Watford i/ˈwɒtfərd/ is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated 18 miles (29 km) northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.
Watford was created as an urban district under the Local Government Act 1894, and became a municipal borough by grant of a charter in 1922. The borough had 79,726 inhabitants at the time of the 2001 Census. The most recent official estimates put the population of Watford at 79,600 at mid-2006.
The nearby areas of Croxley Green, Bushey, Rickmansworth, Chorleywood, Kings Langley, Abbots Langley, Carpenders Park and South Oxhey, located in Three Rivers and Hertsmere districts, also form part of the Watford postcode area. The Watford subdivision of the Greater London Urban Area, which includes much of the neighbouring districts, had a total population of 120,960 in the 2001 census.
Read more about Watford: Economy, Sport, "North of Watford" and "Watford Gap", Nearby Areas, Twin Towns, Notable People