Borough of Swale

Borough of Swale
Non-metropolitan district and borough
Sittingbourne town centre
Swale shown within Kent
Coordinates: 51°20′24.73″N 0°43′51.32″E / 51.3402028°N 0.7309222°E / 51.3402028; 0.7309222
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	South East England
Non-metropolitan county	Kent
Status	Non-metropolitan district
Admin HQ	Sittingbourne
Incorporated	1 April 1974
Government
• Type	Non-metropolitan district council
• Body	Swale Borough Council
• MPs	Helen Whately (C) Kevin McKenna (L)
Area
• Total	144.2 sq mi (373.4 km2)
• Rank	93rd (of 296)
Population  (2022)
• Total	154,619
• Rank	139th (of 296)
• Density	1,100/sq mi (410/km2)
Ethnicity (2021) [1]
• Ethnic groups	List 93.8% White 2.3% Black 1.8% Mixed 1.5% Asian 0.5% other
Religion (2021) [1]
• Religion	List 47.2% Christianity 45.3% no religion 5.1% not stated 1% Islam 0.4% other 0.4% Hinduism 0.3% Buddhism 0.1% Sikhism 0.1% Judaism
Time zone	UTC0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)
ONS code	29UM (ONS) E07000113 (GSS)
OS grid reference	TQ9018863720

Swale is a local government district with borough status in Kent, England. The council is based in Sittingbourne, the borough's largest town. The borough also contains the towns of Faversham, Queenborough and Sheerness, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. It includes the Isle of Sheppey and is named after The Swale, the narrow channel which separates Sheppey from the mainland part of the borough. Some southern parts of the borough lie within the Kent Downs, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The borough borders the Medway unitary authority area to the west, the Borough of Maidstone to the south-west, the Borough of Ashford to the south-east, and the City of Canterbury to the east.