Caernarfon is a royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales. It has a population of 9,852. It lies along the A487 road, on the eastern shore of the Menai Strait, opposite the island of Anglesey. The city of Bangor is 8.6 miles to the north-east, while Snowdonia fringes Caernarfon to the east and south-east. Abundant natural resources in and around the Menai Strait enabled human habitation in prehistoric Britain.