Dudley is a large town in the West Midlands, England, with a population of 194,919. Since 1974 it has been the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. It is the 19th largest settlement in England, measured by Urban Sub-Area, and is the second largest town in the United Kingdom, behind Reading. Dudley, part of the West Midlands conurbation, is located south of Wolverhampton and is the largest town in the Black Country. The town centre, for many years, formed part of an exclave of Worcestershire entirely surrounded by Staffordshire - which has determined the fact that, in ecclesiastical terms, it has remained part of the Anglican Diocese of Worcester.