Wales is a self-governing constituent country of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (or the UK for short). Wales, Scotland, England and Northern Ireland make up the UK. The UK is one of the 25 member states of the European Union, and is also a member of many other international organisations such as, for example, the United Nations.

Wales is governed at five levels. Community Councils, at the most local level, are a forum for local needs and can be responsible for some local services. These are organised within Unitary Authorities, sometimes refered to as local Councils, which are the main providers of local municipal services. Elected local councillors run them and there are 22 covering the whole of Wales.

The idea of setting up a national elected body for Wales first surfaced during the 19th Century. Special or separate policies began to be introduced for Wales, a process that continued and in intensified in the 20th Century by successive UK Governments. During the 1990s a consensus in Wales emerged in favour of devolution of power to Wales, to create a form of self-government within the UK, in common with parallel moves in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

It became UK government policy in 1997 to set up an elected National Assembly in Wales and in a national referendum in September 1997, the people of Wales voted in favour of establishing a National Assembly. The Assembly itself came into being following elections in 1999 and met for the first time on 12th May 1999.

The National Assembly for Wales meets in Cardiff, Wales's capital city. For the first time, an elected Welsh political body that meets in Wales takes decisions affecting Wales. It is made up of 60 elected Assembly Members (AMs), and from this membership the Ministers who form the Assembly Government are drawn.

It is the Assembly Government, currently made up of 9 Ministers and headed by the First Minister, which has responsibility for policy and budget priorities in Wales, scrutinised by the other AMs. The First Minister of Wales is the Mr Rhodri Morgan AM. Wales elects 40 Members to the House of Commons (Members of Parliament or MPs), the lower chamber of UK Parliament, as well as being represented in the upper chamber, the non-elected House of Lords.

The UK Government is made up of Ministers and Secretaries of State drawn from the membership of Parliament. There are areas of policy for Wales that are still the responsibility of the UK Government. The Secretary of State for Wales represents Welsh interests and is a member of the Cabinet that controls the UK Government. The Secretary of State for Wales is Mr Peter Hain MP.

At the European level, Wales is governed by regulations produced by the European Commission and legislation produced by the European Parliament and Council of the European Union, which is made up of government ministers from the member states, such as the UK. Wales elects 4 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), which also exists to scrutinise the work of the European Commission. The European Parliament meets in Brussels, Belgium - which is also home to the European Commission - and Strasbourg in France.

Source: http://www.walesworldnation.com