West Midlands (county)

The County of West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a population of around 2,600,000 people. The county contains three major cities, these being Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton. Other large settlements in the county include Sutton Coldfield, Solihull, and the Black Country towns of Dudley, Walsall and West Bromwich.

The name "West Midlands" is also used for the much larger West Midlands region, which sometimes causes confusion.

 Geography 
The West Midlands borders the counties of Warwickshire to the east, Worcestershire to the south, and Staffordshire to the north.

The West Midlands is one of the most heavily urbanised counties in the UK. Birmingham, Wolverhampton, the Black Country and Solihull together form the largest conurbation in the UK outside London, with a combined population of around 2.27 million.

The West Midlands is not entirely urban; Coventry is separated from the Birmingham urban area, by stretch of green belt land roughly 15 miles across known as the "Meriden Gap", 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.

 Towns and villages 
 Aldridge
 Balsall Common, Bloxwich, Bilston, Birmingham. Blackheath, Brierley Hill
 Coventry
 Dorridge, Dudley
 Halesowen, Hampton-in-Arden
 Little Aston
 Marston Green, Meriden
 Oldbury
 Rowley Regis
 Sedgley, Smethwick, Solihull, Stourbridge, Sutton Coldfield, Streetly
 Tipton
 Walsall, Wednesfield, Wednesbury, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton

 Places of interest 
 Aston Hall, Birmingham
 Bescot Stadium (Walsall FC)
 Birmingham Bullring
 Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
 Birmingham Hippodrome
 Birmingham Railway Museum
 Birmingham Wheel
 Black Country Living Museum
 Blakesley Hall
 Cadbury World, Bournville, Birmingham
 Coventry Cathedral
 Coventry SkyDome Arena
 Coventry Transport Museum
 Dudley Castle
 Dudley Zoo
 Edgbaston Cricket Ground, Birmingham
 Internation Convention Centre (including Symphony Hall), Birmingham
 Molineux stadium (Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.)
 National Exhibition Centre
 National Indoor Arena (NIA), Birmingham
 Netherton tunnel
 Perrott's Folly
 Ricoh Arena (Coventry City Football Club)
 Sarehole Mill
 Sea Life Centre, Birmingham
 St Andrews (Birmingham City Football Club)
 The Hawthorns, (West Bromwich Albion Football Club)
 Thinktank, Millennium Point, Birmingham
 Villa Park (Aston Villa Football Club)
 Walsall Art Gallery
 Wightwick Manor

 Education 
The West Midlands contains 6 universities;
 University of Birmingham
 Aston University
 University of Central England
 University of Warwick
 Coventry University
 Wolverhampton University

Though Warwick and Birmingham are considered the most prestigious of the universities in the area, all have a large intake of students from around the country.

 Other websites 
 Photographs of Birmingham and the West Midlands
 Identity in the West Midlands 
 West Midlands Joint Committee 
 West Midlands NO! Campaign 
 West Midlands Groups Communities 


Category:Ceremonial counties of England