Situated on the northern-most boundary of the City and County of Swansea, the Community of Mawr is one of the oldest in Wales. It is the largest in area in the new authority and is predominantly rural in character.
Up until the 1960s, the main form of employment was in the local mining industry, but, today, it is a mixture of agriculture and the newer service industries which are found in and around the Swansea area.
Separated from Swansea by the M4 motorway, Mawr is one of the most unspoilt areas of the County, with windswept upland moors, chapels, farms, patches of forestry and reservoirs.
The Lower Lliw Reservoir 
Settlements
Mawr has three main settlements:
- Craigcefnparc, which is the largest, and is some eight miles north of the city centre;
- Felindre, the smallest;
- Garnswllt on its northern-most boundary, which is approximately 12 miles north east of the city centre.
With a total population of 1,800 (2001 Census) and a land area of approximately 14,000 acres, Mawr has one of the lowest populations expressed as a percentage of the total population within the City and County of Swansea (0.81%). Mawr is also the least densely populated electoral division with 31 persons per square kilometre, compared with 1,469 in Gorseinon and 5,781 in Swansea Uplands.
However, Mawr has the highest population with Welsh language skills in the whole of the City and County of Swansea, with 47.62%, compared to Gower with 13.62%, and St.Thomas with 9.08%.