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.

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 Eaton–Beeston–Stapleford 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

• Birmingham, Boston, Burton upon Trent,
• Chesterfield, Corby, Coventry,
• Derby, Dudley,
• Halesowen, Hereford,
• Kettering, Kidderminster
• Leamington Spa, Leicester, Lichfield, Lincoln, Loughborough,
• Mansfield,
• Newcastle-under-Lyme, Northampton, Nottingham, Nuneaton,
• Oakham,
• Redditch, Rugby, Rushden,
• Shrewsbury, Smethwick, Solihull, Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent, Stourbridge, Stratford-upon-Avon, Sutton Coldfield,
• Tamworth, Telford,
• Walsall, Warwick, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton, Worcester.

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

• Tourism info for the midlands

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