Pembrokeshire

Pembrokeshire ( ; Welsh: Sir Benfro) is a county in the south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Ceredigion to the north-east, Carmarthenshire to the east, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and the administrative headquarters of Pembrokeshire County Council.

The county is generally sparsely populated and rural, with an area of 610 square miles (1,600 km) and an estimated population of 125,761 in 2024. Haverfordwest is near the centre of the county, the port of Fishguard in the north, the seaside resort of Tenby in the south-east. The city of St Davids, on a peninsula in the north-west, is the smallest city by population in the United Kingdom. Milford Haven, the large ria in the south of the county, gives its name to the town of Milford Haven on its north shore; Pembroke Dock is on the south shore, and Pembroke a short distance further inland. Welsh is spoken by 17.2 percent of the population; for historic reasons the language is more widely spoken in the north of the county than in the south. Pembrokeshire is part of the preserved county of Dyfed.

Pembrokeshire's coast is its most dramatic geographic feature, created by the complex geology of the area. It is a varied landscape which includes high sea cliffs, wide sandy beaches, Milford Haven, and offshore islands including Ramsey, Skomer, and Caldey which are home to seabird colonies. The interior of Pembrokeshire is relatively flat and gently undulating, with the exception of the Preseli Mountains in the north. Most of the coast, the Preselis, and the upper reaches of Milford Haven are protected by the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. The coast can be walked using the 190-mile (310 km) Pembrokeshire Coast Path.

There are many prehistoric sites in Pembrokeshire, particularly in the Preseli Mountains. During the Middle Ages several castles were built by the Normans, such as Pembroke and Cilgerran, and St David's Cathedral became an important pilgrimage site. During the Industrial Revolution the county remained relatively rural, with the exception of Milford Haven, which was developed as a port and Royal Navydockyard. It is now the UK's third-largest port, primarily because of its two liquefied natural gas terminals. The economy of the county is now focused on agriculture, oil and gas, and tourism.