West Midlands
Locator map for the English administrative region of West Midlands.
Metropolitan county of central England, created in 1974; in 1986, most of the functions of the former county council were transferred to the metropolitan borough councils.
Area
900 sq km/347 sq mi
Towns and cities
Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Solihull, Walsall, Wolverhampton (all administrative centres for districts of the same name), Oldbury (administrative centre for Sandwell)
Industries
aircraft components; chemicals; coal mining; engineering; electrical equipment; glass; machine tools; motor vehicles, including Land Rover at Solihull; motor components
Population
(2001) 5,267,300
Famous people
Edward Burne-Jones (painter), Neville Chamberlain (politician), John Curry (ice-skater), Francis Galton (scientist), Jerome K Jerome (writer), Philip Larkin (poet), John Marston (playwright), Frank Whittle (inventor)
Development of the West Midlands Although the West Midlands area was sparsely inhabited for centuries, it is now almost entirely one urban conurbation. Towards the end of the Middle Ages, Coventry became an important centre of the cloth trade. Metalworking began at Birmingham in the 16th century, but the town remained very small until the Industrial Revolution, when the presence of coal and iron ore transformed it into an industrial boom town. The Birmingham area and the nearby Black Country became highly industrialized, notoriously grimy, and densely populated. An enormous range of metal goods was manufactured. Redevelopment in the 20th century included a massive programme of high-rise building and new shopping centres, and population pressure was relieved by the development of new towns such as Telford. |
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