West Midlands (county)

West Midlands
Metropolitan and Ceremonial county
Birmingham skyline, the Self Sacrifice (Lady Godiva) statue in Coventry, and Dudley Castle
West Midlands within England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	West Midlands
Established	1 April 1974
Established by	Local Government Act 1972
Time zone	UTC+0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)
Members of Parliament	14 Conservative 14 Labour List of MPs
Police	West Midlands Police
Ceremonial county
Lord Lieutenant	John Crabtree, OBE
High Sheriff	Wade Lyn, CBE[1] (2020–21)
Area	902 km2 (348 sq mi)
• Ranked	42nd of 48
Population (2022)	2,916,458
• Ranked	2nd of 48
Density	3,235/km2 (8,380/sq mi)
Ethnicity	61.4% White 22.9% Asian 8.1% Black 4.2% Mixed 3.5% Other [2]
Metropolitan county
Government	West Midlands Combined Authority • Mayor Richard Parker (L)
Admin HQ	Birmingham
Area	902 km2 (348 sq mi)
ONS code	2E
ITL	UKG3
Website	wmca.org.uk
Districts
Districts of West Midlands
Districts	Wolverhampton Dudley Walsall Sandwell Birmingham Solihull Coventry

West Midlands is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the larger West Midlands region of England. A landlocked county, it is bordered by Staffordshire to the north and west, Worcestershire to the south, and is surrounded by Warwickshire to the east. The largest settlement is the city of Birmingham.

The county is almost entirely urban, with an area of 902 km² (348 sq mi) and a population of 2,919,600, making it the second most populous county in England after Greater London. After Birmingham (1,144,919) the largest settlements are the cities of Coventry (345,324) and Wolverhampton (263,700), Solihull (126,577), and Sutton Coldfield (109,899). Nearly all of the county's settlements belong to the West Midlands and Coventry built-up areas, though the 'Meriden Gap' between them is rural. For local government purposes West Midlands comprises seven metropolitan boroughs: Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall, and Wolverhampton. They collaborate through the West Midlands Combined Authority. The county was historically part of Staffordshire, Warwickshire, and Worcestershire.

The west of the county encloses the valley of the River Tame and its tributaries; the highest point of the surrounding area is Turners Hill, at 271 metres (889 ft). West Midlands contains the Sutton Park Site of Special Scientific Interest, which has an area of 970 hectares (2,400 acres) and is one of the largest urban parks in Europe. The area between Solihull and Coventry is part of the Forest of Arden, and the rivers Sowe and Sherbourne flow through Coventry.