Borough of Ashford

Borough of Ashford
Non-metropolitan district and borough
Aerial view of Ashford Designer Outlet
Coat of arms
Ashford shown within Kent
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	South East England
Non-metropolitan county	Kent
Status	Non-metropolitan district, Borough
Admin HQ	Ashford
Incorporated	1 April 1974
Government
• Type	Non-metropolitan district council
• Body	Ashford Borough Council
• MPs	Sojan Joseph
Area
• Total	224.18 sq mi (580.62 km2)
• Rank	64th (of 296)
Population  (2022)
• Total	135,610
• Rank	172nd (of 296)
• Density	600/sq mi (230/km2)
Ethnicity (2021) [1]
• Ethnic groups	List 88.1% White 5.8% Asian 2.6% Black 2.2% Mixed 1.4% other
Religion (2021) [1]
• Religion	List 47.6% Christianity 40.7% no religion 5.7% not stated 2% Hinduism 1.6% Islam 1.2% other 1% Buddhism 0.1% Sikhism 0.1% Judaism
Time zone	UTC0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)
ONS code	29UB (ONS) E07000105 (GSS)
OS grid reference	TR005425

The Borough of Ashford is a local government district with borough status in Kent, England. It is named after its largest town, Ashford, where the council is based. The borough also includes the town of Tenterden and an extensive surrounding rural area including numerous villages; with an area of 580 square kilometres (220 sq mi), it is the largest district in Kent. Parts of the borough lie within the designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty of High Weald and the Kent Downs.

The neighbouring districts are (clockwise from west) Tunbridge Wells, Maidstone, Swale, Canterbury, Folkestone and Hythe, and Rother. The latter is in East Sussex, the rest are in Kent.