A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated

urban agglomeration An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...

and its surrounding territories which share industries,

commercial area Commercial area, commercial district or commercial zone in a city is an area, district, or neighborhoods primarily composed of commerce, commercial buildings, such as a strip mall, business parks, office parks, downtown, central business distric ...

transport network A transport network, or transportation network, is a network or graph in geographic space, describing an infrastructure that permits and constrains movement or flow. Examples include but are not limited to road networks, railways, air routes ...

infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and pri ...

s and

housing Housing refers to a property containing one or more Shelter (building), shelter as a living space. Housing spaces are inhabited either by individuals or a collective group of people. Housing is also referred to as a human need and right to ...

. A metropolitan area usually comprises multiple principal cities,

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...

s and

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

neighborhoods A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

cities A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

exurb An exurb (or alternately: exurban area) is an area outside the typically denser inner suburbs, suburban area, at the edge of a metropolitan area, which has some economic and commuting connection to the metro area, low housing-density, and rela ...

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

s and even

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

s and

nation A nation is a type of social organization where a collective Identity (social science), identity, a national identity, has emerged from a combination of shared features across a given population, such as language, history, ethnicity, culture, t ...

s in areas like the eurodistricts. As social, economic and political institutions have changed, metropolitan areas have become key economic and political regions.In the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, metropolitan areas are delineated around the

core Core or cores may refer to: Science and technology * Core (anatomy), everything except the appendages * Core (laboratory), a highly specialized shared research resource * Core (manufacturing), used in casting and molding * Core (optical fiber ...

of a

core based statistical area A core-based statistical area (CBSA) is a U.S. geographic area defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). It contains a large population nucleus, or urban area, and adjacent communities that have a high degree of integration with t ...

, which is defined as an

urban area An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...

and includes central and outlying counties. In other countries metropolitan areas are sometimes anchored by one central city such as the

Paris metropolitan area The Paris metropolitan area () is a statistical area that describes the reach of commuter movement to and from Paris, France and its surrounding suburbs. Overview In 2020, France's national INSEE statistical bureau introduced the concept "ai ...

(

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

). In other cases, metropolitan areas contain multiple centers of equal or close to equal importance, especially in the United States; for example, the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area has eight principal cities. The

Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area The Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area (Urdu:) is the fourth-largest metropolitan area of Pakistan, after Karachi, Lahore, and Faisalabad. It consists of the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The area includes the Pothohar Plateau ...

in Pakistan, the

Rhine-Ruhr The Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region () is the Metropolitan regions in Germany, largest metropolitan region in Germany, with over ten million inhabitants. A wikt:polycentric, polycentric conurbation with several major urban concentrations, the reg ...

in Germany, and the

Randstad The Randstad (; "Rim City" or "Edge City") is a roughly crescent- or Circular arc, arc-shaped conurbation in the Netherlands, that includes almost half the country's population. With a central-western location, it connects and comprises the Net ...

in The Netherlands are other examples. In the United States, the concept of metropolitan statistical areas has gained prominence. The area of the Greater

Washington metropolitan area The Washington metropolitan area, also referred to as the National Capital Region, Greater Washington, or locally as the DMV (short for Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia), is the metropolitan area comprising Washing ...

is an example of statistically grouping independent cities and county areas from various states to form a larger city because of proximity, history, and recent urban convergence. Metropolitan areas may themselves be part of a greater

megalopolis A megalopolis () or a supercity, also called a megaregion, is a group of metropolitan areas which are perceived as a continuous urban area through common systems of transport, economy, resources, ecology, and so on. They are integrated enough ...

. For urban centres located outside metropolitan areas that generate a similar attraction at a smaller scale for a region, the concept of a

regiopolis In Germany, a regiopolis is a city outside the core of a metropolitan area, that serves as an independent driving force for development within a larger region. The concept is used to develop midsized urban regions within regional, national and g ...

and a respective regiopolitan area, or regio, was introduced by German professors in 2006. In the United States, the term micropolitan statistical area is used.

Definition

Hoja-especial-50-Madrid y su entorno-2012

A metropolitan area combines an

with the contiguous built-up areas, which are not necessarily urban in character but are closely bound to the center by employment or other commerce. These outlying zones are sometimes known as a commuter belt and may extend well beyond the urban zone to other political entities. For example,

East Hampton, New York East Hampton is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in southeastern Suffolk County, New York United States. It is located at the eastern end of the South Shore (Long Island), South Shore of Long Island. It is the easternmost town i ...

, on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

is considered part of the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also called the Tri-State area and sometimes referred to as Greater New York, is the List of cities by GDP, largest metropolitan economy in the world, with a List of U.S. metropolitan areas by GDP, gross metropo ...

. In 2020, the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

, the

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. Its Latin motto, , translates ...

