[webignition]

Yes, they certainly are different countries.

I say technically as by definition they are but in the way they are treated I'd say they're not.

I'd say the difference between Wales and England as a whole is no different in spirit to the difference between Yorkshire and Essex or Cornwall and East Anglia.

[lotsofcows]

Wales' counties have the same powers as any other county in the UK. However, Wales as a country also has devolved powers in it's own right.

As anywhere else, different areas have different levels of cultural self-identity - in that sense I can understand a comparison between Wales (country) and Cornwall (county) although not to Yorkshire, etc.