Borough summaries - Introduction

Portrait of the borough

Tower Hamlets covers an area of just under eight square miles.

The borough is bounded by the Thames to the South and the London Boroughs of Newham (east), Hackney (north) and the City of London (west).

The 2001 census revealed that the borough has a population of 196,106 made up of people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds – over one third of the population is Bangladeshi and 7% of the population is from African/Caribbean backgrounds.

The population has grown rapidly, with an increase of over 45,000 people since the previous census in 1991 and the borough now has one the highest population densities in inner London.

Over the past 10 years the borough economy has undergone major structural changes with significant employment growth in the banking and financial service sector.

This now represents over 40% of all employment within the borough. It nonetheless remains one of the most deprived areas in the country.