, the

United Nations Human Settlements Programme The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is the United Nations programme for human settlements and sustainable urban development. It was established in 1977 as an outcome of the first United Nations Conference on Human Settle ...

, the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is one of the firs ...

, the

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...

, and the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

have agreed on a common methodological framework for delimitation of urban and rural areas, which contains a definition of metropolitan areas called the Functional urban area. It is defined as a city and its commuting zone, which is a contiguous area of spatial units that have at least 15% of their employed residents working in the city. In practice, the parameters of metropolitan areas, in both official and unofficial usage, are not consistent. Sometimes they are little different from an urban area, and in other cases, they cover broad regions that have little relation to a single urban settlement; comparative statistics for metropolitan areas should take this into account. The term metropolitan can also refer to a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

-level

municipal government A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

structure, with some shared services between a central city and its suburbs, which may or may not include the entirety of a metropolitan area. Population figures given for one metro area can vary by millions. There has been no significant change in the basic concept of metropolitan areas since its adoption in 1950, although significant changes in geographic distributions have occurred since then, and more are expected. Because of the fluidity of the term "metropolitan statistical area", the term used colloquially is more often "metro service area", "metro area", or "MSA", taken to include not only a city but also the surrounding suburban, exurban and sometimes rural areas, all of which the city is presumed to influence. A polycentric metropolitan area contains multiple urban agglomerations not connected by continuous development. In defining a metropolitan area, it is sufficient that a city or cities form a nucleus with which other areas have a high degree of integration. A metropolitan area is commonly known and characterized by a high concentration in

service sector The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the ...

labor and enterprises.

Macroeconomics Macroeconomics is a branch of economics that deals with the performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of an economy as a whole. This includes regional, national, and global economies. Macroeconomists study topics such as output (econ ...

views metropolitan areas as

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cr ...

regions of economic significance. Since, presently, urban data are based on arbitrary definitions that vary from country to country and from year or census to the next, making them difficult to compare, an Urban Metric System (UMS) has been conceived that could correct the problem, since it allows computing the urban area limits and central points, and it can be applied in the same way to all past, present and future population and job distributions. It is based on vector field calculations obtained by assuming that, in a given space, all inhabitants and jobs exert the same attractive force ''A'' and repulsive force ''R''. The net force (''A'' - ''R'') exerted by each inhabitant or job is given by /(1 + ''d'')- /( ''β'' + ''d''/2) where ''d'' = distance and ''β'' is the only parameter. UMS distinguishes the following types of urban areas, each type corresponding to a given value of ''β'': UMS has been applied to some Canadian cases since 2018, but the data presented in this article are still based on the various existing national definitions, which are disparate.

Africa

Algeria

Urban population rate: 72% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Algiers Metropolitan Area The Algiers Metropolitan Area consists of four provinces: Tipaza,

Blida Blida () is a city in Algeria. It is the capital of Blida Province, and it is located about 45 km south-west of Algiers, the national capital. The name ''Blida'', i.e. ''bulaydah'', is a diminutive of the Arabic word ''belda'', city. Ge ...

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

, and

Boumerdès Boumerdès (; ; formerly ''Rocher Noir'') is the capital city of Boumerdès Province, Algeria. It is located on the Mediterranean Sea. It had a population of 15,000 in 1987 and 28,500 in 1998. Boumerdès is a seaside city located in the north o ...

. It spans approximately 5,726 km² and had a population of 5,384,175 as of the 2008 census. Projections estimate that the population may exceed 9 million. The area is served by a modern railway system, the Algiers Tramway, and the Algiers Metro. There are plans to expand public transport to the surrounding provinces of Tipaza and

. Notable urban and suburban areas include Sidi Abdellah and Hydra. Major commercial and industrial zones are located in Reghaïa and Ouled Hedadj. The metropolitan area is also home to key maritime trade infrastructure, including the Port of Algiers and the planned Port of El Hamdania. * Sétif–Constantine Metropolitan Area The Sétif–Constantine Metropolitan Area includes seven provinces:

Sétif Sétif () is the capital city of the Sétif Province and the 5th most populous city of Algeria, with an estimated population of 1.866.845 in 2017). It is one of the most important cities of eastern Algeria and the country as a whole, since it is c ...

Béjaïa Béjaïa ( ; , , ), formerly known as Bougie and Bugia, is a Mediterranean seaport, port city and communes of Algeria, commune on the Gulf of Béjaïa in Algeria; it is the capital of Béjaïa Province. Geography Location Béjaïa owes its ...

Bordj Bou Arréridj Bordj Bou Arréridj () is the capital city of Bordj Bou Arréridj Province, Algeria. According to the 2008 estimation, its population was 168,346. It is situated 148 miles by road east of Algiers, near the Hodna Massif in the southern Kabylie Mo ...

