West Midlands (region): Map

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The West Midlands is an official region of England

, covering the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands

. It contains the second most populous British

city, Birmingham

, and the larger West Midlands conurbation

, which includes the city of Wolverhampton

and large towns of Dudley

, Solihull

, Walsall

and West Bromwich

. The city of Coventry

is also located within the West Midlands county, but is separated from the conurbation to the west by several miles of green belt.

The region is geographically diverse, from the urban central areas of the conurbation to the rural western counties of Shropshire

and Herefordshire

which border Wales

. The longest river in the UK, the River Severn, traverses the region southeastwards, flowing through the county towns of Shrewsbury

and Worcester

, and the Ironbridge Gorge

, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. Staffordshire is home to the industrialised Potteries conurbation, including the city of Stoke-on-Trent

, and the Staffordshire Moorlands area, which borders the southeastern Peak District National Park

near Leek

. The region also encompasses five Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Warwickshire

is home to the town of Stratford upon Avon

, the birthplace of poet William Shakespeare.

Geography

The official region contains the large conurbation

that includes Birmingham

and Wolverhampton

, but also covers the predominantly rural shire counties of Herefordshire

, Shropshire

, Staffordshire, Warwickshire

and Worcestershire.

Unofficially the West Midlands region also spreads as far as Gloucestershire

and Oxfordshire, but these are not part of the official region.

There is some confusion in the use of the term "West Midlands", as the name is also used for the much smaller West Midlands county, and is still used by various organisations within that area such as West Midlands Police and West Midlands Fire Service.

The highest point in the region is Black Mountain

, at 703 metres (2,307 ft) in west Herefordshire on the border with Powys

, Wales

.

The region contains five Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs), including all of the Shropshire Hills

, Malvern Hills

and Cannock Chase

, and parts of the Wye Valley and Cotswolds

. The Peak District

national park also stretches into the northern corner of Staffordshire.

Transport

Road

Numerous notable roads pass through the region, with most converging around the central conurbation. The M5, which connects South West England to the region, passes through Worcestershire, near to Worcester

, and through the West Midlands county, past West Bromwich

, with its northern terminus at its junction with the M6 just south of Walsall

. The M6, which has its southern terminus just outside the southeast of the region at its junction with the M1, and which connects the region to North West England, passes Rugby

and Nuneaton

in Warwickshire, Coventry

and Birmingham

, and Stafford

and Stoke-on-Trent

in Staffordshire. The M6 toll provides an alternative route to the M6 between Coleshill

and Cannock

, passing north of Sutton Coldfield

and just south of Lichfield

. The M40 connects the region through South East England to London, with its northern terminus at its junction with the M42; it passes close to Warwick

and Banbury

. The M42 connects the M5 at Bromsgrove

, passing around the south and east of Birmingham, joining the M40 and M6, passing Solihull

and Castle Bromwich

, to Tamworth

, northeast of Birmingham. The M50

connects the M5 from near Tewkesbury

to Ross-on-Wye

in the southwest. The M54 connects Wellington

in the west, passing Telford

, to the M6 near Cannock

. The A5 road traverses the region northwest-southeast, passing through Shrewsbury

, Cannock

, Tamworth

and Nuneaton

Transport policy

As part of the transport planning system the Regional Assembly is under statutory requirement to produce a Regional Transport Strategy to provide long term planning for transport in the region. This involves region wide transport schemes such as those carried out by the Highways Agency and Network Rail.

Within the region the local transport authorities carry out transport planning through the use of a Local Transport Plan which outlines their strategies, policies and implementation programme. The most recent LTP is that for the period 2006-11. In the West Midlands region the following transport authorities have published their LTP online: Herefordshire

, Shropshire

U.A., Staffordshire, Telford and Wrekin U.A.,

 Warwickshire, West Midlands  and Worcestershire. The transport authority of Stoke-on-Trent U.A. publishes a Joint Local Transport Plan in partnership with Staffordshire County Council to cover the North Staffordshire Major Urban Area, which includes Stoke-on-Trent and the more urban parts of Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire Moorlands.

