Gwynedd [key], county, 984 sq mi (2,548 sq km), NW Wales. Established as a county in 1974 through the union of Anglesey, Caernarvonshire, and parts of Denbighshire and Merionethshire, Gwynedd was reduced in 1996 by the separation of Anglesey and the loss of its northeastern section to Conwy. Caernarvon, the administrative center, is where the Prince of Wales is invested; Bangor is an educational center with a university. Much of the county, excepting the Lleyn Peninsula, lies within Snowdonia National Park.
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