel brought with them their language and culture, resulting in the parallel high medieval Breton kingdoms of Domnonée and Cornouaille with a shared Celtic Christian heritage.

Starting in the High Middle Ages, tin mining played a significant role in the Cornish economy; it saw rapid growth in the 19th century, when large copper mines were also in operation in the region. China clay extraction surpassed tin and copper mining in significance towards the middle of the nineteenth century. By the 1990s, mining had all but stopped. The mining and fishing industries declined in the nineteenth century, but the railways helped revive the agricultural and tourism sectors in the twentieth.  A 'globally significant' deposit of lithium was discovered in Cornwall in the late 2010s, sparking hopes of a mining revival to support the growing demand for electric vehicles.

The coastline and underlying geology of Cornwall are internationally renowned. Cornwall hosts a major portion of the Cornubian batholith. Many cliffs line the northern coast, providing excellent opportunities for studying geological outcrops. There are many place-names in the region that originate from the Cornish language, and the area is known for its moderate climate, long and varied coastline, wild moorland landscapes, picturesque communities, and many place-names. Wide swaths of Cornwall's coast and Bodmin Moor are designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Economy

Cornwall has a low GDP per resident and low average household income, making it one of the poorest regions in the United Kingdom. However, the county's housing market is booming in several areas, notably around the coast, thanks to the influx of retirees and vacationers with disposable income. Income per capita was 65% of the 2004 UK average. In 2004, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly had a GDP per head that was 80.4% of the EU-27 average, well behind the UK average of 123.0%. Cornwall's (including the Isles of Scilly) standard of living in 2011 was 64% of the European average per capita, according to the most recent available data.

Cornwall's economy relied heavily on tin (and later copper) mining in the past. According to the citation above, this idea was initially mentioned by Pytheas. Since the tin trade apparently dwindled while the Romans were in control, the last ancient author to mention it was Julius Caesar.  In the Middle Ages, the tin trade flourished, becoming so important to the Kings of England that they provided special rights to the tinners. Tinners' complaints contributed to the Cornish uprising of 1497. The tin industry, however, began to deteriorate once more towards the middle of the nineteenth century. China clay manufacture, along with fishing and farming, are other primary sector businesses that have fallen since the 1960s.

As a result, the tourism industry in Cornwall now accounts for almost a quarter of the county's GDP. According to official measurements of deprivation and poverty at the district and'sub-ward' level, Cornwall is highly uneven in terms of wealth, with some places ranking among the worst in England and others among the top half. In England, the index of multiple deprivation (2006) ranked 32,482 sub-wards, or neighborhoods, from 819th (part of Penzance East) to 30,899th (part of Saltash Burraton in Caradon), with a lower number indicating more extreme disadvantage.

There are only two places in the United Kingdom classified as "less developed regions," and Cornwall is one of them. The European Commission designated it an Objective 1 for the years 2000–2006, and it has since received additional financing under the "Convergence Funding" initiative for the years 2007–2013 and the "Growth Programme" for the years 2014–2020.

Tourism

There is a significant seasonal component to Cornwall's economy, with some estimates putting the sector's contribution to the county's GDP at as much as 24 percent.

Despite its relative isolation from the rest of the United Kingdom, Cornwall's unique culture, stunning environment, and mild climate make it a popular tourist destination. Cornwall features miles of beaches and cliffs since it is surrounded by the English Channel and the Celtic Sea on three sides; the South West Coast Path makes a full circle of both coastlines. Moorland, country gardens, museums, historic and prehistoric sites, and wooded valleys are some more tourist hotspots. In a typical year, five million people go to Cornwall, most of them from the home country. There are numerous transportation options for tourists visiting Cornwall, including the Newquay Airport, the Perranporth Airfield for private planes, charters, and helicopters, and the Night Sleeper and Daily Rail Services that connect Cornwall to London and the rest of the UK.