Towns and cities

Bold indicates city status.

Major towns and cities in the West Midlands region include:

Population > 750,000

Birmingham , WMS

Population > 250,000

Coventry , WMS
Stoke-on-Trent , STS
Wolverhampton , WMS

Population > 100,000

Dudley , WMS
Walsall , WMS
Telford , SHR
West Bromwich , WMS
Sutton Coldfield , WMS

Population > 70,000

Population > 50,000

Burton-upon-Trent , STS
Cannock , STS
Halesowen , WMS
Hereford , HER
Kidderminster , WOR
Rugby , WAR
Stafford , STS
Stourbridge , WMS

Other Notable

Leamington Spa , WAR
Leek , STS
Lichfield , STS
Stratford-upon-Avon , WAR
Warwick , WAR

Regional Assembly

The official representative body of the region is the West Midlands Regional Assembly which has limited administrative functions such as regional planning and economic development. The assembly is not an elected body, but is made up of members appointed from local councils across the region, and members from regional interest groups such as business and environmental groups and trade unions, known as a quango. It is based on Edward Street in Birmingham, near the National Indoor Arena

Demographics

For top-tier authorities in the West Midlands, Stoke on Trent has the highest teenage pregnancy rate. For council districts, Nuneaton and Bedworth

in Warwickshire has the highest rate closely followed by Tamworth

. For top-tier authorities, Shropshire has the lowest rate, and for council districts Malvern Hills has the lowest rate.

Local government

The official region consists of the following subdivisions:

Ceremonial county	County/ unitary	Districts
Herefordshire
Shropshire	Shropshire U.A.
Shropshire	Telford and Wrekin U.A.
Staffordshire	Staffordshire †	a.) Cannock Chase , b.) East Staffordshire , c.) Lichfield , d.) Newcastle-under-Lyme , e.) South Staffordshire , f.) Stafford, g.) Staffordshire Moorlands, h.) Tamworth
Staffordshire	Stoke-on-Trent U.A.
Warwickshire †		a.) North Warwickshire , b.) Nuneaton and Bedworth , c.) Rugby , d.) Stratford-on-Avon , e.) Warwick
West Midlands *		a.) Birmingham , b.) Coventry , c.) Dudley, d.) Sandwell, e.) Solihull , f.) Walsall , g.) Wolverhampton
Worcestershire †		a.) Bromsgrove , b.) Malvern Hills, c.) Redditch, d.) Worcester , e.) Wychavon , f.) Wyre Forest

Key: shire county = † | metropolitan county = *

Demography

Ceremonial County	Population	Population Density	Largest local authority	Largest settlement
West Midlands (region)	5,267,337	405/km²	Birmingham (1,006,500)	Birmingham (970,892)
West Midlands	2,600,100	2,884/km²	Birmingham (1,006,500)	Birmingham (970,892)
Staffordshire	1,062,500	391/km²	Stoke-on-Trent (240,636)	Stoke-on-Trent (259,252)
Worcestershire	552,900	318/km²	Wychavon (116,300)	Worcester (93,400)
Warwickshire	522,200	264/km²	Warwick (132,900)	Nuneaton (70,721)
Shropshire	451,100	129/km²	Shropshire (290,900)	Telford (138,241)
Herefordshire	177,800	82/km²	N/A	Hereford (50,400)

The West Midlands' population accounts for almost 11% of England's overall population. 49.36% of the region's population resides in the West Midlands county, 20.17% in Staffordshire, 10.49% in Worcestershire, 9.91% in Warwickshire, 8.56% in Shropshire, and 3.37% in Herefordshire.

Economy

Herefordshire

Bulmers Cider is in Hereford. Cadbury UK make milk chocolate near Marlbrook

(near Leominster

Shropshire

Müller Dairy Ltd is based in Market Drayton

. The PDSA is based in Telford

along with the MoD have a significant depot at Donnington

there is high-technology industries Unimation, Nikon, Hitachi Maxell, Ricoh, Capgemini, Fujitsu and Electronic Data Systems. In Hortonwood, Denso Manufacturing UK Ltd make car air-conditioning system and GKN Wheels make car wheels.

