It was the heart of the Industrial Revolution, the birthplace of Charles Darwin, the inspiration of Shakespeare.
The Midlands can rightly lay claim to be one of the country's richest areas when it comes to industry, creativity, imagination and flair.
That has now been recognised with a new map highlighting the attractions associated with English pioneers, engineers, inventors, writers and experimentalists.
The Genius map created by VisitBritain's Enjoy England team celebrates historical characters whose achievements changed the world - and a quarter of the geniuses featured on it are associated with the Midlands.
The map was launched to promote The Complete Works Festival which celebrates the works of arguably the Midlands most famous genius, Shakespeare, and also the 200th birthday anniversary of Great Western Railway engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
Other Midland luminaries featured on the map include the 'father of the Industrial Revolution' Matthew Boulton and canal pioneer James Brindley
