What does it mean to be Welsh in XXI Century world?

What does being Welsh mean in 2025?

We are living in an increasingly inter-connected world, but even so, cultural identities are still a thing.

Even more so you could say.

And this is certainly true here in Wales. A nation of 3 million people on the western periphery of Britain, still here after 1,500 years, with its own language and its own unique self of itself in the world.

How would you define Cymreictod( Welshness)?

I like it to explain it in three ways: Language, Land, and Loyalty.

Firstly, there’s the Welsh language of course. Although only spoken by around 20% of the population here for various reasons which are too convoluted to properly explain in such a short article. It’s still the heartbeat of Wales, the raison d’etre of Wales itself you could say.

Then there’s a fierce affinity and attachment to the land here- an under-estimated element in the national character perhaps. In such a technological, high-paced era, more and more are appreciating the natural world in new ways today. In Wales’s case, this affinity can perhaps be traced back to our pagan ancestry, and our ancestors’ deep reverence for the natural world in all its various forms, and the ebb and flows of its seasons across the land.

Thirdly, there is also what you could describe as a sense of brotherhood between people here. There is not much class differences in Wales on the whole, and most people are on what you could term the same level as each other here to all intents and purposes. You’ve heard of the six degrees of separation- but in Wales, because of its small size, it’s more like 2.5 degrees, such is the level of connection between people. Which then tends to engender a sense of loyalty to one another which is perhaps hard to gauge objectively, but which is still undeniably present.

Cymreictod/Welshness is evolving of course in response to ever changing circumstances and an ever changing world around us. But there’s still this grounded sense of who we are and who we still be whatever happens in the world.

It’s very encouraging right now in Wales that so many people are learning Welsh both on-line and off-line as well.

Duolinguo apparently has around a million people on its books learning the language to varying degrees, with learners to be found right around the world!

There’s also the fascinating potential of new technology to make language learning easier for people everywhere. This new technology- which can already be seen in the translation capacity of Grok for example- can perhaps revolutionize language learning for everybody, which is very good news for a minority language like Welsh.

Which often struggles with a perception that it is a “hard language to learn”, which then has tended to become a self-fulfilling prophecy for so many.

Welsh has been here in Wales and in a wider context on Ynys Prydain( The Isle of Britain) for over 1,500 years.

It’s not going away.

In fact, it’s only getting started you could say!