Patio in Kensington and Chelsea

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The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is an inner London borough of Royal borough status, to the west of the centre. The borough was formed in 1965 from the former boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea. Kensington’s Royal Borough status was inherited by the new borough. It covers an area of 4.68 square miles. As the smallest borough in London and also the second smallest district in England, this urban area is one of the most densely populated within the United Kingdom. In 2005, the borough had more of its land covered by domestic buildings than anywhere else in England at 19 per cent, which is more than half of the national average. It also had the 5th highest proportion of land covered by non-domestic buildings at 12 per cent. The borough is immediately towards the west of the City of Westminster and to the east of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It consists of significant museums and universities in Albertopolis, department stores like Harrods, Peter Jones and Harvey Nichols, and embassies in Belgravia, Knightsbridge and Kensington Gardens. It is home to the Notting Hill Carnival, Europe’s biggest. It includes many of the most highly-priced residential districts in London and even in the world, and also districts with higher levels of social housing and poverty. The local authority is Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council. The borough’s motto is Quam Bonum in Unum Habitare, which may be roughly translated as ‘How good to dwell in unity’.