The London Borough of Hillingdon the second largest in London and is located on the westerly edge of Great London, 14 miles from the centre. It is home to Heathrow Airport, the world's businest airport, which has brought huge amounts of employment and economic prosperity to the area. Despite the fact that the airport is there, Hillingdon is also where town and country meet boasting 800 acres of woodland, country parks, fields and farms, several rivers and the Grand Union Canal.
The Borough of Hillingdon can be split into two sections; south Hillingdon is more densely populated, urban in character and contains the administrative centre of Uxbridge and towns of Hayes and West Drayton, whilst North Hillingdon enjoys relative affluence, characterised by leafy, suburban streets, with towns such as Ickenham, Ruislip and Northwood being popular residences of wealthy city workers and as such enjoying very high incomes per capita. Because of the strong local economy built around Heathrow and the associated industries, the borough has always seen a relatively high level of employment.
