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	County Town: Metropolitan District County Population: 2,700,000 (estimate)
	The Clent Hills and the Lickey Hills are the highest points of the West Midlands, but most of the county is low-lying, with Birmingham being located on a flat plateau to the northeast of the uplands. The major river of the West Midlands is the Avon, which crosses the southeastern corner of the county before it passes into Warwickshire. A network of canals also covers the county, some of which are still in use today, including the Grand Union Canal.
	The metropolitan county of the West Midlands has only existed since local government reorganisation in 1974, when several major towns and the cities of Wolverhampton, Birmingham and Coventry were separated from their respective historic counties to form a new district. Forested in prehistoric times, the Saxons settled the area and founded towns at Birmingham and Coventry, both of which prospered greatly from sheep rearing and the wool trade during the 14th century. By the mid-18th century the Industrial Revolution began to see the area change rapidly. It expanded massively on an industrial and urban level over the following years, and during the Second World War Birmingham and Coventry were extensively bombed because of their key roles as major UK industrial centres. The bombing of Coventry on 14th November 1940 was the most intense suffered by any British city, with some 16 hectares (40 acres) of the city centre being levelled, leaving only 30 out of 1,000 buildings left undamaged.
	Despite seeing so much ruin during the war, and the decline of traditional heavy industries, the West Midlands has used the excellent transport links initially developed during the 19th century to its benefit, and the areas that were once levelled by German bombs have now been stylishly redeveloped for local businesses, communities and tourists. Centred on an extensive communication and transport network, the area has developed as a major centre for UK business conferences, now featuring the huge National Exhibition Centre. The largest of its type in the UK, the centre is linked directly to Birmingham Airport, it has its own railway station, and attracts four million visitors annually to a complex of 16 exhibition halls occupying 158,000 sq m (170,000 sq ft) of floor space.
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