North Staffordshire describes an area of Staffordshire

Staffordshire

Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...

, in the West Midlands

West Midlands (region)

The West Midlands is an official region of England, covering the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It contains the second most populous British city, Birmingham, and the larger West Midlands conurbation, which includes the city of Wolverhampton and large towns of Dudley,...

 region of England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It contains the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme

Newcastle-under-Lyme (borough)

Newcastle-under-Lyme is a local government district with borough status in Staffordshire, England.It is named after its main town of Newcastle-under-Lyme where the council is based, but also includes the town of Kidsgrove, the villages of Silverdale and Keele, and the rural area surrounding Audley...

, Staffordshire Moorlands

Staffordshire Moorlands

Staffordshire Moorlands is a local government district in Staffordshire, England. Its council, Staffordshire Moorlands District Council, is based in Leek and is located between the city of Stoke-on-Trent and the Peak District National Park. The 2001 census recorded the population as...

 and the City of Stoke-on-Trent

Stoke-on-Trent

Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...

. The Stoke and Newcastle areas make up The Potteries Urban Area

The Potteries Urban Area

The Potteries Urban Area is a conurbation in North Staffordshire in the West Midlands region of England.It includes the city of Stoke-on-Trent, and the towns of Newcastle-under-Lyme and Kidsgrove....

, whilst the Moorlands are largely rural.

The Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme had a 2001 census population of 122,040. The population of Stoke-on-Trent was 240,636, whilst the Staffordshire Moorlands population was 94,489. This gives an area wide population of 457,165.

North Staffordshire industries included Potteries, Coal mining and Steel. Pottery companies from the area include Royal Doulton, Wedgwood, Portmerrion, Wade, Johnson Brothers, who were all based in The Pottery towns in North Staffordshire.

Transport for the area was based on canals from the 18th century, with the Trent and Mersey canal being built through from the River Trent in South Staffordshire, out through the North border of the area through the most northernly town of Kidsgrove which sits on the South Cheshire border. Kidsgrove is famous for the Harecastle Tunnels which were built to allow transport links through North Staffordshire connecting the North and the South of the country. Towns including Liverpool and Birmingham could trade when these links were put into place.

The canal links in North Staffordshire were followed in the early 19th century by the introduction of the railways.