West Midlands (county)
| West Midlands | |
|---|---|
| |
| Geography | |
| Status: | Ceremonial County |
| Region: | West Midlands |
| Area: - Total | Ranked 42nd 902 km² |
| ONS code: | 2E |
| NUTS 2: | UKG3 |
| Demographics | |
| Population: - Total (2002 est.) - Density | Ranked 2nd 2,575,768 2,856 / km² |
| Ethnicity: | 80.0% White 13.4% S.Asian 3.7% Afro-Carib. |
| Politics | |
| Members of Parliament | |
| Bob Ainsworth, Adrian Bailey, Richard Burden, Liam Byrne, Ross Cranston, Jim Cunningham, Bruce George, Roger Godsiff, Sylvia Heal, Lynne Jones, Khalid Mahmood, Rob Marris, Stephen James McCabe, Andrew Mitchell, Estelle Morris, Ian Pearson, Ken Purchase, Geoffrey Robinson, Richard Shepherd, Debra Shipley, Clare Short, Siôn Simon, John Spellar, Caroline Spelman, Gisela Stuart, John Taylor, Dennis Turner, Tom Watson, David Winnick | |
| Districts | |
 | |
Some confusion is caused by the use of the same name for the much larger West Midlands Region of England.
Birmingham, Wolverhampton, the Black Country and Solihull together form one of the largest urban conurbations in England outside London with a combined population of around 2.25 million. West Midlands is not entirely urban, a stretch of green belt land roughly 15 miles across, exists between the Birmingham conurbation and Coventry, which retains a strongly rural character. A smaller piece of green belt between Birmingham, Walsall and West Bromwich includes Barr Beacon and the Sandwell Valley.
The county was created in 1974, with most of the area previously being county boroughs in their own right. Birmingham and Coventry were traditionally in Warwickshire; Wolverhampton and most of the Black Country was in Staffordshire and some of the Black Country was in Worcestershire.
It was originally run by the "West Midlands County Council" but this was broken up in 1986 and most of the powers given to metropolitan district councils. Some functions such as emergency services and public transport are still run jointly on a county-wide basis, and it is still a Ceremonial County with a Lord-Lieutenant.
Towns and villages
- Aldridge
- Balsall Common, Bloxwich, Bilston, Birmingham. Blackheath, Brierley Hill
- Coventry
- Dorridge, Dudley
- Halesowen, Hampton-in-Arden
- Marston Green, Meriden
- Oldbury
- Rowley Regis
- Sedgley, Smethwick, Solihull, Stourbridge, Sutton Coldfield
- Tipton
- Walsall, Wednesfield, Wednesbury, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton
- Aston Hall, Birmingham
- Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
- Black Country Living Museum
- Coventry Cathedral
- Dudley Castle
- Coventry Transport Museum
- Netherton tunnel
- Perrott's Folly
- Sarehole Mill
External links