The borough stretches from near Central London in the east (Chiswick) to the border with Surrey in the west (Feltham and Bedfont), covering five major towns: Chiswick (W4), Brentford (TW8), Isleworth (TW7), Hounslow (TW3, TW4, TW5) and Feltham (TW13, TW14); it borders the boroughs of Richmond upon Thames, Hammersmith and Fulham, Ealing and Hillingdon, in addition to the Spelthorne district of Surrey.

[3] The old Heston and Isleworth district had nearly been renamed Hounslow in 1927; a large majority of voters in a referendum had supported the change of name, but it was vetoed by Middlesex County Council.

Historic milestones are preserved on the Staines Road (now re-numbered as the A315 but joining the "old" A30 again just inside the borough's western boundary) Hounslow grew rapidly in the latter half of the 20th century due to other travel, a connection to the largest of London's airports since the 1940s, Heathrow Airport which is in the Hounslow post town but administratively in the London Borough of Hillingdon.

Aviation in the area dates to the early 1900s when one of London's earliest airfields was situated on Hounslow Heath because of the extremely flat terrain.

The Great West Road, which crosses the borough from Chiswick to Heathrow, at one time served nationally and globally famous manufacturers including Firestone, Gillette and Coty.

A few of these factory sites remain today, such as Gillette Corner, and the Great West Road is still home to many prestigious names (see "famous companies" below), providing them with easy non-motorway access between Slough, London Heathrow Airport and Central London.

A few roads in Brentford (around Claypond Hospital) and Isleworth (south of the River Crane and around Whitton) lay within the London Boroughs of Ealing and Richmond upon Thames respectively.

The borough's predominant land use is mainly residential, with a large, commercial town centre of Hounslow.

Business is mainly focused on retail and aviation (due to the proximity of Heathrow Airport), especially in the west of the borough (Hounslow and Feltham).

[6] Since 2000, for elections to the London Assembly, the borough forms part of the South West constituency.

This changed in 1994 when the adjacent areas surrounding these bridges were transferred to the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.

The South Western Railway serves the borough's five main towns (with additional stops at Kew Bridge and Syon Lane).

In March 2011, the main forms of transport that residents used to travel to work were (of all residents aged 16–74): The borough is home to the headquarters of GlaxoSmithKline and Sky plc, both based in Brentford's 'Golden Mile' stretch of the A4 Great West Road, and several supermarket outlets once known across the globe for its cluster of factories and offices, and is currently going under extensive re developments in the form of new apartment blocks and offices.

The majority of the White British population reside in the eastern and western parts of the borough (Chiswick, Brentford, Isleworth, Osterley, Hounslow East, Hanworth, Feltham and Bedfont), with this population being most prominent in the affluent areas of Chiswick and Osterley.

In terms of religion, 42% identify themselves as Christian, 14% Muslim, 10.3% Hindu, 5.5% Sikh, 1.4% Buddhist and 0.3% Jewish; 18% of the population is not religious.

The Somalis being the most populous African representation in the borough, mainly settling in areas such as Heston and Brentford.