Staffordshire

Staffordshire
Non-metropolitan and ceremonial county
The Sherbrook Valley in Cannock Chase; a bottle kiln in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent; and Lichfield Cathedral
Staffordshire within England
Coordinates: 52°48′25″N 02°06′58″W / 52.80694°N 2.11611°W / 52.80694; -2.11611
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	West Midlands
Established	Ancient
Time zone	UTC+0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)
UK Parliament	List of MPs
Police	Staffordshire Police
Ceremonial county
Lord Lieutenant	Ian Dudson
High Sheriff	Charles Jewitt of Admaston[1] (2020–21)
Area	2,714 km2 (1,048 sq mi)
• Rank	18th of 48
Population  (2022)[2]	1,146,249
• Rank	16th of 48
Density	422/km2 (1,090/sq mi)
Ethnicity	97.0% White 1.7% S.Asian 1.3% Other
Non-metropolitan county
County council	Staffordshire County Council
Control	Conservative
Admin HQ	Stafford
Area	2,620 km2 (1,010 sq mi)
• Rank	11th of 21
Population  (2022)[3]	886,284
• Rank	9th of 21
Density	338/km2 (880/sq mi)
ISO 3166-2	GB-STS
GSS code	E10000028
ITL	UKG24
Website	staffordshire.gov.uk
Districts
Districts of Staffordshire   Unitary   County council area
Districts	Stoke-on-Trent Newcastle-under-Lyme Staffordshire Moorlands Stafford East Staffordshire South Staffordshire Cannock Chase Lichfield Tamworth

Staffordshire (/ˈstæfərdʃɪər, -ʃər/;^[4] postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked ceremonial county in the West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the south-east, the West Midlands county and Worcestershire to the south, and Shropshire to the west. The largest settlement is the city of Stoke-on-Trent, and the county town is Stafford.

The county has an area of 1,713 square kilometres (661 sq mi) and a population of 1,131,052. After Stoke-on-Trent (258,366), the largest settlements are Tamworth (78,646), Newcastle-under-Lyme (75,082), Burton upon Trent (72,299) and Stafford (71,673); the city of Lichfield has a population of 33,816. For local government purposes Staffordshire comprises a non-metropolitan county, with nine districts, and the unitary authority area of Stoke-on-Trent. The county historically included the north-west of the West Midlands county, including Walsall, West Bromwich, and Wolverhampton.

Staffordshire is hilly to the north and south. The southern end of the Pennines is in the north, containing part of the Peak District National Park, while the Cannock Chase AONB and part of the National Forest are in the south. The River Trent and its tributaries drain most of the county. From its source, near Biddulph, the river flows through Staffordshire in a southwesterly direction, meeting the Sow just east of Stafford; it then meets the River Tame and turns north-east, exiting into Derbyshire immediately downstream of Burton upon Trent.

Staffordshire contains a number of Iron Age tumuli and Roman camps, and was settled by the Angles in the sixth century; the oldest Stafford knot, the county's symbol, can be seen on an Anglian cross in the churchyard of Stoke Minster. The county was formed in the early tenth century, when Stafford became the capital of Mercia. The county was relatively settled in the following centuries, and rapidly industrialised during the Industrial Revolution, when the North Staffordshire coalfield was exploited and fuelled the iron and automobilie industries in the south of the county. Pottery is the county's most famous export; a limited amount is still produced in Stoke-on-Trent.