Edgware is a suburban town in northern Greater London, mostly in the London Borough of Barnet but with a small part falling in the London Borough of Harrow. Edgware is centred 9.5 miles north-northwest of Charing Cross and has its own commercial centre. Edgware has a generally suburban character, typical of the rural-urban fringe. It was an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex directly east of the ancient Watling Street, and gives its name to the present day Edgware Road that runs from central London towards the town. The community benefits from some elevated woodland on a high ridge marking the Hertfordshire border of gravel and sand. It includes the areas of Burnt Oak, The Hale, Edgwarebury, Canons Park, and parts of Queensbury.
Edgware is principally a shopping and residential area, identified in the London Plan as one of the capital's 35 major centres, and one of the northern termini of the Northern line.