Chelsea is an affluent area in southwest London, bounded to the south by the River Thames. Its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above Sloane Square tube station. The modern eastern boundary is Chelsea Bridge Road and the lower half of Sloane Street, including Sloane Square. To the north and northwest, the area fades into Knightsbridge and Brompton, but it is safe to say that the area north of King’s Road as far northwest as Fulham Road is part of Chelsea. The football club Chelsea F.C. is based at Stamford Bridge, which straddles the border between Chelsea and Fulham.

The district is almost entirely within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, with the exception of Chelsea Harbour, located within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. From 1900, and until the creation of Greater London in 1965, it formed the Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea in the County of London.

The exclusivity of Chelsea as a result of its high property prices has historically resulted in the term Sloane Ranger being used to describe its residents. Since 2011, Channel 4 has broadcast a reality television show called Made in Chelsea, documenting the “glitzy” lives of young people living there. Moreover, Chelsea is home to one of the largest communities of Americans living outside the US, with 6.53% of Chelsea residents being born in the US.