, Mila, Constantine,

Skikda Skikda (; formerly Philippeville from 1838 to 1962 and Rusicade in ancient times) is a city in northeastern Algeria and a port on the Mediterranean. It is the capital of Skikda Province and Skikda District. History The Phoenicians and Carthagi ...

, and

Annaba Annaba (), formerly known as Bon, Bona and Bône, is a seaport city in the northeastern corner of Algeria, close to the border with Tunisia. Annaba is near the small Seybouse River and is in the Annaba Province. With a population of about 263,65 ...

. It covers an area of approximately 24,946 km² and had a population of 6,238,698. Current estimates suggest the population may be closer to 8 million. The region is connected by a national rail system, and major cities such as Constantine and

have operational tramway networks. Tramway projects are also planned for

and

. This metropolitan area hosts several of the largest commercial and industrial zones in North Africa, including El Eulma, Chelghoum Laïd, El Hadjar, and

Akbou Akbou (, ) is a town in the Kabylie region in northern Algeria in Béjaïa Province. It is a growing city with a population of 52,300 in 2008. History The modern town of Akbou was established by the French in 1874. However, the area was occup ...

. Major urban centers include Sétif city, Constantine city, El Khroub,

, and

. The area also encompasses important agricultural zones, particularly in

and

. Key maritime ports serving the region include the Port of Béjaïa, Port of Annaba, and Port of Skikda. * Oran Metropolitan Area The Oran Metropolitan Area comprises seven provinces:

Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

, Aïn Témouchent,

Mostaganem Mostaganem () is a port city in and capital of Mostaganem (province), Mostaganem province, in the northwest of Algeria. The city, founded in the 11th century lies on the Gulf of Arzew, Mediterranean Sea and is 72 km ENE of Oran. It is consi ...

Tlemcen Tlemcen (; ) is the second-largest city in northwestern Algeria after Oran and is the capital of Tlemcen Province. The city has developed leather, carpet, and textile industries, which it exports through the port of Rachgoun. It had a population of ...

, Sidi Bel Abbès,

Mascara Mascara (, ) is a Cosmetics, cosmetic commonly used to enhance the upper and lower eyelashes. It is used to darken, thicken, lengthen, and/or define the eyelashes. Normally in one of three forms—liquid, powder, or cream—the modern mascara p ...

, and Relizane. It covers a total area of 35,643 km² and had a population of approximately 5,757,096, with estimates indicating a population nearing 7 million. The region is served by a high-speed rail line linking

, Sidi Bel Abbès, and

, as well as modern rail connections between other provinces. Tramway systems are currently operational in

, Sidi Bel Abbès, and

. Expansion projects are planned for

, Relizane, and

.Lancement prochain de 14 projets de tramways
S.H., ''S.H.'', 29 mai 2010 Notable urban and suburban centers include Oran city, Sidi Bel Abbès,

, and

. The area includes major industrial zones such as

Es Sénia Es Senia () (formerly La Sénia) is a municipality in Oran Province, Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, t ...

, Tafraoui, Hassi Mamèche, and Sig. The region is also home to several key maritime ports, including the Port of Oran, Port of Mostaganem, Port of Ghazaouet, and Port of Béni Saf. Significant agricultural activity takes place in

, Relizane, and the eastern parts of

. Urban population rate: 72% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Metropolitan Area: 3,316,232 *

Metropolitan Area: 1,261,238

Angola

Urban population rate: 67% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Luanda Luanda ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Angola, largest city of Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Ang ...

Metropolitan Area: 11,672,134 *

Lubango Lubango, formerly known as Sá da Bandeira, is a municipality in Angola, capital of the Huíla Province, with a population of 914,456 in 2022. The city center had a population of 600,751 in 2014 making it the second-most populous city in Angola a ...

Metropolitan Area: 1,331,213 * Cabinda Metropolitan Area: 1,220,204 *

Malanje Malanje is the capital city of Malanje Province in Angola, with a population of 455,000 (2014 census), and a municipality, with a population of 506,847 (2014 census). Projected to be the thirteenth fastest growing city on the African continent be ...

Metropolitan Area: 1,052,124

Benin

Urban population rate: 50%(2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Cotonou Cotonou (; ) is the largest city in Benin. Its official population count was 679,012 inhabitants in 2012; however, over two million people live in the larger urban area. The urban area continues to expand, notably toward the west. The city lies ...

Metropolitan Area: 2,647,117

Botswana

Urban population rate: 68% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Botswana, largest city of Botswana, with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its metropolitan area is home to 534, ...

Metropolitan Area: 298,993

Burkina Faso

Urban population rate: 35% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Ouagadougou Ouagadougou or Wagadugu (, , , ) is the capital city of Burkina Faso, and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic centre of the nation. It is also the List of cities in Burkina Faso#Largest cities, country's largest city, wi ...

