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In the 1830s, fewer than 1,000 people lived in the two Rhondda valleys - by the end of The Century there were More Than 100,000

Cardiff and Swansea are small villages, Wales has no capital and is considered a part of England such as Cornwall.

A strange Vision , But that is how some historians believe Wales might have looked like, if the coal had not been discovered.

During The Boom era, the rose between 1801 and 1901, Cardiff's population from 6,000 to 172,000 and Wales' by 587,000, More Than two million.

"it is important, I would not even exist (without coal)," said Ceri Thompson from the National Museum Wales.

most of the mines in the vicinity 30 years ago, Young People have no memory of them, But Many families are only here now because of your employment.

Geological map of the coalfields of 1869

"Prior to the 19Th Century and iron and coal were fully developed, each of the 13 counties of Wales, was a very similar population," said Mr. Thompson.

"at the end of the 19Th Century , and 66% lived in the (old) Glamorgan, Monmouthshire and Carmarthenshire, to Wrexham, with a large population will also grow. "

During this time, he added, Wales attracts so Many new entrants, such as in the United States.

the guys working on the cleaning the coal in a pit in Bargoed in the Rhymney Valley in 1910,

coal-Export docks were built in Cardiff, in the years 1830 and 1881 it had overtaken Swansea and Merthyr Tydfil , Wales' largest city.

"Of 1921 , said there was he 271,000 people in Wales, directly to the coal industry alone,".

"It is also feed a large number of other actors in the trade, transport, agriculture (in the population), to dress a sheep-farmer, horse, supply, breeders, and coal-horses, which in the North Wales quarry workers on the roof of their houses, and so on. "

The Rhondda recognition changed in the year 1830, there were 900 people, the increases in both valleys, More Than 100,000 in the year 1900 .

Many of the compositions that helped define Wales as a country of the song, such as Calon Lan, Cwm Rhondda and the national anthem " Mae Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau areas

came from the industry,"The South Wales valleys, which have added to the scattered hill-agricultural population (excluding coal)," Mr Thompson said.

"Cardiff, Swansea and Newport, it would have had in small villages, and not developed in the docks.

"It would be not a capital of Wales, the National library and National Museum . "

And in terms of where it fitted in the UK, it would "probably be seen the same way, Cornwall is part of England," he said.

Mr Thompson compared The Situation in Wales, to his neighbour, Ireland, which has a similar dramatic population shift was experience.

it was, However, in The Opposite direction - from eight million in 1841 to four million in the year 1921 .

A South Wales mining town in the middle of the 1950s

Ireland was particularly hard-hit by the famine between 1845 and 1851, one million people die of Hunger and disease, and a further two million euros to leave, a lack of industry is also a factor.

'Radically different'

"Wales would be said of a rural society, with everywhere much as Gwynned or Ceredigion looking to do today," Prof Martin Jones.

"Our cities are small cities in rural regions. "

Swansea University historian, said that while a counterfactual history involves "a large measure of speculation", he believes Wales would be "radically different".

He also said that the Welsh Language would be "much stronger" in South Wales , because English-speakers would not have moved in such large numbers.

"would have meant that the strength of the language to the Welsh identity survived without the asset, the coal, But it would be a identity, the always concerned about their economic fundamentals," he added.

"In the last few years in this fictional Wales, relatively cheap housing and beautiful scenery arrival pulls out of England would create fears that the effects from holiday homes and the vitality of Welsh in places like The Valleys . "

Would not have been discovered in the South Wales valleys now, of arable land and farms if the coal had?

the work in Port Talbot and Ebbw Vale steel, tin in Llanelli and copper in Swansea would not have been possible without coal, according to social historian Ben Curtis .

"Although charcoal had been used in the very early stages of the development of the iron and copper industry, to define development as the most important industries, which kick-started the Industrial Revolution and the resulting shaped modern South Wales would not have been possible without The Massive coal reserves of the South Wales area," he says.

He added: "If you look at a hypothetical scenario in which there are no coal deposits in The South of Wales, it is difficult to see what happens, if anything, what could or would have led to the development of the region as a strong industry to any significant extent. "

coal mining, social history, cardiff

Source of news: bbc.com