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The Midlands is an area of central England that borders the South East, South West, North West, East of England and Yorkshire and the Humber. Its largest city is Birmingham. Broadly corresponding to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia, it was important in the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries. The Midlands are mostly split between the East Midlands and West Midlands. == Extent == Although there is no precise definition, the Midlands, if defined as being made up of the regions of East Midlands and West Midlands, includes the counties of Derbyshire, Herefordshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire (not including its boroughs of North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire), Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and the West Midlands metropolitan boroughs. If not following the official regional boundaries, the Midlands might be said to also include Peterborough (historically part of Northamptonshire) and the aforementioned boroughs of Lincolnshire. Additionally, there exists an informal region known as the South Midlands which could be defined to include Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire. Conversely, although the northern parts of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire are officially part of the Midlands, they are often considered to be in Northern England due to their proximity to the cities of Sheffield and Manchester. However, they are included in the North Midlands informal region which also includes Lincolnshire and Staffordshire. With more restricted boundaries than the traditional area known as the Midlands, two modern statistical regions together represent the latter: West Midlands and East Midlands. SOURCESWikipedia