Tower Hamlets
§ This page gives an overview of the Tower Hamlets local authority district, bringing together key facts, maps, and data to help you quickly understand the area. One of 361 district profiles on Baseview.
Overview ⁞ Tower Hamlets is an East London borough combining historic areas like the Tower of London and Docklands with modern developments in Canary Wharf. It is highly diverse and plays a major role in London’s financial and cultural life.
The administrative boundary of Tower Hamlets can be viewed on OpenStreetMap: District Boundary of Tower Hamlets.
Key Facts about Tower Hamlets
What region is Tower Hamlets in? Tower Hamlets is in the Greater London, an administrative region and a ceremonial county in England.
Is Tower Hamlets a city? No, Tower Hamlets is not a city. (Note: the UK has 76 officially designated cities.)
Who governs Tower Hamlets? The local government for this district is: The London Borough of Tower Hamlets (London Borough).
▶ Official website of The London Borough of Tower Hamlets 🔗 towerhamlets.gov.uk
Which police force covers Tower Hamlets? Policing in Tower Hamlets is provided by Metropolitan Police Service 🔗 met.police.uk, which serves 32 London Boroughs.
Tower Hamlets in International Geographies
In the International Territorial Levels (ITLs) hierarchy, Tower Hamlets is an ITLs Level 3 area:
- (ITL 1) London
- (ITL 2) ⇒ Inner London - East
- (ITL 3) ⇒⇒ Tower Hamlets
The International Territorial Levels are used by OECD member countries for statistical purposes to classify administrative areas. We have this listable page for easy browsing of ITL names and codes: International Territorial Levels.
Constituencies in Tower Hamlets
A constituency is a specific geographical area that elects one Member of Parliament (MP) to represent them in the House of Commons. The United Kingdom is divided into 650 parliamentary constituencies, 75 of them are in Greater London (covering 32 London boroughs). We have this list page for easy browsing of all UK parliamentary constituencies: List of Constituencies.
Wards in Tower Hamlets
Tower Hamlets is divided into 20 wards, listed below in alphabetical order.
- Bethnal Green East
- Bethnal Green West
- Blackwall & Cubitt Town
- Bow East
- Bow West
- Bromley North
- Bromley South
- Canary Wharf
- Island Gardens
- Lansbury
- Limehouse
- Mile End
- Poplar
- Shadwell
- Spitalfields & Banglatown
- St Dunstan's
- St Katharine's & Wapping
- Stepney Green
- Weavers
- Whitechapel
In the UK, a ward is a subdivision of a local authority area, used mainly for electoral and statistical purposes. Defined by the ONS, wards represent the primary unit for local elections, each returning one or more councillors to the local council. Wards are also used as a key geography for presenting population and census data.
Parishes in Tower Hamlets
Tower Hamlets is entirely unparished—there are no civil parishes in this local authority district.
Parishes are the lowest tier of local government; where they don’t exist, those very local services and representation sit directly with the principal council.
Built-up Areas in Tower Hamlets
Tower Hamlets covers 4 built-up areas, listed below in alphabetical order.
- Hackney *
- Newham *
- Southwark *
- Tower Hamlets *
In the UK, a Built-up Area (BUA) is a continuous urban area of at least 20 hectares (0.2 km²), defined by the ONS as land where buildings are generally no more than 200 metres apart, such as towns, cities, or large villages. (Note: A BUA name marked with an asterisk (*) indicates that the area is situated partly in the district of Tower Hamlets.)
Tower Hamlets compared with other districts in the UK
This section shows how Tower Hamlets compares with other local authority districts in the UK, using a variety of measures and rankings.
Tower Hamlets has 20 electoral wards.
Tower Hamlets has a population of 331,886 (2024 mid-year estimate by ONS)
More local statistics and data for Tower Hamlets can be found on the ONS statistics for Tower Hamlets.