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Cornwall is a county of the United Kingdom and is located in England. The county is bordered by the Celtic Sea on the north and west, while being bordered by the English Channel on the south. On its east side there is the county of Devon. Cornwall is home to around 530,000 people and it covers around 3,560 square kilometers. The only major city in Cornwall is Truro, which is also the administrative centre. Cornwall is not a huge commercial center and does not have a major city such as London, Manchester or Birmingham. It is a more rural area with great landscapes and smaller, quaint towns. That is the charm of Cornwall and that is what the British have come to love about it.
The Cornish people descend from this area and it is their homeland. That is why Cornwall is known as part of the Celtic nations and it has strong ties to its history. This history gives Cornwall its very own cultural identity and allows to it be so unique from the rest of England or the United Kingdom. Cornwall is part of the Duchy of Cornwall, however people are dissatisfied with the amount of representation Cornwall gets. People believe that the Cornish should be given greater autonomy and they should also have better representation in government so they are recognized as a proper minority in the United Kingdom.
Cornwall is a major tourist hub and tourism brings in about 25% of Cornwall’s GDP. It is a very popular place for tourists to come for a number of reasons. The beautiful scenery and the great weather make it a perfect destination for holiday makers. There are so many beaches around Cornwall, since it is surrounded by water on almost every side. There are other physical attractions around Cornwall such as gardens, moorlands, prehistoric sights, and museums. An amazing six million tourists come to Cornwall every year and most of these tourists come from within the United Kingdom. There are airports nearby and plenty of rail services that connect Cornwall to London and a few other major cities in the United Kingdom. This makes it very easy to travel to Cornwall, further increasing the amount of tourism it generates.
Cornwall has always been blessed with beautiful scenery and a wonderful climate. In fact, Cornwall is home to the warmest winters in the United Kingdom. It also manages to get the most sunlight out of any area and enjoys the least amount of rain, compared to the rest of the islands. This makes it a very popular spot for people to vacation, given the amount of rain that major cities such as London and Manchester see on a yearly basis.
From a long time ago in its history, Cornwall has always been the centre of visual arts. Cornwall and artistry are intertwined and many great actors, actresses and directors have come from Cornwall. In fact, the region is still used as the setting for so many British movies and television shows. The Newlyn School is one of the most famous art schools in Cornwall and has many famous graduates such as Elizabeth Forbes and Norman Garstin. Many famous writers, such as Virginia Woolf, lived in Cornwall and were inspired by the county for much of their work. There is also the Penwith Society of the Arts, which continues to promote art and visual performances in the Cornwall area.
There is also a tradition in Cornwall that centers around folk music. There are plenty of festivals around the year, such as the Mummers Plays, the Furry Dance and Obby Oss. These performances and events have made Cornwall famous and are a major reason for why so many people come down every year to visit the area. In fact, quite a few British bands originiated in Cornwall. There is also the famous “Brass on the Grass” festival that is held every year. At the festival, around forty or fifty brass bands come and perform to the delight of their sell out crowds.
In terms of its economy, Cornwall used to be famous for tin mining. Dating back to the Roman Empire, tin mining has always been a crucial part of how Cornish people earned their livelihood. However, by the 1850′s tin mining began to decline slowly and now it plays a very small, insignificant role in Cornwall’s economy. This decline has left a huge hole for the Cornish people that they have been unable to fill. While tourism does generate a great deal of income, there is not much else in their economy for them to make money on. That is why Cornwall qualifies for a lot of EU poverty related grants. It is only one of four areas in England that qualify for these grants. However, there are also people in Cornwall who are extremely rich and the disparity is continuing to grow.