East Midlands


The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, and Rutland. The region has a land area of, with an estimated population in. With a sufficiency-level world city ranking, Nottingham is the only settlement in the region to be classified by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.
The main cities in the region are Derby, Leicester, Lincoln and Nottingham. The largest towns in these counties are Boston, Chesterfield, Coalville, Corby, Glossop, Grantham, Kettering, Loughborough, Newark-on-Trent, Northampton, Mansfield, Oakham, Swadlincote and Wellingborough.

Physical features

The highest point at is Kinder Scout, in the Peak District of the southern Pennines in northwest Derbyshire near Glossop. Other hilly areas of in altitude, together with lakes and reservoirs, rise in and around the Charnwood Forest north of Leicester, and in the Lincolnshire Wolds.
The region's major rivers, the Nene, the Soar, the Trent, and the Welland, flow in a northeasterly direction towards the Humber and the Wash. The Derwent, conversely, rises in the High Peak before flowing south to join the Trent some before its conflux with the Soar, and the Witham flows in an arch, first north to Lincoln before heading south to the Wash.
The centre of the East Midlands area lies roughly between Bingham, Nottinghamshire and Bottesford, Leicestershire. The geographical centre of England lies in Higham on the Hill in west Leicestershire, close to the boundary between the Leicestershire and Warwickshire. Some 88 per cent of the land is rural in character, although agriculture accounts for less than three per cent of the region's jobs.
Church Flatts Farm in Coton in the Elms, South Derbyshire, is the furthest place from the sea in the UK. In April 1936 the first Ordnance Survey trig point was sited at Cold Ashby in Northamptonshire. The Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts and The Wildlife Trusts are based next to the River Trent and Newark Castle railway station. The National Centre for Earth Observation is at the University of Leicester.

Geology

The region is home to large quantities of limestone, and the East Midlands Oil Province. Charnwood Forest is noted for its abundant levels of volcanic rock, estimated to be approximately 600 million years old.
A quarter of the UK's cement is manufactured in the region, at three sites in Hope and Tunstead in Derbyshire, and Ketton Cement Works in Rutland. Of the aggregates produced in the region, 25 per cent are from Derbyshire and four per cent from Leicestershire. Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire each produce around 30 per cent of the region's sand and gravel output.
Barwell in Leicestershire was the site of Britain's largest meteorite on 24 December 1965. The 2008 Lincolnshire earthquake was 5.2 in magnitude.

Environment

Areas of the East Midlands designated by the East Midlands Biodiversity Partnership as Biodiversity Conservation Areas include:
  • Charnwood Forest
  • Coversand Heaths
  • Derbyshire Peak Fringe and Lower Derwent
  • Humberhead Levels
  • Leighland Forest
  • The Lincolnshire Limewoods and Heaths
  • The Lincolnshire coast
  • The Peak District
  • Rockingham Forest
  • Sherwood Forest
  • Rutland, SW Lincolnshire and N Northamptonshire
  • The Wash
Areas of the East Midlands designated by the East Midlands Biodiversity Partnership as Biodiversity Enhancement Areas include:
Two of the nationally designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty are:
  • The Peak District
  • The Lincolnshire Wolds

    Forestry

Several towns in the southern part of the region, including Market Harborough, Desborough, Rothwell, Corby, Kettering, Thrapston, Oundle and Stamford, lie within the boundaries of what was once Rockingham Forest – designated a royal forest by William the Conqueror and was long hunted by English kings and queens.
The National Forest is an environmental project in central England run by The National Forest Company. Areas of north Leicestershire, south Derbyshire and south-east Staffordshire covering around are being planted in an attempt to blend ancient woodland with new plantings. It stretches from the western outskirts of Leicester in the east to Burton upon Trent in the west, and is planned to link the ancient forests of Needwood and Charnwood.
Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire attracts many visitors, and is perhaps best known for its ties with the legend of Robin Hood.

Governance

Regional financial funding decisions for the East Midlands are taken by East Midlands Councils, based in Melton Mowbray. East Midlands Councils is an unelected body made up of representatives of local government in the region. The defunct East Midlands Development Agency was headquartered next to the BBC's East Midlands office in Nottingham and made financial decisions regarding economic development in the region. Since the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government launched its austerity programme after the 2010 general election, regional bodies such as those have been devolved to smaller groups on a county level. As a region, there is no overriding body with significant financial or planning powers for the East Midlands.
The East Midlands Combined Authority was established in 2024.

