Stoke on Trent

Stoke on Trent, often referred to simply as Stoke, is a city on the River Trent in the county of Staffordshire, England. Unusually for an English city, Stoke on Trent is polycentric, owing to it consisting of six towns and various villages combined to form one city. The component towns of Stoke are Hanley (the city's commercial centre), Stoke-upon-Trent, Burslem, Tunstall, Longton, and Fenton, and they were formally united on 1 April 1910. Along with Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stoke-on-Trent forms the heart of a conurbation known as the Potteries, so-named for the ceramics industry that historically dominated the area. One of the most famous examples of pottery manufacturers within Stoke-on-Trent is the Wedgwood company, founded by the famous industrialist Josiah Wedgwood in 1759. Coal mining and steel production were formerly also important.

Located in northern Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent lies immediately south of the village of Talke Pits, to the north of which lie the Cheshire Plains. To the east are the foothills of the Pennines and the Peak District National Park.

Stoke on Trent has been immortalised as the 'Five Towns' in the novels of Arnold Bennett, although in fact the city was formed by the merger of six towns.

Stoke City Football Club play in the English Premier League (soccer).

Port Vale Football Club play in the English Football League One (soccer).

Its population is 240,636 (2001)