Westminster is one of only two places in Britain to have fewer people living in it today than it did 200 years ago.

That's according to an analysis of two centuries worth of census data by the University of Portsmouth.

The research found the modern borough of Westminster would have had a population of 220,188 in 1801. Compared to the latest census, this is marginally more than the 219,582 people living in the area in 2011.

However, it wasn’t always this way.

Westminster’s population increased rapidly from 1801, when one seventh of the UK lived in London, and it peaked at an incredible 483,090 in 1881 before winding back down to 163,893 in 1981 from where it has since picked up again.

Try the interactive widget below to find out the population where you are:

Back in 1801, the majority of west London’s population came from Westminster.

In total there were 282,500 people living within the boundaries of the modern day boroughs of Brent, Ealing, Hounslow, Hillingdon, Harrow, Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster.

The population of west London as a whole peaked at just over two million in 1951 before dropping to 1.98m, as recorded in the 2011 census.

While Westminster has actually shrunk over this period, Brent has increased its population by 154 times since 1801 - from just 2,022 to 263,436 with a peak of 310,457 in 1951. This is the fifth biggest increase for any local authority in Great Britain.

The figures come from a project called A Vision of Britain Through Time, run by the University of Portsmouth, which took census figures over the past two centuries and sorted them into today’s geographical areas.

Only Westminster and the Orkney Islands, off the coast of Scotland, have a smaller population today than they did 200 years ago.

At the other end of the scale, Watford saw the biggest growth in Britain over the past 200 years, rising from just 84 in 1801 to 79,729 in 2001.

As a whole, Great Britain’s population increased six times over the last two centuries, going from 9.2m in 1801 to 55.9m in 2001.

Changes in west London population

Borough 1801 population 2001 population Peak year Peak population
Westminster 220,188 181,279 1881 493,090
Kensington and Chelsea 22,088 158,922 1891 258,015
Hammersmith and Fulham 10,016 165,243 1931 281,757
Hounslow 11,672 212,344 2001 212,344
Hillingdon 9,232 242,435 2001 242,435
Harrow 3,240 207,389 1951 217,811
Ealing 4,033 300,947 1951 303,029
Brent 2,022 263,463 1951 310,457