The Black Country is an area of A conurbation is an urban area comprising a number of cities or towns which, through population growth and expansion, have physically merged to form one continuous built up area. ...conurbation to the north and west of See also Birmingham, USA, and other places called Birmingham. ...Birmingham in the Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Official language None; English is de facto Capital London Capitals coordinates 51° 30 N, 0° 10 W Largest city London Area  _ Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  _ Total (2001)  _ Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831...English The County of West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England, formed in 1974. ...West Midlands, around the South Staffordshire (abbreviated Staffs) is a landlocked county in the Midlands of England. ...Staffordshire Wyoming coal mine Coal mining is the mining of coal. ...coal field.

Scope

Places which comprise the Black Country include parts of the city of Wolverhampton is an industrial, commercial and university city and metropolitan borough in the English West Midlands, traditionally part of the county of Staffordshire. ...Wolverhampton, and the towns of:

• Aldridge is a town in the West Midlands, England, in the borough of Walsall. ...Aldridge
• Bilston was first mentioned in the Domesday book as a village called Billestune, but it was a largely rural area until the nineteenth century. ...Bilston, Blackheath Marketplace Blackheath is a suburb of Rowley Regis, a town in Englands Black Country, part of the administrative district of Sandwell. ...Blackheath, Brownhills is a town in the West Midlands of England. ...Brownhills
• Coseley was originally a village in the ancient manor of Sedgley. ...Coseley, Cradley
• Darlaston is a town in Walsall in the West Midlands of England. ...Darlaston, This is about Dudley, England, for other places by the same name, see Dudley (disambiguation) Dudley is a town in the West Midlands of England. ...Dudley
• Great Bridge
• The town of Halesowen was until the thirteenth century known as Halas, but it was then gifted to a Welsh prince called Owen and became known has Halas_Owen, but in modern times it has always been called Halesowen. ...Halesowen
• Kingswinford is a village in the West Midlands (county) but previously in Staffordshire. ...Kingswinford
• Oldbury is a town in Englands Black Country. ...Oldbury
• Rowley Regis is a town in the Sandwell borough of the West Midlands county, and a part of the Black Country. ...Rowley Regis
• Sedgley is a town in the West Midlands of England. ...Sedgley, Smethwick is a town adjacent to Birmingham and West Bromwich in England. ...Smethwick, Stourbridge is a town in the West Midlands, England, which in 1991 had a population of 54,661. ...Stourbridge
• Tipton is a town in the Sandwell borough of the West Midlands, England, with a population of around 47,000. ...Tipton
• Walsall Art Gallery Walsall is an industrial town in the West Midlands of England, it is located northwest of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton. ...Walsall,
• Warley was a county borough formed in 1966 by the combination of the existing county borough of Smethwick with the towns of Oldbury and Rowley Regis. ...Warley, Wednesbury is a town in Englands Black Country. ...Wednesbury, Wednesfield is a town in Wolverhampton, West Midlands. ...Wednesfield, West Bromwich is a town in the county of West Midlands, and is the largest town within the metropolitan borough of Sandwell. ...West Bromwich, Willenhall is a small town in the West Midlands of England, with a population of approximately 40,000. ...Willenhall

The bounds of the Black Country are controversial, and the city of Wolverhampton is an industrial, commercial and university city and metropolitan borough in the English West Midlands, traditionally part of the county of Staffordshire. ...Wolverhampton is included by some. Despite the 1974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ...1974 local government boundary, the northern border with Cannock Chase is a mixed area of countryside in the county of Staffordshire, England. ...Cannock Chase is also rather blurred. This article is about the city in England. ...Birmingham is most definitely not in the Black Country.

Apart from the area covered by Wolverhampton is an industrial, commercial and university city and metropolitan borough in the English West Midlands, traditionally part of the county of Staffordshire. ...Wolverhampton City Council, the A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of local government district in England, covering urban areas within metropolitan counties. ...metropolitan borough councils of Sandwell is a metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. ...Sandwell, Dudley is a metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. ...Dudley and Walsall is a metropolitan borough of the county of West Midlands, England. ...Walsall administer most of the communities in the Black Country. The Black Country has a combined population of around one million.

History

Prior to the (17th century _ 18th century _ 19th century _ more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ...18th century the Black Country area was a collection of small villages and market towns. At the dawn of the The Industrial Revolution is the name given to the massive social, economic, and technological change in 18th century and 19th century Great Britain. ...Industrial Revolution in the mid 18th century, dicoveries of large deposits of Coal Coal is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground either by underground mining, open_pit mining or strip mining. ...coal and Limey shale overlaid by limestone. ...limestone, meant that the area rapidly developed The El Chino Mine located near Silver City, New Mexico is an open_pit copper mine Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, usually (but not always) from an ore body, vein, or (coal) seam. ...mining and Manufacturing is the transformation of raw materials into finished goods for sale, or intermediate processes involving the production or finishing of semi_manufactures. ...manufacturing industries, and the population of the Black Country grew rapidly.

