Administrative Boundary of Blaenau Gwent

About Blaenau Gwent

Blaenau Gwent is a principal area in south Wales, situated at the heads of the South Wales valleys. Covering approximately 109 square kilometres, Blaenau Gwent had a population of approximately 67,000 at the 2022 Census, with Ebbw Vale as its largest town, and was historically one of the most intensively industrialised parts of Wales. The Ebbw Vale Steelworks The Ebbw Vale Steelworks grew during the 19th and 20th centuries into one of the largest integrated steelworks in Europe, and its closure in 2002 marked the end of an era for a community whose identity had been built around iron and steel production for two centuries; the former works site has since been redeveloped, including hosting the Wales National Garden Festival in 1992 and later serving as the venue for the National Eisteddfod. The area's coal and iron industries drew workers from across Britain during the 19th century, creating the dense, terraced valley communities characteristic of the South Wales coalfield. Aneurin Bevan and the Birth of the NHS Blaenau Gwent is closely associated with Aneurin Bevan, born in Tredegar in 1897, who as Minister of Health founded the National Health Service in 1948; Bevan drew directly on his experience of the Tredegar Medical Aid Society, a workers' mutual health scheme funded by miners' subscriptions that provided free healthcare to the town decades before the NHS was created, describing it as the model for his reforms. The Aneurin Bevan Monument in Tredegar commemorates his legacy. GIS and Boundary Data The administrative boundary of Blaenau Gwent Council is available for free download in GeoJSON and KML formats, sourced from the OS Open Geography portal (Crown copyright 2024). Compatible with QGIS, ArcGIS, Mapbox, and Google Earth, the dataset supports industrial heritage mapping, political and social history research, and demographic analysis across the Blaenau Gwent council area.

📍 Administrative boundary of Blaenau Gwent county