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 areas were nearly all of the Municipal Borough of Barking along with the greater part of the Municipal Borough of Dagenham, the former location 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.
According to the 2011 census, the area has a population of about 198294, the majority of which reside inside the Becontree estate. Much of the housing within the borough was constructed by the London County Council during the interwar period of 1921-1939. Since the decline of these industries in the 1980s, employment has shifted much more towards service sector jobs.
A lot of the borough is within the London Riverside area of the Thames Gateway zone and it's the site of considerable house building along with other improvement. Barking and Dagenham was 1 of six London boroughs to host the 2012 Summer Olympics.