West Midlands

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Metropolitan county of central England, created in 1974; in 1986, most of the functions of the former county council were transferred to the metropolitan borough councils.

Area
900 sq km/347 sq mi

Towns and cities
Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Solihull, Walsall, Wolverhampton (all administrative centres for districts of the same name), Oldbury (administrative centre for Sandwell)

Industries
aircraft components; chemicals; coal mining; engineering; electrical equipment; glass; machine tools; motor vehicles, including Land Rover at Solihull; motor components

Population
(2001) 5,267,300

Famous people
Edward Burne-Jones (painter), Neville Chamberlain (politician), John Curry (ice-skater), Francis Galton (scientist), Jerome K Jerome (writer), Philip Larkin (poet), John Marston (playwright), Frank Whittle (inventor)

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