Swindon is a large town within the borough of Swindon and county of Wiltshire in South West England. It is midway between Bristol 40 miles (64 km) west and Reading 40 miles (64 km) east. London is 81 miles (130 km) east. In the 2001 census the population of the Swindon urban area was 155 432 while the wider borough of Swindon had a population of 184 000. Swindon was named an Expanded Town under the Town Development Act 1952 and this led to a major increase in its population.