when do you use sur or sud for 'the south'

Question

I see both el sur and el sud for 'the south'. What is the distinction?

Answer 1

País Galés del sur = South Wales.

Answer 2

I believe that "sud" is use as an adjective, which would include terms like "Sudamérica".

"Sur" is a masculine noun: "América del Sur"

Answer 3

If I am not mistaken sur is simply when you are saying or writing south and sud is before a country or another word such as sudoeste (southwest), sudafricano (South African), etc. Hope this helps!