The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham is a London borough in East London, England. It lies about 9 miles (14.4 km) east of Central London. The borough was formed in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963 as the London Borough of Barking. The constituent parts were virtually all of the Municipal Borough of Barking and the largest part of the Municipal Borough of Dagenham, the former area of which was transferred to Greater London from Essex. It's an Outer London borough and the south is inside the London Riverside section of the Thames Gateway, which is an area designated as a national priority for urban regeneration. It covers a total area of 13.93 square miles.
As outlined by the 2011 census, the area features a population of around 198294, the majority of which reside within the Becontree estate. Significant settlement of the region, mainly escaping slum conditions in the East End of London, occurred throughout the period when the new motor and chemical industries, including the Ford Motor Company plant at Dagenham were set up. Since the decline of those industries in the 1980s, employment has shifted more towards service sector jobs.
Much of the borough is within the London Riverside area of the Thames Gateway zone and it is the site of considerable house developing as well as other development. Barking and Dagenham was one of six London boroughs to host the 2012 Summer Olympics.