Woking is a large town and civil parish that shares its name with the surrounding local government district, located in the west of Surrey, South East England. It functions as a dormitory town of the London commuter belt and is located 23 miles (37 km) south west of Charing Cross in central London. Woking town itself, excluding the surrounding district, has a population of 62,796, and the civil parish, which covers part of the urban area inclusive of Sheerwater and Knaphill, has a population of 30,403. It should be noted that this population should not be confused with the local government district (the borough of Woking), which has an approximate population of 90,700 (2006 estimate).