The Midlands, sometimes known by the archaism Mercia, is a large region of England located, as its name suggests, in the middle of the country. It is characterised by a lack of substantial coastline, rolling, fertile countryside, large industrial cities, and distinctive accents and dialects. Northern England lies to the north, the North Sea to the east, East Anglia to the south-east, the Home Counties and the West Country to the south and Wales to the West.
Although the region is broadly defined, for statistical purposes, "the Midlands" generally describes the two statistical regions of East Midlands and West Midlands combined. The Midlands may also be defined along historical boundaries, such as those of the Anglian kingdom Mercia, which became a part of the Kingdom of England in the 10th century.
Definition
The English Midlands is a large and loosely defined area; it is not one of the 9 statistical regions of England, though it lends its name to two; the East and West Midlands. In the context of statistics, "the Midlands" typically refers to these regions grouped together. East Anglia may occasionally also be included with these as part of "the Midlands" for statistical purposes but, being a part of the statistical region East of England, it is more often associated with Southern England.
Defined along traditional county boundaries, the Midlands is generally considered to comprise these counties:
- Derbyshire
- Herefordshire
- Leicestershire
- Lincolnshire
- Northamptonshire
- Nottinghamshire
- Rutland
- Shropshire
- Staffordshire
- Warwickshire
- Worcestershire
Other definitions of the Midlands are more inclusive; Cheshire, for example, is sometimes considered to be part of the Midlands, with the southern border of northern England being located unofficially at the River Mersey. Conversely, some definitions regard the regions northernmost extreme as simply being northern; the far-north of Derbyshire is served by North West Ambulance Service and BBC North West instead of the East Midland equivalents, for example. Some parts of the south-west Midlands, namely Herefordshire and Worcestershire, are occasionally described as West Country (though the definition of that is subject to significant debate).
Non-statistical Midland regions also exist, although these too are broadly defined. These are the North and South Midlands. The North Midlands typically groups together parts of the Midlands with northern English characteristics (such as Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and north Staffordshire), with southern parts of northern England (especially Cheshire and southern Yorkshire) occasionally being included.