The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough covering much of the traditional East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former metropolitan boroughs of Stepney, Poplar, and Bethnal Green. The new authority's historical name refers to an alternative title for the Tower Division; the area of south-east Middlesex, focused on the area of the modern borough, which owed military service to the Tower of London.
The borough lies adjacent to the east side of the City of London and on the north bank of the River Thames. It includes much of the redeveloped Docklands region of London, including West India Docks and Canary Wharf. Many of the tallest buildings in London occupy the centre of the Isle of Dogs in the south of the borough. A part of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is in Tower Hamlets. The borough has a population of 272,890, which includes one of the highest Muslim populations in the country and has an established British Bangladeshi business and residential community.