Stoke-on-Trent is a city and unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of 36 square miles. In 2021, the city had an estimated population of 258,400. It is the largest settlement in Staffordshire and is surrounded by the towns of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Alsager, Kidsgrove and Biddulph, which form a conurbation around the city. The city is polycentric, formed from the federation of six towns in 1910.