Midlands

Midlands could be in general the central region of any territory.  In Britain and Ireland, the term is reseved for the "middle" in the North-South ("vertical") direction (countries that are oriented more East-West use "Mid" with a "horizontal" meaning.)

In the United Kingdom, Scotland and England both have midland areas that are famous enough to be called the "Midlands" (as a name, not just as a description). In Wales the term for the central region is "Mid Wales" (not "The Welsh Midlands").

The rest of this article deals with the English Region known simply as The Midlands, which is more or less the territory of the early-medieval kingdom of Mercia.

The area lies between Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales, and  includes the counties of Derbyshire, Herefordshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, the West Midlands and Worcestershire.  The 2001 census also included Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire in the Midlands but these are not generally considered to be part of the Midlands but East Anglia.

There are two administrative regions of England in the Midlands: West Midlands and East Midlands. Taken together, these regions do not fully cover the traditional Midlands:
 Part of Northern Lincolnshire is now in Yorkshire and the Humber;
 Peterborough has been removed from Northamptonshire and included with Cambridgeshire in the East of England;
 Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire are now in the South West and South East respectively.
 Bedfordshire is now in the East of England.

The "midland" status of Cheshire is often debated.  South Cheshire has strong links with North Staffordshire (definitely in the Midlands), and North Cheshire with Merseyside and Manchester (both definitely in Northern England). Officially Cheshire is now part of the  North West region.

The largest Midlands conurbation, which includes the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton, is approximately covered by a metropolitan county (which also includes Coventry) also called the West Midlands.  Thus, there are two West Midlands, a Region and a (smaller) County.

Parts of the East Midlands are also densely populated, particularly the triangle formed by the cities of Leicester, Nottingham and Derby.

The South Midlands have an own government for development. They  include Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire with northern Buckinghamshire. In other context Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire are not considered part of the Midlands. They are in the administrative regions of the South East and the East of England.

Notable cities and towns

 Belper, Birmingham, Boston, Burton upon Trent, Buxton
 Chesterfield, Corby, Coventry
 Derby, Dudley
 Gainsborough, Gloucester, Grantham
 Hereford,
 Kettering, Kidderminster
 Leamington Spa, Leicester, Lichfield, Lincoln, Loughborough
 Mansfield, Matlock
 Newark, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Northampton, Nottingham, Nuneaton
 Redditch, Rugby
 Shrewsbury, Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent, Stratford-on-Avon, Solihull
 Tamworth, Telford
 Walsall, Warwick, Wolverhampton, Worcester,

References

Other websites 

Official map of the Midlands, ODPM 

Geography of England