Template:Wp-Swindon

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Swindon is a large town in Wiltshire in the southwest of England, between Bristol, 35 miles (56 kilometres) to the west, and Reading, the same distance east. London is 71 miles (114 km) to the east, Cardiff 60 miles (97 km) to the west and Oxford 26 miles (42 km) northeast. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 182,441, an increase of 16.2% since 2001.

The larger Borough of Swindon has a population of about 209,000, including the small town of Highworth and the large village of Wroughton. Swindon Borough Council is a unitary authority independent of Wiltshire Council since 1997. Residents of Swindon are known as Swindonians.

Swindon was named an Expanded Town under the Town Development Act 1952 and this led to a major increase in its population. Swindon railway station is on the line from London Paddington to Bristol. Swindon is home to the Oxford University Bodleian Library's book depository, which contains 153 miles (246 km) of bookshelves. It also is the location of the English Heritage National Monument Record Centre and the headquarters of the National Trust, which is on the site of the former Great Western Railway works, an earlier large industry in the town. The town and wider borough also has the headquarters of the large financial institution, Nationwide Building Society, and a Honda car manufacturing plant.