Metropolitan Area: 3,616,268 * Bobo Dioulasso Metropolitan Area: 1,297,389

Burundi

Urban population rate: 16% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Bujumbura Bujumbura (; ), formerly Usumbura, is the economic capital, largest city and main port of Burundi. It ships most of the country's chief export, coffee, as well as cotton and tin ore. Bujumbura was formerly the country's political capital. In la ...

Metropolitan Area: 1,403,419

Cabo Verde

Urban population rate: 69% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Joao Teves Metropolitan Area: 161,477

Cameroon

Urban population rate: 67% ((2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Yaounde Metropolitan Area: 5,479,204 *

Douala Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and its economic capital. It is also the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Region (Cameroon), Littoral Region. It was home to Central Africa's largest port, now being replaced by Kribi port. It has the country ...

Metropolitan Area: 4,457,862

Central Africa

Urban population rate: 47% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Bangui Bangui (; or Bangî in Sango language, Sango, formerly written Bangi in English) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in the Central African Republic, largest city of the Central African Republic. It was established as a Fren ...

Metropolitan Area: 1,270,414

Chad

Urban population rate: 36% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

N'Djamena N'Djamena ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Chad, largest city of Chad. It is also a Provinces of Chad, special statute region, divided into 10 districts or ''arrondissements'', similar to the city of Paris. Originally calle ...

Metropolitan Area: 1,910,082

Comoros

Urban population rate: 33% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Fomboni Metropolitan Area: 236,188 * Moroni Metropolitan Area: 175,832

Congo (Democratic Republic)

Urban population rate: 43% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ), formerly named Léopoldville from 1881–1966 (), is the Capital city, capital and Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-grow ...

Metropolitan Area: 12,945,683 * Kasai Metropolitan Area: 3,596,107 *

Lubumbashi Lubumbashi ( , ; former ; former ) is the second-largest Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, located in the country's southeasternmost part, along the border with Zambia. The capital ...

Metropolitan Area: 2,907,724 * Beni Metropolitan Area: 1,872,705 * Kanaga Metropolitan Area: 1,538,649 *

Tshikapa Tshikapa is the capital city of Kasaï Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located north of the Angolan border and west of Kananga at the confluence of the Tshikapa and Kasai rivers. According to records published by th ...

Metropolitan Area: 1,074,735

Congo (Republic)

Urban population rate: 69% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Brazzaville Brazzaville () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Republic of the Congo. Administratively, it is a Departments of the Republic of the Congo, department and a Communes of the Republic of the Congo, commune. Constituting t ...

Metropolitan Area: 3,190,743

Djibouti

Urban population rate: 83% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Djibouti Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area ...

Metropolitan Area: 735,132

Egypt

Urban population rate: 51% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024.

Equatorial Guinea

Urban population rate: 45% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Bata Metropolitan Area: 789,800

Eritrea

Urban population rate: 28% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Asmara Asmara ( ), or Asmera (), is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea, in the country's Central Region (Eritrea), Central Region. It sits at an elevation of , making it the List of capital cities by altitude, sixth highest capital in the wo ...

Metropolitan Area: 251,980

Eswatini

Urban population rate: 28% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Manzini Metropolitan Area: 103,406

Ethiopia

Urban population rate: 22% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

Metropolitan Area: 7,280,463

Gabon

Urban population rate: 89% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Libreville Libreville (; ) is the capital and largest city of Gabon, located on the Gabon Estuary. Libreville occupies of the northwestern province of Estuaire Province, Estuaire. Libreville is also a port on the Gabon Estuary, near the Gulf of Guinea. A ...

Metropolitan Area: 917,056

Gambia

Urban population rate: 42%(2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Serrekunda Serekunda (or Serrekunda; ) is a major city and the largest metropolitan area in The Gambia. It is situated close to the Atlantic coast, on the Gambia River, near the capital, Banjul. Serekunda and Banjul form an urban area known as the Kombos ...

Metropolitan Area: 1,313,465

Ghana

Urban population rate: 59% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

Metropolitan Area: 5,890,466 *

Kumasi Kumasi is a city and the capital of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly and the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It is the second largest city in the country, with a population of 443,981 as of the 2021 census. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region ...

Metropolitan Area: 4,923,115 *

Takoradi Sekondi-Takoradi ( ) is a city in Ghana comprising the twin cities of Sekondi and Takoradi. It is the capital of Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan District and the Western Region of Ghana. Sekondi-Takoradi is the region's largest city as well as ...

Metropolitan Area: 1,255,809

Guinea

Urban population rate: 43% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Coyah Metropolitan Area: 2,991,111

Guinea Bissau

Urban population rate: 38% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Bissau Bissau () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Guinea-Bissau. it had a population of 492,004. Bissau is located on the Geba River estuary, off the Atlantic Ocean, and is Guinea-Bissau's largest city, major port, its administr ...

Metropolitan Area: 674,444

Ivory Coast

Urban population rate: 59% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N'ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the largest city and the former capital of Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of the overall population ...

