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The West Midlands is a , the City Of Coventry and the City Of Wolverhampton , plus Dudley , Sandwell , Solihull and Walsall . The West Midlands is landlocked, and as a Ceremonial County borders the counties of Warwickshire to the east, Worcestershire to the south, and Staffordshire to the north. The , 2007 . The county is sometimes described as the "West Midlands Metropolitan Area " or the " West Midlands Conurbation ", although these have different, and less clearly defined, boundaries. The conurbation, or urban area, does not include Coventry for example. The seven metropolitan boroughs, along with the nearby unitary authority of , 2006 . URL accessed March 10 , 2007 . 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 . HISTORY See Also: History of West Midlands Although the modern county has only existed since 1974, the settlements of the West Midlands have long been important centres of commerce and industry. Coventry was one of England's most important cities during the Middle Ages , with its prosperity built upon wool and cloth manufacture. Birmingham and Wolverhampton have a tradition of industry dating back to the 16th century, when small metal-working industries developed. Birmingham was known for its manufacture of Small Arms , whereas Wolverhampton became a centre of lock manufacture and brass working. The coal and iron ore deposits of the Black Country area provided a ready source of raw materials. The area grew rapidly during the Industrial Revolution , and by the 20th century had grown into one large conurbation. Coventry was slower to develop, but by the early 20th century, it had became an important centre of bicycle and car manufacture. The area straddles the historic border between the counties of Warwickshire (Birmingham and Coventry), Staffordshire (the north), Worcestershire (the south). 1966 saw a substantial reform in the local government of the area as the patchwork of County Borough s with Municipal Borough s and Urban District s in between was replaced by a core of county boroughs covering a contiguous area, roughly as follows:
Around the periphery of this area, three other towns remained separate ( Halesowen , Stourbridge and Sutton Coldfield ), while Aldridge and Brownhills joined to form a single unit, called Aldridge-Brownhills . In the same year, a single West Midlands Constabulary was formed for the Black Country county boroughs, whilst Birmingham retained its Birmingham City Police and Solihull continued being policed by the Warwickshire Constabulary . The West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority was established in 1968. In 1974, the Local Government Act 1972 came into effect, creating the metropolitan county of West Midlands. This area was based on the seven county boroughs and the other non-county boroughs and urban districts around the fringe of the conurbation. The new area consisted of seven new metropolitan boroughs, with Aldridge-Brownhills added to Walsall; Halesowen and Stourbridge to Dudley and Sutton Coldfield to Birmingham. A new borough of Sandwell was formed by the merger of West Bromwich and Warley (the actual designation of Warley itself was abolished and the three towns of Smethwick, Oldbury and Rowley Regis reinstated as component parts of Sandwell). Solihull took in much of the suburban fringe to the east of Birmingham, including the former villages of Chelmsley Wood and Castle Bromwich , also Birmingham Airport , and the area of countryside between Solihull and Coventry, whilst Coventry itself and Wolverhampton were more-or-less unaltered. This led to (apart from in the east, with Coventry and the Meriden Gap) quite a tightly defined metropolitan border, excluding such places as Burntwood , Bromsgrove , Cannock , Kidderminster , Lichfield and Wombourne which had been considered for inclusion in the West Midlands metropolitan area by the Redcliffe-Maud Report . The 1974 reform created the West Midlands County Council that covered the entire area and dealt with strategic issues. A new West Midlands Police force was formed covering the entire area, with the West Midlands Constabulary and Birmingham City Police abolished, and also taking over responsibility from the county forces. Margaret Thatcher 's government abolished the metropolitan county councils with the Local Government Act 1985 , in March 1986, causing the seven metropolitan boroughs to become de facto Unitary Authorities with most of the County Councils ' functions given to the District Councils . LOCAL GOVERNMENT , depicted here, became redundant with the abolition of the council in 1986 (though similar arms are used by the West Midlands Fire Service ).]] Metropolitan boroughs The West Midlands is divided into seven , Coventry , Dudley , Sandwell , Solihull , Walsall and Wolverhampton (see map). Three of these boroughs (Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton) have City Status . Between 1974 and 1986 the county had a two-tier system of local government, and the seven districts shared power with the County Council . However, when the county council was abolished in 1986, most of its functions were devolved to the districts which effectively became Unitary Authorities , with responsibility for most local authority functions. County-wide services Although the county council was abolished, some local services continue to be run on a county-wide basis, administered by Joint-boards , of the seven districts. These are:
These joint-boards are made up of councillors appointed from each of the seven West Midlands district councils. In addition to this, the West Midlands Joint Committee exists as a joint body of the seven districts to co-ordinate matters such as roads and planning. The seven West Midlands councils jointly produce a county-wide Local Transport Plan {Link without Title} The boroughs jointly own a share in Birmingham International Airport , which used to be owned by the county council. Boundary changes
SETTLEMENTS
PLACES OF INTEREST See Also: :Category:Visitor attractions in Birmingham, England EDUCATION The West Midlands contains six universities;
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. REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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