Harlesden

Harlesden
The Royal Oak, High Street/Park Parade
Harlesden Location within Greater London
Population	17,162 (Harlesden ward 2011)[1]
OS grid reference	TQ215835
London borough	Brent
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LONDON
Postcode district	NW10
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
UK Parliament	Brent Central
London Assembly	Brent and Harrow
List of places UK England London 51°32′10″N 0°14′53″W / 51.536°N 0.248°W / 51.536; -0.248

Harlesden /ˈhɑːrlzdən/ is a district in the London Borough of Brent, North West London.

Located north of the Grand Union Canal and Wormwood Scrubs, the Harrow Road flows through the centre of the area which goes eastwards to Central London and west towards Wembley. Harlesden was historically in the Municipal Borough of Willesden before the creation of Brent; it lies within Willesden's postal district of NW10. Harlesden has been praised for its vibrant Caribbean culture and unofficially named London's reggae capital for its contributions to the musical genre.^[2] The town centre contains a large number of multicultural independent businesses, while industry exists by the canal, most notably a McVitie's biscuit factory that has been operating since 1902.^[3] The population includes people of Afro-Caribbean heritage most notably, as well as Irish, Portuguese, Brazilian, Somali, and smaller Latin American and East African groups within the community.