West Midlands (county)
| West Midlands | |
|---|---|
| |
| Geography | |
| Status: | Ceremonial and Administrative County (no county council) |
| Region: | West Midlands |
| Area: - Total | Ranked 42nd 902 km² |
| ONS code: | 2E |
| NUTS 2: | UKG3 |
| Demographics | |
| Population: - Total (2002 est.) - Density | Ranked 2nd 2,575,768 2,856 / km² |
| Ethnicity: | 80.0% White 13.4% S.Asian 3.7% Afro-Carib. |
| Politics | |
| Members of Parliament | |
| Bob Ainsworth, Adrian Bailey, Richard Burden, Liam Byrne, Ross Cranston, Jim Cunningham, Bruce George, Roger Godsiff, Sylvia Heal, Lynne Jones, Khalid Mahmood, Rob Marris, Stephen James McCabe, Andrew Mitchell, Estelle Morris, Ian Pearson, Ken Purchase, Geoffrey Robinson, Richard Shepherd, Debra Shipley, Clare Short, Siôn Simon, John Spellar, Caroline Spelman, Gisela Stuart, John Taylor, Dennis Turner, Tom Watson, David Winnick | |
| Districts | |
 | |
The County of West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England, formed in 1974. Since 1986 it has had no county council. The county contains the cities of Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Coventry.
It also contains the metropolitan boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, and Walsall. It covers much of the Black Country, and borders Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Staffordshire.
Some confusion is caused by the use of the same name for the much larger West Midlands Region of England.
Birmingham, Wolverhampton, the Black Country and Solihull together form the largest urban conurbation in England outside London with a combined population of around 2.28 million.
Coventry is separate from the main urban area surrounding Birmingham, a stretch of green belt land, roughly 15 miles across known as the "Meriden Gap" exists between the Birmingham conurbation and Coventry, 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.
Administration
The county was originally run by the West Midlands County Council, however this was abolished in 1986 and many of its powers were devolved to the metropolitan borough councils.
Despite the abolition of the county council, several joint-authorities exist to run some services on a county-wide basis.
Perhaps the most important of these, is the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (Centro) which is resposible for planning and co-ordinating public transport across the county.
There is also the West Midlands Fire Service responsible for fire protection and rescue, and the West Midlands Police, who are overseen by a joint police authority. Other functions such as waste disposal and civil defence are also organised jointly.
The joint-authorities are made up of appointed councillors from each of the metropolitan borough councils.
The boroughs also jointly own a share in Birmingham International Airport, which used to be owned by the county council.
The West Midlands is still a Ceremonial County with a Lord-Lieutenant.
History
Main article: History of West Midlands.
Most of the area now covered by the West Midlands was historically covered by other counties. Birmingham and Coventry were traditionally in Warwickshire; Wolverhampton and most of the Black Country were in Staffordshire and some of the Black Country was in Worcestershire, many of these were administered as county boroughs.
The county was created by the Local Government Act 1972 and came into being in 1974.
Towns and villages
- Aldridge
- Balsall Common, Bloxwich, Bilston, Birmingham. Blackheath, Brierley Hill
- Coventry
- Dorridge, Dudley
- Halesowen, Hampton-in-Arden
- Marston Green, Meriden
- Oldbury
- Pennfields
- Rowley Regis
- Sedgley, Smethwick, Solihull, Stourbridge, Sutton Coldfield
- Tipton
- Walsall, Wednesfield, Wednesbury, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton
Places of interest
- Aston Hall, Birmingham
- Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
- Black Country Living Museum
- Coventry Cathedral
- Dudley Castle
- Coventry Transport Museum
- Netherton tunnel
- Perrott's Folly
- Sarehole Mill
See also
Category:Places of interest in Birmingham, England
External links
- Photographs of Birmingham and the West Midlands (http://www.virtualbrum.co.uk)
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no:West Midlands