The area was one of the Industrial Revolution's birthplaces.
Its name was first recorded in the 1840s, and derives either from the 30 foot (9.1 m) thick coal seam close to the surface or the production of coal, coke, iron, glass, bricks and steel which produced high levels of soot and air pollution.
The Black Country has no single set of defined boundaries. Some traditionalists define it as "the area where the coal seam comes to the surface".
The area was one of the Industrial Revolution's birthplaces.
Its name was first recorded in the 1840s, and derives either from the 30 foot (9.1 m) thick coal seam close to the surface or the production of coal, coke, iron, glass, bricks and steel which produced high levels of soot and air pollution.
The Black Country has no single set of defined boundaries. Some traditionalists define it as "the area where the coal seam comes to the surface".
