Croydon was a rural district in north east Surrey, England, United Kingdom, from 1894 to 1915. It was created by the Local Government Act 1894 and replaced the Croydon Rural Sanitary District. The district surrounded the County Borough of Croydon to the south, east and west. When established in 1894, the area covered was primarily rural, dotted with small villages and towns, but the expansion of London in the late 19th and early 20th centuries led to rapid urbanisation and the rural district was progressively broken up to form newly created urban districts. It was abolished in 1915.