Current Time in Islington, United Kingdom

Islington is a London borough immediately north of the City of London, running from the Georgian streets of Clerkenwell and Angel up through Highbury and Holloway to Archway and the edge of Finsbury Park. It is small in area but tightly packed, and it holds the distinction of being the most densely populated local authority district in the United Kingdom. The Regent's Canal cuts across it, disappearing into a long tunnel beneath the Angel.

About two hundred and fifteen thousand people live here. Islington's importance comes from its position on the doorstep of the City, its concentration of theatres, restaurants and media businesses, and its long association with British political and cultural life. It is also a borough of striking contrasts, where some of the most expensive housing in London stands beside estates with high levels of deprivation.

The area developed along the great road north from London, and its springs and dairy pastures supplied the capital for centuries. Sadler's Wells opened as a spa and pleasure garden in 1683, and by the eighteenth century Islington was a favourite resort for Londoners escaping the smoke. Georgian and early Victorian squares were laid out as the city expanded, and Clerkenwell became a centre of watchmaking, printing and radical politics, hosting Lenin among its exiled residents. The borough declined in the twentieth century and was heavily bombed, then gentrified rapidly from the 1960s onwards, a process that made its name shorthand in British political commentary.

The main landmarks include Sadler's Wells, now the country's leading venue for contemporary dance, and the Almeida Theatre, a small but internationally respected producing house. Upper Street is lined with restaurants, bars and independent shops, with the antique dealers of Camden Passage tucked behind it, and Chapel Market has traded since the nineteenth century. The Union Chapel, a Gothic church that doubles as one of London's finest music venues, and the Business Design Centre, housed in a Victorian agricultural hall, are both distinctive. Emirates Stadium at Highbury is the home of Arsenal Football Club, one of the best-known clubs in the world, and the Islington Museum records local history.

Cultural life is unusually rich for so small a borough. Its theatres, comedy clubs, canal-side pubs and food scene draw visitors from across London, while a strong tradition of community activism, Irish, Greek Cypriot, Bangladeshi and African communities, and a large arts and media workforce give it a varied social character. Highbury Fields, the borough's largest open space, and the canal towpath provide the main green relief.

Transport is exceptional. The Northern, Victoria and Piccadilly lines all serve the borough, along with the London Overground and mainline stations at King's Cross and St Pancras on its southern edge, putting the borough within minutes of central London and within reach of Paris by Eurostar.

Education includes City, University of London on the borough boundary, along with several further education colleges and a well-regarded network of schools.

Islington matters as a compact slice of London where theatre, football, canals, Georgian architecture and sharp social contrast are all packed into a couple of square miles.