View source for West Midlands (region)

[[File:EnglandWestMidlands.png|thumb|West Midlands]]
The '''West Midlands''' is an official [[Regions of England|Region of England]], covering the western half of the [[Midlands]]. 

== Geography ==

The official region contains the large [[conurbation]] that includes [[Birmingham]] and [[Wolverhampton]] and includes also the mainly 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)|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 (hill)|Black Mountain]], at 703 metres.

=== Towns and cities ===

Major towns and cities in the West Midlands region include:

* [[Birmingham]], [[Bromsgrove]], [[Burton upon Trent]] 
* [[Coventry]]
* [[Droitwich Spa]], [[Dudley]]
* [[Evesham]]
* [[Hereford]]
* [[Kenilworth]], [[Kidderminster]]
* [[Leamington Spa]], [[Lichfield]]
* [[Newcastle-under-Lyme]], [[Nuneaton]]
* [[Redditch]], [[Rugby, Warwickshire|Rugby]]
* [[Shrewsbury]], [[Stafford]], [[Stoke-on-Trent]], [[Stratford-upon-Avon]], [[Solihull]],Sutton Coldfield
* [[Tamworth]], [[Telford]]
* [[Walsall]], [[Warwick]], [[West Bromwich]], [[Wolverhampton]], [[Worcester, England|Worcester]]

== 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 environmental groups and trade unions.

== Local government ==

The official [[Regions of England|region]] consists of the following subdivisions:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Ceremonial county || County/ unitary || Districts
|-
| colspan="3" | [[Herefordshire]]
|-
| rowspan="2" | [[Shropshire]] || Shropshire † || [[Bridgnorth (district)|Bridgnorth]], [[North Shropshire]], [[Oswestry (borough)|Oswestry]], [[Shrewsbury and Atcham]], [[South Shropshire]]
|-
| colspan="2" | [[Telford and Wrekin]]
|-
| rowspan="2" | [[Staffordshire]] || Staffordshire † || [[Cannock Chase (district)|Cannock Chase]], [[East Staffordshire]], [[Lichfield (district)|Lichfield]], [[Newcastle-under-Lyme (borough)|Newcastle-under-Lyme]], [[South Staffordshire]], [[Stafford (borough)|Stafford]], [[Staffordshire Moorlands]], [[Tamworth]], 
|-
| colspan="2" | [[Stoke-on-Trent]]
|-
| colspan="2" | [[Warwickshire]] † || [[North Warwickshire]], [[Nuneaton and Bedworth]], [[Rugby (borough)|Rugby]], [[Stratford-on-Avon (district)|Stratford-on-Avon]], [[Warwick (district)|Warwick]]
|-
| colspan="2" | [[West Midlands (county)|West Midlands]] * || [[Birmingham]], [[Coventry]], [[Dudley (borough)|Dudley]], [[Sandwell (borough)|Sandwell]], [[Solihull (borough)|Solihull]], [[Walsall (borough)|Walsall]], [[Wolverhampton]]
|-
| colspan="2" | [[Worcestershire]] † || [[Bromsgrove (district)|Bromsgrove]], [[Malvern Hills (district)|Malvern Hills]], [[Redditch]], [[Worcester]], [[Wychavon]], [[Wyre Forest (district)|Wyre Forest]]
|}

Key: [[shire county]] = † | [[metropolitan county]] = *

== Economy ==
Coal mining used to be the main industry of the Black Country. Nationally famous companies in the West Midlands are Cadbury's in [[Bournville]], Birmingham; the brewing companies such as [[Molson Coors Brewing Company|Coors Brewers]] in Burton on Trent, as well as [[Marmite]]; [[J. C. Bamford|JCB]] is based in Staffordshire.

== Local media ==
* The West Midlands region of the [[BBC]] is based at the [[The Mailbox|Mailbox]] in Birmingham. From there, the regional programme [[Midlands Today]] is produced. [[Central Independent Television|ITV Central]] broadcasts from Birmingham, with its [[Central Tonight]] regional programme.
* BBC Radios [[BBC WM|WM]], [[BBC Coventry & Warwickshire|Coventry & Warwickshire]], [[BBC Radio Stoke|Stoke]], [[BBC Hereford & Worcester|Hereford & Worcester]] and [[BBC Radio Shropshire|Shropshire]].
* Commercial radio stations: [[BRMB]], [[Beacon Radio]] in Wolverhampton, [[Mercia FM]] in Coventry, [[Touch FM (Burton, Lichfield and Tamworth)]] in Tamworth, [[Touch FM (Coventry)]], [[Kerrang! 105.2]] in Birmingham, [[Wyvern FM]] in Worcester, [[100.7 Heart FM]] in Birmingham, and [[Signal 1]] from Stoke.
* Newspapers - the [[Birmingham Post]], [[Birmingham Mail]], [[Express & Star]] in Wolverhampton, [[The Sentinel (Britain)|The Sentinel]] in Stoke-on-Trent and [[Coventry Evening Telegraph]].

== Other websites ==
* [http://www.advantagewm.co.uk/ Advantage West Midlands - Regional Development Agency]
* [http://www.go-wm.gov.uk Government Office for the West Midlands] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111026042255/http://www.go-wm.gov.uk/ |date=2011-10-26 }}
* [http://www.wmra.gov.uk West Midlands Regional Assembly] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222044235/http://www.wmra.gov.uk/ |date=2014-02-22 }}
* [http://www.direct.gov.uk/Dl1/Directories/LocalCouncils/LocalGovernmentByRegion/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4003650&chk=J1Wt8n Government's list of councils in the West Midlands] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061130220616/http://www.direct.gov.uk/Dl1/Directories/LocalCouncils/LocalGovernmentByRegion/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4003650&chk=J1Wt8n |date=2006-11-30 }}
* [http://www.mlawestmidlands.org.uk/ MLA West Midlands - Museums, Libraries and Archives Regional Agency] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100318045124/http://www.mlawestmidlands.org.uk/ |date=2010-03-18 }}
* [http://www.westmidlandsno.org.uk West Midlands NO! - campaign against regional government in the West Midlands] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080501115717/http://www.westmidlandsno.org.uk/ |date=2008-05-01 }}
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[[Category:West Midlands (region)| ]]