ABSTRACT We estimate the merger rate of double degenerate binaries containing extremely low mass (ELM; M ) white dwarfs (WDs) in the Galaxy. Such WDs are detectable for timescales of 0.1-1 Gyr in the ELM Survey; the binaries they reside in have gravitational wave merger times of 0.001-100 Gyr. To explain the observed distribution requires that most ELM WD binary progenitors detach from the common envelope phase with <1 hr orbital periods. We calculate the local space density of ELM WD binaries and estimate a merger rate of 3 × 10−3 yr−1 over the entire disk of the Milky Way; the merger rate in the halo is 10 times smaller. The ELM WD binary merger rate exceeds by a factor of 40 the formation rate of stable mass transfer AM CVn binaries, marginally exceeds the rate of underluminous supernovae, and is identical to the formation rate of R CrB stars. On this basis, we conclude that ELM WD binaries can be the progenitors of all observed AM CVn and possibly underluminous supernovae; however, the majority of He+CO WD binaries go through unstable mass transfer and merge, e.g., into single massive ∼1 M WDs.