Metropolitan Area: 6,450,316 *

Yamoussoukro Yamoussoukro (; , locally ) is the capital city of Ivory Coast and an autonomous district. As of the 2014 census, Yamoussoukro is the fifth most populous city in the Ivory Coast, with a population of 212,670. Located north-west of Abidjan, the ...

Metropolitan Area: 227,859

Kenya

Urban population rate: 29% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

Metropolitan Area: 6,646,257 * Mombasa Metropolitan Area: 1,617,739

Lesotho

Urban population rate: 36% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Maseru Maseru is the capital and largest city of Lesotho. It is also the capital of the Maseru District. Located on the Caledon River, Maseru lies directly on the Lesotho–South Africa border. Maseru had a population of 330,760 in the 2016 census. T ...

Metropolitan Area: 296,516

Liberia

Urban population rate: 56% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Monrovia Monrovia () is the administrative capital city, capital and largest city of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast and as of the 2022 census had 1,761,032 residents, home to 33.5% of Liber ...

Metropolitan Area: 2,049,818

Libya

Urban population rate: 83% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Tripoli Metropolitan Area: 1,248,354

Madagascar

Urban population rate: 38% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Antananarivo Antananarivo (Malagasy language, Malagasy: ; French language, French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known ...

Metropolitan Area: 4,255,254

Malawi

Urban population rate: 25% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Lilongwe Lilongwe (, ,) is the capital and largest city of Malawi. It has a population of 989,318 as of the 2018 Census, up from a population of 674,448 in 2008. In 2020, that figure was 1,122,000. The city is located in the central region of Malawi, i ...

Metropolitan Area: 1,018,798

Mali

Urban population rate: 45% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Bamako Bamako is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2022 population of 4,227,569. It is located on the Niger River, near the rapids that divide the upper and middle Niger valleys in the southwestern part of the country. Bamak ...

Metropolitan Area: 3,960,563

Mauritania

Urban population rate: 49% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Nouakchott Nouakchott ( ) is the capital and largest city of Mauritania. Located in the southwestern part of the country, it is one of the largest cities in the Sahara. The city also serves as the administrative and economic center of Mauritania. Once a ...

Metropolitan Area: 1,625,384

Mauritius

Urban population rate: 50% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Port Louis Port Louis (, ; or , ) is the capital and most populous city of Mauritius, mainly located in the Port Louis District, with a small western part in the Black River District. Port Louis is the country's financial and political centre. It is admi ...

Metropolitan Area: 557,431

Morocco

Urban population rate: 66% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

Metropolitan Area: 4,577,677 *

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ) is the Capital (political), capital city of Morocco and the List of cities in Morocco, country's seventh-largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million. ...

Metropolitan Area: 2,094,221 * Fez Metropolitan Area: 1,434,235 *

Tangier Tangier ( ; , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The city is the capital city, capital of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, as well as the Tangier-Assilah Prefecture of Moroc ...

Metropolitan Area: 1,300,223 *

Marrakesh Marrakesh or Marrakech (; , ) is the fourth-largest city in Morocco. It is one of the four imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakesh–Safi Regions of Morocco, region. The city lies west of the foothills of the Atlas Mounta ...

Metropolitan Area: 1,152,691

Mozambique

Urban population rate: 45% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Maputo Maputo () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed ov ...

Metropolitan Area: 3,533,370 * Nampula Metropolitan Area: 1,028,776

Namibia

Urban population rate: 46% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Windhoek Windhoek (; ; ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek, which ...

Metropolitan Area: 417,842

Niger

Urban population rate: 23% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Niamey Niamey () is the capital and largest city of Niger. As the Niamey Urban Community (, CUN), it is a Regions of Niger, first-level division of Niger, surrounded by the Tillabéri Region, in the western part of the country. Niamey lies on the Nige ...

Metropolitan Area: 1,600,656

Nigeria

Urban population rate: 58% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

Metropolitan Area: 12,846,045 *

Onitsha Onitsha ( or simply ''Ọ̀nị̀chà'') is a city on the eastern bank of the Niger River, in Anambra State, Nigeria. Onitsha along with various cities and towns in southern Anambra State, northern Imo State and neighboring Delta State on the we ...

Metropolitan Area: 5,788,296 * Kano Metropolitan Area: 5,110,616 *

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the List of Nigerian cities by population, third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano (city), Kano, with a total populatio ...

Metropolitan Area: 4,043,955 *

Owerri Owerri ( , ) is the capital city of Imo State in Nigeria, set in the heart of Igboland. It is also the state's largest city, followed by Orlu, Nigeria, Orlu, Okigwe and Ohaji/Egbema. Owerri consists of three Local Government Areas of Nigeria, Loc ...