Urban areas

The East Midlands region contains many urban areas which include:
  • Nottingham Urban Area
  • Leicester Urban Area
  • Derby Urban Area
  • Mansfield Urban Area
  • Lincoln Urban Area
  • Burton upon Trent and Swadlincote Green Belt

    Towns and cities

Major towns and cities in the East Midlands region include:
;Population > 400,000
  • Leicester, LEC
;Population > 300,000
  • Nottingham, NTT
;Population > 200,000
;Population > 100,000
  • Lincoln, LIN
  • Mansfield, NTT
;Population > 50,000
  • Beeston, NTT
  • Chesterfield, DBY
  • Corby, NTH
  • Hinckley, LEC
  • Kettering, NTH
  • Loughborough, LEC
  • Wellingborough, NTH
;Population > 25,000
;Population > 10,000
In total, 9% of all jobs in the region are in logistics. Traffic in the region is growing at 2% per year – the highest growth rate of all UK regions. It is estimated that about 140,000 heavy goods vehicle journeys are made inside the region each day.

Road

The M1 serves the four largest urban areas in the region and affords a motorway link between London, Yorkshire, and North East England. Additionally, the M6 begins on the south-western edge of the region, providing links to the West Midlands and North West England. Both connect to other major routes providing further links to other parts of the UK.
To the east of the largest cities lies the A1, which is important for journeys to and from ports on England's north-east coast and the capital, and is a major artery for the United Kingdom's agricultural industry. The A46 largely follows the Fosse Way, which has linked the south-western and north-eastern parts of England since Roman times. The A43 dual carriageway connects the East Midlands via the M40 motorway corridor with the university city of Oxford, as well as South of England and Solent ports further afield. The historically important A5 runs along the south-west Leicestershire boundary to the south of Lutterworth and Hinckley. The A14 runs through the north of Northamptonshire, serving the settlements of Kettering and Corby alongside surrounding areas, and is a major route between the region and the East of England, including the university city of Cambridge, and the major port of Felixstowe.

Airports

in North West Leicestershire is situated in proximity to the region's largest cities; from the centres of Derby and Nottingham, with central Leicester being away and Lincoln further north east being away. The airport is the region's biggest public airport, used by over 4 million passengers annually.
Rivalry between the region's three biggest cities has led to a long-running discussion about the identity of both the airport, and region, with the East Midlands rarely found on any non-political map of the UK. The name was at one point changed to Nottingham East Midlands Airport so as to include the name of the city that is supposedly most internationally recognisable. However, the airport has a Derby phone number and postcode, and is in Leicestershire, but is officially assigned to Nottingham by IATA. As a result of the dispute, the name change was reverted.
Three of the world's four main international air-freight companies have their UK operations at EMA: DHL, UPS and TNT Express ; FedEx have theirs at Stansted. It is the second-largest freight airport in the UK after Heathrow, but most freight from EMA is carried on dedicated planes, whereas most freight from Heathrow is carried on passenger planes. Royal Mail have their main airport hubs at Heathrow and EMA, as EMA is conveniently near the M1, A42 and A50. Heathrow takes some 60 per cent of UK air freight, and EMA some 10 per cent, with Stansted, Manchester and Gatwick next. Air freight has grown at EMA from 1994 to 2004 from about 10,000 to over 250,000 tonnes. The main hours of cargo flying are from 20:00–05:00; domestic cargo flies into the airport in the evening, then from 23:30 to 01:30 cargo flies to European capitals and from 03:00–05:00 from Europe to EMA. It is the UK's twelfth-largest passenger airport; the runway is the UK's sixth-longest at. Royal Mail flights from EMA go to Belfast, Edinburgh, Inverness, Aberdeen, Newcastle, Exeter and Bournemouth, and it is the largest UK Royal Mail air hub, with eleven flights per night. DHL is the main route carrier at EMA by far with 20 flights per night, UPS have 6, and TNT have 2 ; for hubs in Europe, DHL flies to Leipzig, UPS to Cologne, and TNT at Liège.
Smaller airports in the region include Retford Gamston Airport, Nottingham Airport, Leicester Airport, Hucknall Airfield, Sywell Aerodrome, Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome and Humberside Airport. Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield lies just outside the East Midlands in South Yorkshire.