Shropshire (/ˈʃrɒpʃər, -ʃɪər/; historically Salop and abbreviated Shrops) is a landlocked ceremonial county in the West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north, Staffordshire to the east, Worcestershire to the southeast, Herefordshire to the south, and the Welsh counties of Wrexham and Powys to the west. The largest settlement is Telford (155,570), and Shrewsbury (76,782) is the county town. The county has an area of 3,487 square kilometres (1,346 sq mi), a population of 498,073, and a population density of 136/km2 (350/sq mi). Besides Telford and Shrewsbury the county is rural and characterised by small towns such as Oswestry (15,613), Bridgnorth (12,212), Newport (11,387), Ludlow (10,500), and Market Drayton (10,407). The county is divided into two districts, which are governed by the unitary Shropshire Council and Telford and Wrekin Council respectively. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)