Midlands (England)

Midlands (England)
The Midlands.

The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important location for the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries. The greater part of the area is now administered as the Government Office Regions of the West Midlands and East Midlands, though parts of the traditional Midlands are also in surrounding regions, namely Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough (East of England), Oxfordshire (South East), Gloucestershire (South West) and Northern Lincolnshire.

Contents

Extent of the Midlands

The Midlands does not correspond to any current administrative area, and there is therefore no strict definition. However, it is generally considered to include the counties of Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Rutland, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, the West Midlands and Worcestershire. Lincolnshire is considered by some part of the Midlands but generally excluded on account of its extensive coastline. The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica describes Gloucestershire as "west midland", Bedfordshire as "south midland", and Huntingdonshire as "east midland" counties respectively.

The two Government Office Regions of West and East Midlands.

With more restricted boundaries than the traditional area known as the Midlands, two modern Government Office Regions together represent the latter: West Midlands and East Midlands. These are also constituencies of the European Parliament.

The West Midlands comprises the shire counties of (1) Staffordshire, (2) Warwickshire and (3) Worcestershire (with their respective districts), the unitary counties of (4) Herefordshire and (5) Shropshire, the metropolitan boroughs of (6) Birmingham, (7) Coventry, (8) Dudley, (9) Sandwell, (10) Solihull, (11) Walsall and (12) Wolverhampton, and the unitary boroughs of (13) Stoke-on-Trent and (14) Telford and Wrekin. The East Midlands comprises the shire counties of (15) Derbyshire, (16) Leicestershire, (17) Lincolnshire, (18) Northamptonshire and (19) Nottinghamshire (with their respective districts) and the unitary county of (20) Rutland. The two regions have a combined population of 9,439,516 (2001 census), and an area of 11,053 sq mi (28,631 km²).

The largest Midlands conurbation, which includes the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton, is approximately covered by the former metropolitan county (which also includes the city of Coventry) of the West Midlands. Parts of the East Midlands are also densely populated, particularly the triangle formed by the cities of Nottingham, Leicester and Derby, which also includes sizeable towns such as Loughborough and the Long EatonBeestonStapleford subconurbation.

Various part of the Midlands (particularly Warwickshire) are somewhat poetically referred to as the Heart of England, especially in tourist literature.

Cities and notable towns

Sport

Football

Club League City/Town Stadium Capacity
Aston Villa FC Barclays Premier League Birmingham Villa Park 42,788
Stoke City FC Barclays Premier League Stoke-on-Trent Britannia Stadium 28,384
West Bromwich Albion FC Barclays Premier League West Bromwich The Hawthorns 26,500
Wolverhampton Wanderers FC Barclays Premier League Wolverhampton The Molineux 28,525
Birmingham City FC NPower Championship Birmingham St Andrew's 30,079
Coventry City FC NPower Championship Coventry Ricoh Arena 32,609
Derby County FC NPower Championship Derby Pride Park Stadium 33,597
Leicester City FC NPower Championship Leicester Walkers Stadium 32,500
Nottingham Forest FC NPower Championship Nottingham City Ground 30,576
Chesterfield FC NPower League 1 Chesterfield B2net Stadium 10,600
Notts County FC NPower League 1 Nottingham Meadow Lane 21,300
Walsall FC NPower League 1 Walsall Bescot Stadium 11,300
Burton Albion FC NPower League 2 Burton Upon Trent Pirelli Stadium 6,912
Hereford United FC NPower League 2 Hereford Edgar Street 5,075
Northampton Town FC NPower League 2 Northampton Sixfields Stadium 7,653
Port Vale NPower League 2 Stoke-on-Trent Vale Park 19,052
Shrewsbury Town FC NPower League 2 Shrewsbury Prostar Stadium 9,875

Rugby union

Club League City/Town Stadium Capacity
Leicester Tigers Aviva Premiership Leicester Welford Road 24,000
Northampton Saints Aviva Premiership Northampton Franklin's Gardens 13,600
Worcester Warriors Aviva Premiership Worcester Sixways Stadium 12,068
Moseley RFU Championship Birmingham Billesley Common 3,000
Nottingham RFU Championship Nottingham Meadow Lane 19,588

External links

Coordinates: 52°42′N 1°30′W / 52.7°N 1.5°W / 52.7; -1.5


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