Newport, United Kingdom

Newport is located 138 mi (222 km) west of London and 12 mi (19 km) east of Cardiff. It is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent. The City of Newport, which includes rural areas as well as the built up area, is the sixth most populous unitary authority in Wales.

The city is largely low-lying, but with a few hilly areas. Wentwood is 1,014 ft (309 m) above sea level. Areas in the south and east of the city tend to be flat and fertile with some housing estates and industrial areas reclaimed from marshland. Areas near the banks of the River Usk, such as Caerleon, are also low-lying. The eastern outskirts of the city are characterised by the gently rolling hills of the Vale of Usk and Christchurch has panoramic views of the Vale of Usk and the Bristol Channel. Ridgeway at Allt-yr-yn also has good views of the surrounding areas and Bristol Channel. Brynglas has views over the city centre and Twmbarlwm to the west. The suburbs of the city have grown outwards from the inner-city, mostly near the main roads, giving the suburban sprawl of the city an irregular shape. The urban area is continuing to expand rapidly with new housing estates continuing to be built.

The city boundaries include a number of villages in the Newport Built-up area.

Newport's travel to work area incorporates much of south Monmouthshire; the new 2001-based area also includes Cwmbran. The city itself has three major centres for employment: the city centre, and business parks clustered around the M4 motorway junctions 24 in the east and 28 in the west.

Organisations based in the city include Airbus Defence and Space; KLA; Safran; the headquarters of the Office for National Statistics; the headquarters of the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office (formerly known as the Patent Office); the General Insurance Division of Lloyds Banking Group; Acquis Insurance Management; Vantage Data Centers; a semiconductor plant for Vishay Intertechnology; the headquarters of insurance comparison site Gocompare; NFU Mutual; Walters Group civil engineers; SSCL; the headquarters of Wales and West Utilities; Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water; the shared-service centre for HM Prison Service; the Passport Office for much of the south and west of the UK; and the Wales headquarters of the Charity Commission and British Red Cross. In 2014 Admiral Insurance opened a large newly constructed office opposite Newport railway station.

Newport Transporter Bridge is one of the few remaining working bridges of its type in the world and featured in the film Tiger Bay. Visitors can travel on the suspended cradle most days and can walk atop the steel framework on bank holidays. The only other British example is Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge. Open days are occasionally held to view the renovation of the historically important Newport Ship.

The Riverfront Arts Centre is a modern purpose-built theatre and arts venue. The Dolman Theatre was refurbished in 2005. The Phyllis Maud Performance Space theatre seats between 25 and 30 in a converted Victorian public toilet.

The 40 ft-high (12 m) steel Wave by Peter Fink (1991), on the west bank of the River Usk.

Twelve painted murals by Hans Feibusch (1961–64) at the Newport Civic Centre.

Tiled murals by Kenneth Budd (1975) at the Old Green Interchange.

Union, Prudence, Energy statues commemorating the Chartist Newport Rising outside the Westgate Hotel. Created by Christopher Kelly (1991).

Stand and Stare statue by Paul Bothwell Kincaid, in Commercial Street, commemorating the work of poet W. H. Davies, who was born in Newport and lived his early life there. Davies is best known for his poem Leisure; "What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare".

Statue of Charles Morgan, 1st Baron Tredegar, in Bridge Street, created by John Evan Thomas (1850).

The University of South Wales campus is on the west bank of the river Usk in Newport city centre. The university can trace its roots to the founding of the Newport Mechanics Institute in 1841. Newport School of Art, Media and Design was one of the first Art Schools to be awarded degree status in 1973 and enjoyed a high reputation in painting, Fine Art, and sculpture throughout the 1960s and 1970s. It is still highly regarded however, especially in documentary photography. The Fine Art course closed in 2013, its final degree show entitled 'depARTure'.

Newport also has the further-education Coleg Gwent City of Newport Campus, informally known as Nash College, in Lliswerry. Brynglas House is currently an Adult Education Centre.

Newport has eight English-medium state secondary comprehensive schools: Bassaleg School, Newport High School, St Joseph's Roman Catholic High School, Caerleon Comprehensive School, John Frost School, Lliswerry High School, Llanwern High School and St Julians High School. The Welsh-medium secondary school is Ysgol Gyfun Gwent Is Coed in Duffryn.