West Midlands

The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in central England. It was created, like other metropolitan counties, in 1974, and originally had an elected metropolitan authority, the West Midlands County Council. The County Council, like other metropolitan authorities and the Greater London Council, was abolished in 1986, and the indvidual boroughs became unitary authority areas. West Midlands Police covers the entire county.

The county comprises seven metropolitan boroughs:
 * City of Birmingham
 * City of Coventry
 * City of Wolverhampton
 * Dudley
 * Sandwell
 * Solihull
 * Walsall.

An area roughly corresponding to the boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell, and Walsall is referred to as the Black Country. Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and the Black Country together roughly comprise the West Midlands conurbation.

The name West Midlands is also confusingly, given to the much larger West Midlands region, comprising the counties of West Midlands, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire.