It’s barely spoken even in Britain, with most estimates suggesting only about 10% of the population of Wales speak Welsh today, despite an effort to teach it in schools and slap it on all the road signs.
But there’s another part of the world, 7,561 miles from Wales where almost everyone is Welsh or speaks Welsh.
Y Wladfla, the Welsh name for the colonies of Welsh Patagonians in Gaiman, Trelew and Trevelin in Argentina, is home to 70,000 Welsh Patagonians in Argentina.
It’s estimated that as many as 5,000 people speak Welsh as their first language in these settlements, with Welsh first names and surnames (like mine) commonplace.
That’s because the picturesque mountain region, with snow-capped peaks and rolling fields, was founded by actual Welsh settlers 150 years ago.
The story goes that Welsh, already annexed by England and forced to speak English instead of their native tongue, decided to send colonists off to the Americas in search of a new home to protect the Welsh culture from the English.
Welsh persecution became so widespread at the time that Welsh speaking children were singled out in schools, leading to one man’s vision to set up a new Wales.
As Wales.com explains: “Pouring scorn on Welsh speakers, and advocating punishments like the Welsh Not (a piece of wood given to children who spoke Welsh in school, often hung around their necks), it prompted waves of migration from Wales to America.
“One non-conformist minister from Bala who had moved to Ohio, Michael D. Jones, knew how hard it was for the Welsh language to thrive in its motherland.
“The idea of creating a remote utopia away from the influence of the English language became his obsession.”
Just 150 Welsh people made the journey after Argentina offered land to the settlers, and when they landed in the bleak midwinter in Patagonia they found difficult conditions and many saw their homes destroyed in that first year thanks to storms.
But today, the community is thriving and proud of its Welshness.
Wales.com adds: “Puerto Madryn is now a city of 100,000 people, home to a huge aluminium plant, and a thriving tourist spot for whale watching. A statue of a Welsh woman stands on the portside, staring inland, reminding visitors of how it all began. Fifty miles south is Trelew (“tre” for town, “Lew” for Lewis Jones), an active hub for the wool trade.
“It hosts the region’s annual Eisteddfod, and is home to several bilingual Welsh and Spanish schools. Around 30 Welsh Protestant chapels also dot the landscape, with recognisable names like Moriah and Tabernacl.”