Cardiff is the capital and largest city of Wales. Located on the south coast of the country it is administered as a unitary authority. It is in the historic county of Glamorgan and is recognised as one of the more appealing cities in the UK.

Cardiff is home to Cardiff Castle, the National Assembly for Wales, St. David's Hall, the National Museum and Gallery, and Cathays Park (including municipal buildings modelled on those in New Delhi), and the Cardiff Metropolitan Cathedral. The Welsh National Opera moved into the Wales Millennium Centre in November 2004.

Cardiff Castle is a major tourist attraction in the city and is situated in the heart of the city centre, near to the main shopping streets of Queen St and St Mary's St.

Other major tourist attractions are the Cardiff Bay regeneration sites which include the recently opened Wales Millennium Centre and the National Assembly for Wales and many other cultural and sites of interest including the Cardiff Bay Barrage and the famous Coal Exchange.

Aided by Welsh-medium education and migration from rural Wales, the number of Welsh speakers in Cardiff rose by 14,451 between 1991 and 2001; Welsh is now spoken by 11% of Cardiffians. The highest percentage of Welsh speakers is in Creigiau, where over 20% of the population are able to speak the language.