Bala is a market town as well as area in Gwynedd, Wales. Formerly an urban district, Bala exists within the historic region of Merionethshire. It lies at the north end of Llyn Tegid, 17 miles (27 kilometres) north-east of Dolgellau, with a population taken in the United Kingdom Census 2011 of 1,974. It is little greater than one vast street, this being Stryd Fawr (High Street, essentially "Great Street"). The High Street and its stores can be fairly busy in the summer season with many vacationers. Bala was placed as having the 20th highest possible percent of Welsh language audio speakers in Wales by electoral division, in the United Kingdom Census 2011. According to the census, 78.5% of Bala's population can talk Welsh.