Staffordshire

The brewing companies such as Coors Brewers are in Burton on Trent, as well as Marmite, Marston's, GNC UK (health supplement) and Punch Taverns. JCB is based in Staffordshire. Michelin Tyres are made in Sideway

in Stoke-on-Trent, with Royal Doulton and Wedgwood based in Barlaston

. Manor Bakeries make Mr Kipling slices and Cherry Bakewell in Springfields in the south of Stoke. RoadChef are at Norton Canes

, near Cannock

. Armitage Shanks is in Rugeley

. Areva T&D (formerly owned by Alstom) is based in Stafford

as well as a factory and UK headquarters of Bostik. Numark Pharmacy is in Tamworth

(former base of Reliant). Premier Foods make Bird's Custard, Angel Delight and Marvel powdered milk in Knighton

, west of Eccleshall

near the Shropshire boundary.

Warwickshire

ConocoPhillips UK, JET UK (petrol), Bridgestone UK, National Grid plc, Telent, Calor, Volvo Group UK and a large data centre of IBM are in Warwick

. BMW have their main European four-cylinder engine plant at Hams Hall

near the M42. Codemasters is in Leamington Spa

. Subaru UK is in Coleshill

. ALDI UK is in Atherstone

. Holland & Barrett, the health food chain, Triton Showers (the UK's largest shower company), and Adams Childrenswear are based in Nuneaton

. Aston Martin and Land Rover have their headquarters in Gaydon

. Converteam UK (former Alstom), Morgan Est, and the european HQ of Gap are in Rugby

. NFU Mutual is in Tiddington

near Stratford and the NFU is in Stoneleigh as is AGCO Limited UK, who own Massey Ferguson; the large factory at Coventry closed in 2002. The British Horse Society is in Kenilworth

West Midlands conurbation

Nationally famous companies in the West Midlands include Cadbury's in Bournville

, Birmingham. Mitchells and Butlers, the pub chain company, CrossCountry, and National Express are in Birmingham. Small-scale production of MG cars was started again by Nanjing Automobile Group on part of the former MG Rover Group site at Longbridge

in 2008. H. Samuel, the jewellers, is in Hockley

of the Jewellery Quarter

. RoSPA is based in Edgbaston

; Dollond & Aitchison and ATS Euromaster are in Aston

; Goodyear Tyres and Dunlop Tyres are in Erdington

; and Severn Trent (water) in Sheldon

. AGA Consumer Products Ltd is in Shirley

. Daihatsu UK is in West Bromwich

. E.ON UK (former Powergen), Jaguar Cars and Volvo Cars UK, Peugeot UK (head office), Jewson, the Learning and Skills Council, and Thomson Holidays are in Coventry. The Whitley plant

, just south of Coventry, has the main research centre for Jaguar cars. The main Land Rover factory, Nationwide Autocentre, and Enterprise Inns are in Solihull

. Carillion and Tarmac are in Wolverhampton, with Poundland in Willenhall

. Hampson Industries is in Brierley Hill

Worcestershire

Halfords and GKN are in Redditch. Lea & Perrins is in Worcester

Education

Birmingham (8), Walsall (2), Wolverhampton (1), Warwickshire (6), Stoke on Trent (1), and Telford and Wrekin (2) have selective schools. The other counties or metropolitan boroughs do not—being completely comprehensive. Virtually all of the grammar schools are in the top twenty schools for the West Midlands. Competition for these schools can be high, with their excellent records. At GCSE, the best performing area is Solihull, followed closely by Shropshire. Herefordshire is also above the England average. The worst performing area is Sandwell, followed by Stoke-on-Trent. Wolverhampton and Walsall also do not perform well. For a metropolitan borough, Dudley performs higher than many in Birmingham. At A level, the best performing area is Herefordshire, followed by Shropshire. All the other areas of the West Midlands perform under the UK average. Solihull does not perform as well at A level as it does at GCSE.