By Queen Victoria (shown here on the morning of her Accession to the Throne, June 20, 1837) gave her name to the historic era. ...Victorian times, the Black Country was one of the most heavily industrialised areas in Britain, and it became known for its The Lachine Canal, in Montreal, is badly polluted Pollution is the release of harmful environmental contaminants, or the substances so released. ...pollution, particularly from General Name, Symbol, Number iron, Fe, 26 Chemical series transition metal Group, Period, Block 8 (VIIIB), 4 , d Density, Hardness 7874 kg/m3, 4. ...iron and Coal Coal is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground either by underground mining, open_pit mining or strip mining. ...coal industries and many associated smaller businesses.

The area soon gained notoriety, Charles Dickens used his rich imagination, sense of humour and detailed memories, particularly of his childhood, to enliven his fiction. ...Charles Dickens's novel Categories: Literature stubs | 1841 books | Charles Dickens novels ...The Old Curiosity Shop written in 1841 is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...1841, described the area, and how local factory chimineys "Poured out their plaugue of smoke, obscured the light, and made foul the melancholy air". In Events January_March January 10 _ End of term for John Gately Downey, 7th Governor of California. ...1862, Elihu Burritt, the American Consul to Birmingham, described the region as "black by day and red by night," because of the smoke and grime generated by the intense manufacturing activity.

The area is popularly said to have got its name because of pollution from these heavy industries, which covered the area in black soot and led to the name of The Black Country. There is a famous but dubious anecdote about Queen Victoria ordering the lowering of the blinds on her carriage, as the royal train passed through the area.

However, historians have suggested that it is more likely that the name was given earlier; arising from above-ground outcroppings of black coal seams, that scarred the early heathland.

The Black Country today

The heavy industry which once dominated the Black Country has now largely gone. Mining ceased in the area in the late Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s - 1960s - 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s Years: 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 Events and trends The 1960s was a turbulent decade of change around the world. ...1960s, and clean air legislation has meant that the Black Country is no longer black. The area still maintains some manufacturing, but on a much smaller scale than historically.

Much but not all of the area now suffers from high Unemployment rates in the United States. ...unemployment and are amongst the most economically deprived communities in the UK; this is particularly true in Sandwell is a metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. ...Sandwell, and to a lesser extent Wolverhampton. As with many urban areas in England, there is also a significant ethnic minority population in parts; resistance to mass immigration in the Centuries: 19th century _ 20th century _ 21st century Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s _ 1960s _ 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s Years: 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 Events and trends The 1960s was a turbulent decade of change around the world. ...1960s and 1970s _ Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ...1970s led to the racist slogan "Keep the Black Country white!" and the area was a heartland of support for the M.P. John Enoch Powell (June 16, 1912 _ February 8, 1998), British politician, became one of the most prominent figures in British politics, although he only briefly held senior office, mainly because of his highly contentious views on immigration. ...Enoch Powell.

The " The Black Country Living Museum is located in Dudley in the West Midlands in England. ...Black Country Living Museum" (see below), in This is about Dudley, England, for other places by the same name, see Dudley (disambiguation) Dudley is a town in the West Midlands of England. ...Dudley, re_creates life in the Black Country in the early (19th century _ 20th century _ 21st century _ more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the...20th century, and is a popular A tourist attraction is a place where tourists, foreign and domestic, normally visit. ...tourist attraction.

Black Country dialect

The traditional Black Country dialect is very old, and can be very confusing for outsiders. The language is said to be a throw back to Middle English is the name given to an early form of the English language that was in common use from roughly the 12th to the 15th centuries— from after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror in 1066 to around the introduction of the printing press by William Caxton in...Middle English and still contains words such as Thee, Thy and Thou. "'Ow B'ist", meaning "How beist thou?" is a common greeting, with the typical answering being "'Bay too bah", meaning "I bayn't be too bad". "I haven't seen her" becomes "I ay sid 'er". Somebody from the Black Country will often substitute the word "ar" instead of "yes".

Inhabitants are proud to be known as Black Country "folk" and resist hints at any relationship to people living in Birmingham, calling Birmingham "Brum_a_jum" (Birmingham's colloquial name is Brummagem). Residents of Birmingham (Brummies) meanwhile often refer to their Black Country neighbours as "Yam Yams", a reference to the use of "Yow am" instead of "You are".

Black Country folks take pride in being simple, hardworking people. The thick Black Country dialect however, is less commonly heard today than in the past.

External links

• Black Country Living Museum (http://www.bclm.co.uk/)
• Black Country Society (http://www.blackcountrysociety.co.uk/) _ publishers of the quarterly "Blackcountryman" magazine
• Black Country Pages (http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Prairie/6697/)
• Rowley Regis Online (http://www.rowleyregis.com)
• Cradley Links (http://www.cradleylinks.com)