Metropolitan Area: 3,594,823 *

Port Harcourt Port Harcourt (Pidgin: ''Po-ta-kot or Pi-ta-kwa)'' is the capital and largest city of Rivers State in Nigeria. It is the fifth most populous city in Nigeria after Lagos, Kano, Ibadan and Benin. It lies along the Bonny River and is locate ...

Metropolitan Area: 2,623,780 * Kaduna Metropolitan Area: 1,937,932 *

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

Metropolitan Area: 1,912,370 *

Warri The city of Warri is an oil hub within South-South Nigeria and houses an annex of the Delta State Government House. Warri City is one of the major hubs of the petroleum industry in Nigeria. Warri, Udu, Okpe and Uvwie are the commercial ...

Metropolitan Area: 1,617,739 * Uyo Metropolitan Area: 1,606,054 * Aba Metropolitan Area: 1,472,091 *

Ilorin Ilorin is the capital city of Kwara State located in the Western region of Nigeria. The city is a major hub for transportation and commerce in the region. . Retrieved 18 February 2007 Although Ilorin is classified under the North-Central g ...

Metropolitan Area: 1,359,617 *

Abuja Abuja (; , ) is the capital city of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, strategically situated at the geographic midpoint of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (Nigeria), Federal Capital Territory (FCT). As the seat of the Federal G ...

Metropolitan Area: 1,322,229 * Maiduguri Metropolitan Area: 1,293,406 *

Aboh Aboh or Abo,"Ibo, a district of British West Africa..." () is a city in Delta State of Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf ...

Metropolitan Area: 1,282,172 *

Enugu Enugu () verbally pronounced as "Enụgwụ" by the Igbo indigenes is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by the states of Benue and Kogi, Ebonyi State to the east and southeast, Abia State to the so ...

Metropolitan Area: 1,086,434 * Okene Metropolitan Area: 1,036,027

Rwanda

Urban population rate: 25% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Kigali Kigali () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali is a relativ ...

Metropolitan Area: 1,621,760

Sao Tome e Principe

Urban population rate: 71% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Sao Tome SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Serb Autonomous Regions (''Srpska autonomna oblast'', SAO), during the breakup of ...

Metropolitan Area: 154,878

Senegal

Urban population rate: 51% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

Metropolitan Area: 3,970,202 *

Touba Touba (Hassaniya Arabic: , 'Felicity'; Wolof: Tuubaa) is a city in central Senegal, part of Diourbel Region and Mbacké district. With a population of 1,120,824 in 2023, it is the second most populated Senegalese city after Dakar. It is the h ...

Metropolitan Area: 1,170,259

Sierra Leone

Urban population rate: 46% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Freetown Freetown () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, e ...

Metropolitan Area: 2,150,533

Somalia

Urban population rate: 45% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Mogadishu Mogadishu, locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Ocean for millennia and has ...

Metropolitan Area: 4,798,453 * Hargesia (

Somaliland Somaliland, officially the Republic of Somaliland, is an List of states with limited recognition, unrecognised country in the Horn of Africa. It is located in the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden and bordered by Djibouti to the northwest, E ...

) Metropolitan Area: 1,500,449

South Africa

The

Greater Johannesburg metropolitan area The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality () is a Metropolitan municipality (South Africa), metropolitan municipality that manages the local governance of Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa. It is divided into several branche ...

is the fourth largest metropolitan area in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Its population was over 9.6 million as of the 2011 South Africa Census, in contrast to its urban area, which consisted of approximately 7.9 million inhabitants as of 2011. Conversely, metropolitan municipalities in South Africa are defined as commonly governed areas of a metropolitan area. The largest such metropolitan municipal government entity in South Africa is the

City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality () is a metropolitan municipality that manages the local governance of Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa. It is divided into several branches and departments in order to expedite se ...

, which presided over nearly 5 million people as of 2016. However, the Greater Johannesburg metropolitan area houses roughly ten times the population of its core municipal city of

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, which contained 957,441 people as of the 2011 census. Urban population rate: 69% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Metropolitan Area: 8,592,843 *

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

Metropolitan Area: 4,338,251 *

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

Metropolitan Area: 3,270,868 *

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

Metropolitan Area: 1,826,232 *

Soshanguve Soshanguve is a township situated about 30 km north of Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa, just east of Mabopane. The name Soshanguve is an acronym for Sotho, Shangaan, Nguni and Venda, thus showing the multi-ethnic composition of the populat ...

Metropolitan Area: 1,463,579

South Sudan

Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Juba Juba is the capital and largest city of South Sudan. The city is situated on the White Nile and also serves as the capital of the Central Equatoria, Central Equatoria State. It is the most recently declared national capital and had a populatio ...

Metropolitan Area: 296,087

Sudan

Urban population rate: 48% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan. Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...

Metropolitan Area: 7,114,749 *

Nyala The lowland nyala or simply nyala (''Tragelaphus angasii'') is a spiral-horned artiodactyl antelope native to Southern Africa. The species is part of the family Bovidae and the genus '' Tragelaphus'' (formerly placed in the genus ''Nyala''). It ...

