Birmingham

Birmingham, administrative division, England. The metropolitan borough of Birmingham is located in the metropolitan area of the West Midlands, north of Worcestershire and south of Staffordshire.

From the local government reforms of 1975, until 1986, the city of Birmingham was administered by the metropolitan county council based in Birmingham. As a result of the Local Government Act 1985, the metropolitan county councils were abolished. The county council’s functions devolved to the West Midlands’ seven metropolitan district councils: Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall, and Wolverhampton. The police authority is the West Midlands Police, with headquarters in Birmingham. Crown Courts sit in Birmingham, Coventry, and Wolverhampton. Population 977,091 (2001).