The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham is a London borough in East London, England. It lies around 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 areas were virtually all of the Municipal Borough of Barking along with the greater 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 portion of the Thames Gateway, which is an region designated as a national priority for urban regeneration. It covers a total area of 13.93 square miles.
In accordance with the 2011 census, the area has a population of about 198294, the majority of which reside inside the Becontree estate. Significant settlement of the region, largely escaping slum conditions within the East End of London, occurred during the time when the new motor and chemical industries, including the Ford Motor Company plant at Dagenham were set up. Since the decline of these industries in the 1980s, employment has shifted much more towards service sector jobs.
A great deal of the borough is inside the London Riverside part of the Thames Gateway zone and it's the site of considerable property developing as well as other development. Barking and Dagenham was 1 of six London boroughs to host the 2012 Summer Olympics.