Metropolitan Area: 1,038,790

Tanzania

Urban population rate: 34% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (, ; from ) is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of the Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over 7 million people, Dar es Salaam is the largest city in East Africa by population and the ...

Metropolitan Area: 8,918,525 *

Zanzibar Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small Island, islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island. ...

Metropolitan Area: 1,026,755

Togo

Urban population rate: 52% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Lomé Lomé ( , ) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in Togo, largest city of Togo. It has an urban population of 837,437

Metropolitan Area: 2,498,074

Tunisia

Urban population rate: 72% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

Metropolitan Area: 2,790,169

Uganda

Urban population rate: 19% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kampala, Kawempe Division, Kawempe, Makindy ...

Metropolitan Area: 5,177,898

Zambia

Urban population rate: 44% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Lusaka Lusaka ( ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was abo ...

Metropolitan Area: 3,658,064

Zimbabwe

Urban population rate: 46% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Harare Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...

Metropolitan Area: 2,076,037

Asia

Afghanistan

Urban population rate: 29% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024.

Armenia

Urban population rate: 70% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

Metropolitan Area: 1,027,656 * Leninakan Metropolitan Area: 105,161

Azerbaijan

Urban population rate: 60% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

Metropolitan Area: 1,973,054 * Sumgayit Metropolitan Area: 637,053 * Ganca Metropolitan Area: 344,734 * Mingchevir Metropolitan Area: 124,961 * Naxcivan Metropolitan Area: 123,266 *

Lankaran Lankaran (, ) or Lánkon () is a city in Azerbaijan, on the coast of the Caspian Sea, near the southern border with Iran. As of 2021, the city had a population of 89,300. It is next to, but independent of, Lankaran District. The city forms a disti ...

Metropolitan Area: 113,449

Bahrain

Urban population rate: 80% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Al Manamah Metropolitan Area: 1,361,833

Bangladesh

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

, the large population centres which have significant financial, political and administrative importance are considered to be as Metropolitan cities, which are governed by City Corporations. In total, there are 12 city corporations in Bangladesh. 4 of them ( Dhaka North City Corporation, Dhaka South City Corporation,

Narayanganj City Corporation Narayanganj City Corporation ( - in short: NCC), is a local government, local governing body that manages all civic services in the city of Narayanganj, Bangladesh. The NCC government is elected by popular vote every five years. It is headed by a ...

, Gazipur City Corporation) are part of Dhaka Metropolitan Area. Urban population rate: 36% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

Metropolitan Area: 37,307,160

Brunei

Urban population rate: 45% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Bandar Seri Begawan Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB) is the capital and largest city of Brunei. It is officially a Municipalities of Brunei, municipal area () with an area of and an estimated population of 100,700 as of 2007. It is part of Brunei–Muara District, the s ...

Metropolitan Area: 149,321

Cambodia

Urban population rate: 26% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Phnum Penh Metropolitan Area: 2,419,131 * Siem Reab Metropolitan Area: 315,248 * Bat Dambang Metropolitan Area: 129,058

China

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, there used to be no clear distinction between

(, lit. city cluster) and metropolitan area () until

National Development and Reform Commission The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) is the third-ranked executive department of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, which functions as a macroeconomic management agency. Established as the State Planning C ...

issued ''Guidelines on the Cultivation and Development of Modern Metropolitan Areas'' () on Feb 19, 2019, in which a metropolitan area was defined as "an urbanized spatial form in a megalopolis dominated by (a) supercity(-ies) or megacity(-ies), or a large metropolis playing a leading part, and within the basic range of 1-hour commute area." Data are referred to borders determined by

Sino-British Joint Declaration The Sino-British Joint Declaration was a treaty between the governments of the United Kingdom and People's Republic of China signed in 1984 setting the conditions in which Hong Kong was transferred to Chinese control and for the governance o ...

(1984), Sino-Portugal Joint Declaration (1987) and later agreements with countries that share a land border with China or influenced by disputes in the sea where China faces (see

Territorial disputes A territorial dispute or boundary dispute is a disagreement over the possession or control of territories (land, water or airspace) between two or more political entities. Context and definitions Territorial disputes are often related to the ...

focus). Urban population rate: 57% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024.

Cyprus

Data are referred to pre-1974 Turkish Army occupation boundaries. Urban population rate: 62% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Nicosia Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia and Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capital cities. Nicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years and has been the capi ...

Metropolitan Area: 303,412 * Lemesos Metropolitan Area: 191,161

Georgia

Data are referret to pre- 2008 Russo-Georgian War. Urban population rate: 60% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

Metropolitan Area: 988,278 *

Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ), historically Batum or Batoum, is the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), second-largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast ...

