London boroughs

London boroughs are 32 of the 33 districts of the Greater London region (the 33rd is the City of London) and are each governed by a London borough council. The London boroughs were all created at the same time as Greater London on 1 April 1965 by the London Government Act 1963 and are a type of local government district. Twelve were designated as Inner London boroughs and twenty as Outer London boroughs.

London boroughs have populations of around 150,000 to 300,000. Inner London boroughs tend to be smaller, in both population and area, and more densely populated than Outer London boroughs. The London boroughs were created by combining groups of former local government units. A review undertaken between 1987 and 1992 led to a number of relatively small alterations in borough boundaries.

The smaller populations of inner London boroughs are to a large extent due to the shift in population out of inner London since the 1960s.

London borough councils provide the majority of local government services, in contrast to the strategic Greater London Authority, which has limited authority over all of Greater London. The councils were first elected in 1964 and acted as shadow authorities until 1 April 1965. Each borough is divided into electoral wards, subject to periodic review, for the purpose of electing councillors. Council elections take place every four years, with the most recent elections in 2014 and the next elections due in 2018.

London Borough of Ealing

The London Borough of Ealing ⁱ/ˈiːlɪŋ/ is a London Borough in west London, England, and forms part of Outer London. It covers part of west London and a small part of northwest London. Its administrative centre is Ealing Broadway. Other major centres include Acton, Greenford and Southall. The local authority is Ealing London Borough Council.

Location

The London Borough of Ealing borders the London Borough of Hillingdon to the west, the London Borough of Harrow and the London Borough of Brent to the north, the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham to the east and the London Borough of Hounslow to the south.

The London borough was formed in 1965 by the merging the area of the Municipal Borough of Ealing, the Municipal Borough of Southall and the Municipal Borough of Acton.

Along with Brentford, the London Borough of Ealing is the setting for much of the action in Robert Rankin's series of comedic novels, The Brentford Trilogy, which currently consists of six volumes. Ealing is also the primary setting for The Sarah Jane Adventures, being the location of Sarah Jane Smith's home.

London

London ⁱ/ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia. It was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. London's ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1.12-square-mile (2.9 km²) medieval boundaries and in 2011 had a resident population of 7,375, making it the smallest city in England. Since at least the 19th century, the term London has also referred to the metropolis developed around this core. The bulk of this conurbation forms Greater London, a region of England governed by the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The conurbation also covers two English counties: the small district of the City of London and the county of Greater London. The latter constitutes the vast majority of London, though historically it was split between Middlesex (a now abolished county), Essex, Surrey, Kent and Hertfordshire.

Ealing

Coordinates: 51°31′03″N 0°17′56″W / 51.5175°N 0.2988°W / 51.5175; -0.2988

Ealing is a major suburban district of west London, England and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Ealing. It is located 7.9 miles (12.7 km) west of Charing Cross and around 12 miles (19.3 km) from the City of London. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically a rural village in the county of Middlesex and formed an ancient parish. Improvement in communications with London, culminating with the opening of the railway station in 1838, shifted the local economy to market garden supply and eventually to suburban development.

As part of the growth of London in the 20th century, Ealing significantly expanded and increased in population, becoming a municipal borough in 1901 and has formed part of Greater London since 1965. It now forms a significant commercial and retail centre with a developed night time economy. Ealing has the characteristics of both suburban and inner-city developments. Ealing's town centre is often colloquial with Ealing Broadway.