The size of Wales is a phrase that has become legendary for its use by the British news media to enable size comparisons of large areas to be made; by quoting the size of unfamiliar areas in terms of a familiar area (e.g. twice the size of Wales), the listener, reader, or viewer has less brainwork to do than if presented with an area measured in millions of hectares, thousands of square kilometres, etc. For alternate meanings, see Wales (disambiguation) National motto: Cymru am byth (Welsh: Wales for ever) Official languages: English and Welsh Capital: Cardiff First Minister: Rhodri Morgan AM Area  - Total:  - % water: Ranked 3rd UK 20,779 km² xx% Population  - Total (2001):  - Density: Ranked 3rd UK 2,903,085 140/km² NUTS... A hectare (symbol ha) is a metric unit of surface area, equal to 100 ares (the name is a contraction of the SI prefix hecto + are). ... Square kilometre (US spelling: Square kilometer), symbol km², is an SI unit of surface area. ...

The origin of and reasons for the choice of Wales (rather than England, Scotland, etc.) as a unit of measurement is unknown, but its prevalence as a unit probably results merely from memetic founder effects. The only other high-profile measure of similar size is the "Belgium" (as in "three times the size of Belgium"). For alternate meanings, see Wales (disambiguation) National motto: Cymru am byth (Welsh: Wales for ever) Official languages: English and Welsh Capital: Cardiff First Minister: Rhodri Morgan AM Area  - Total:  - % water: Ranked 3rd UK 20,779 km² xx% Population  - Total (2001):  - Density: Ranked 3rd UK 2,903,085 140/km² NUTS... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Official language None; English is de facto Capital London Capitals coordinates 51° 30 N, 0° 10 W Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831... Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Alba) is a country or nation and former independent kingdom of northwest Europe, and one of the four constituent parts of the United Kingdom. ... Meme, (rhymes with cream and comes from Greek root with the meaning of memory and its derivative mimeme), is the term given to a unit of information that replicates from brains and inanimate stores of information, such as books and computers, to other brains or stores of information. ...

Among frequently-used references to "the size of Wales" is that an area of Amazon rainforest the size of Wales is cleared every year. For alternate meanings, see Wales (disambiguation) National motto: Cymru am byth (Welsh: Wales for ever) Official languages: English and Welsh Capital: Cardiff First Minister: Rhodri Morgan AM Area  - Total:  - % water: Ranked 3rd UK 20,779 km² xx% Population  - Total (2001):  - Density: Ranked 3rd UK 2,903,085 140/km² NUTS... A river in the Amazon rainforest The Amazon is a rainforest in South America. ... For alternate meanings, see Wales (disambiguation) National motto: Cymru am byth (Welsh: Wales for ever) Official languages: English and Welsh Capital: Cardiff First Minister: Rhodri Morgan AM Area  - Total:  - % water: Ranked 3rd UK 20,779 km² xx% Population  - Total (2001):  - Density: Ranked 3rd UK 2,903,085 140/km² NUTS...

External link

• sizeofwales.co.uk  (http://www.simonkelk.co.uk/sizeofwales.html) — includes a tool to enable the conversion of conventional measurements into "Waleses".