Southall

Southall (/ˈsaʊθɔːl/) is a large suburban town in West London, England, part of the London Borough of Ealing and is one of its seven major towns.

It is situated 10.7 mi (17.2 km) west of Charing Cross and had a population of 69,857 as of 2011. It is generally divided in three parts: the mostly residential area around Lady Margaret Road (Dormers Wells); the main commercial centre at High Street and Southall Broadway (part of the greater Uxbridge Road); and Old Southall/Southall Green to the south consisting of Southall railway station, industries and Norwood Green bounded by the M4.

It was historically a municipal borough of Middlesex administered from Southall Town Hall until 1965. Southall is located on the Grand Union Canal (formerly the Grand Junction Canal) which first linked London with the rest of the growing canal system. It was one of the last canals to carry significant commercial traffic (through the 1950s) and is still open to traffic and is used by pleasure craft. The canal separates it from Hayes on the west, whereas to the east the River Brent separates the town from Hanwell.

From the 1950s the town's local factories and proximity to Heathrow Airport attracted large numbers of Asian immigrants; the town eventually became home to the largest Punjabi community outside the Indian subcontinent and is today a major centre of South Asian culture, having gained the nickname Little India.