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Swansea is a city in southern Wales, administrative center of West Glamorgan, a seaport on the Tawe River, at its mouth on Swansea Bay (an inlet of the Bristol Channel). Swansea is an important industrial center with manufactures that include steel and nonferrous metals and motor-vehicle parts. A large petroleum refinery and chemical works are located in the suburb of Llandarcy. The city is the seat of the University College of Swansea (1920) and is host to an annual arts festival. A Norman fortress was erected on the site about 1099. During the Middle Ages the community was a regional market center. Its industrial growth began in the 18th century, when the port was developed to export the coal mined in southern Wales. The town center was destroyed by German bombing during World War II (1939-1945); the city has since been rebuilt. Swansea was enlarged in 1974, and now includes the scenic Gower Peninsula, a farming and resort area. Dylan Thomas, the Welsh poet, short-story writer, and playwright, was born here in 1914.
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