West Midlands (region)

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**West Midlands**
Geography
West Midlands region shown within England
Status	Region
Area — Total	Ranked 7th 13,004 km²
NUTS 1	UKG
Demographics
Population — Total — Density	Ranked 5th 5,267,337 (2001) 405/km²
Government
HQ	Birmingham
Assembly — Type	West Midlands non-directly elected
European parliament	West Midlands
Website

The West Midlands is an official Region of England, covering the western half of the Midlands.

1 Geography
- 1.1 Towns and cities
2 Regional Assembly
3 Local government
4 External links

[edit] Geography

The official region contains the large conurbation surrounding Birmingham at its centre. But also covers the predominantly rural shire counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire.

Unofficially the West Midlands region also spreads as far as Cheshire, Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, but these are not part of the official region.

There is some confusion in the use of the term "West Midlands", as the name is also used for the much smaller West Midlands county, and is still used by various organisations within that area such as West Midlands Police and West Midlands Fire Service.

The highest point in the region is Black Mountain, at 703 metres.

[edit] Towns and cities

Major towns and cities in the West Midlands region include:

[edit] Regional Assembly

The official representative body of the region is the West Midlands Regional Assembly which has limited administrative functions such as regional planning and economic development. The assembly is not an elected body, but is made up of members appointed from local councils across the region, and members from regional interest groups such as business and enviromental groups and trade unions.

[edit] Local government

The official region consists of the following subdivisions:

Ceremonial county	County/ unitary	Districts
Herefordshire
Shropshire	Shropshire †	Bridgnorth, Bridgnorth, North Shropshire, Oswestry, Shrewsbury and Atcham, South Shropshire
Shropshire	Telford and Wrekin
Staffordshire	Staffordshire †	Cannock Chase, East Staffordshire, Lichfield, Newcastle-under-Lyme, South Staffordshire, Stafford, Staffordshire Moorlands, Tamworth,
Staffordshire	Stoke-on-Trent
Warwickshire †		North Warwickshire, Nuneaton and Bedworth, Rugby, Stratford-on-Avon, Warwick
West Midlands *		Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall, Wolverhampton,
Worcestershire †		Bromsgrove, Malvern Hills, Redditch, Worcester, Wychavon, Wyre Forest

Key: shire county = † | metropolitan county = *

[edit] External links

The United Kingdom (UK)	Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
Image:Flag of England (bordered).svg England \| Image:Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland \| Image:Flag of Northern Ireland (bordered).svg Northern Ireland \| Image:Flag of Wales (bordered).svg Wales
Regions of England: East of England \| East Midlands \| London \| North East \| North West \| South East \| South West \| West Midlands \| Yorkshire and the Humber

Districts of the West Midlands	Image:Flag of England.svg
Birmingham \| Bridgnorth \| Bromsgrove \| Cannock Chase \| Coventry \| Dudley \| East Staffordshire \| Herefordshire \| Lichfield \| Malvern Hills \| Newcastle-under-Lyme \| North Shropshire \| North Warwickshire \| Nuneaton and Bedworth \| Oswestry \| Redditch \| Rugby \| Sandwell \| Shrewsbury and Atcham \| Solihull \| South Shropshire \| South Staffordshire \| Stafford \| Staffordshire Moorlands \| Stoke-on-Trent \| Stratford-on-Avon \| Tamworth \| Telford and Wrekin \| Walsall \| Warwick \| Wolverhampton \| Worcester \| Wychavon \| Wyre Forest
Counties with multiple districts: Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Worcestershire