Metropolitan Area: 168,438 *

Kutaisi Kutaisi ( ; ka, ქუთაისი ) is a city in the Imereti region of the Georgia (country), Republic of Georgia. One of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, it is the List o ...

Metropolitan Area: 132,035

India

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, a metropolitan city is defined as one with a population more than one million. In policing jurisdiction, state governments can declare any city or town with a population exceeding one million as a metropolitan area as per the

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 The Code of Criminal Procedure, commonly called Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), was the main legislation on procedure for administration of substantive criminal law in India. It was enacted in 1973 and came into force on 1 April 1974. It provi ...

. Urban population rate: 38% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. *

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

Metropolitan Area: 31,422,508 *

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

Metropolitan Area: 23,314,585 *

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

Metropolitan Area: 20,453,270 *

Bengaluru Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

Metropolitan Area: 15,178,533 *

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

Metropolitan Area: 11,466,400 *

Hajipur Hajipur ( , ) is the headquarters and largest city of Vaishali district of the state of Bihar in India. Hajipur is the 16th most populous city of Bihar, besides being the second-fastest developing city, next to Patna. It had a total population ...

Metropolitan Area: 9,755,303 *

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

Metropolitan Area: 9,455,230 *

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

Metropolitan Area: 7,898,650 *

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature. It is the nineteenth large ...

Metropolitan Area: 7,612,130 * Surat Metropolitan Area: 7,100,723 * Pune Metropolitan Area: 6,674,127 * Lucknow Metropolitan Area: 5,214,964 * Kochi Metropolitan Area: 5,069,022 * Kanpur Metropolitan Area: 4,413,625 * Jaipur Metropolitan Area: 4,229,050 * Varanasi Metropolitan Area: 3,812,496 * Indore Metropolitan Area: 3,598,874 * Nagpur Metropolitan Area: 3,399,891 * Maharajganj district, Maharajganj Metropolitan Area: 2,840,919 * Bhopal Metropolitan Area: 2,599,311 * Chandigarh Metropolitan Area: 2,417,872 * Coimbatore Metropolitan Area: 2,360,322 * Vadodara Metropolitan Area: 2,269,390 * Madurai Metropolitan Area: 2,184,066

Indonesia

In Indonesia, the government of Indonesia defines a ''metropolitan area'' as an

where its spatial planning is prioritised due to its highly important influence on the country. Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung, Semarang, Medan, Makassar, Palembang are important metropolitan area in the country. Currently, there are 10 metropolitan cities in Indonesia that have been recognized by the government. Urban population rate: 52% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Jakarta Metropolitan Area: 40,545,126 * Bandung Metropolitan Area: 8,691,181 * Surabaya Metropolitan Area: 6,856,993 * Medan Metropolitan Area: 4,350,624 * Semarang Metropolitan Area: 3,274,360 * Tasikmalaya Metropolitan Area: 2,973,169 * Yogyakarta Metropolitan Area: 2,742,763 * Makassar Metropolitan Area: 2,241,888 * Palembang Metropolitan Area: 2,203,124 * Denpasar Metropolitan Area: 2,005,950 * Malang Metropolitan Area: 1,888,200 * Cirebon Metropolitan Area: 1,634,253 * Surakarta Metropolitan Area: 1,497,108 * Tegal Metropolitan Area: 1,482,144 * Garut Metropolitan Area: 1,473,082 * Pekalongan Metropolitan Area: 1,279,644 * Purwokerto Metropolitan Area: 1,273,365 * Bandar Lampung Metropolitan Area: 1,257,828 * Pekanbaru Metropolitan Area: 1,226,041 * Samarinda Metropolitan Area: 1,225,373 * Padang Metropolitan Area: 1,210,988 * Mataram (city), Mataram Metropolitan Area: 1,009,677

Iran

Urban population rate: 76% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Tehran Metropolitan Area: 9,363,124 * Mashhad Metropolitan Area: 5,377,005 * Ahvaz, Ahwaz Metropolitan Area: 1,907,837 * Isfahan Metropolitan Area: 1,817,590 * Tabriz Metropolitan Area: 1,318,694

Iraq

Urban population rate: 72% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Baghdad Metropolitan Area: 6,891,722 * Basra Metropolitan Area: 2,131,556 * Mosul Metropolitan Area: 1,678,253 * Erbil Metropolitan Area: 1,514,144 * Najaf, Al Najaf Metropolitan Area: 1,361,936 * Kirkuk Metropolitan Area: 1,238,662 * Duhok Metropolitan Area: 1,142,889 * Karbala Metropolitan Area: 1,078,646 * Hillah, Al Hillah Metropolitan Area: 1,030,978

Israel

Data are referred to 1949 Armistice Agreements, 1949 Armistice boundaries, after 1948 Arab-Israeli War of 1948, Arab-Israeli War. Urban population rate: 58% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area: 2,628,335 * Jerusalem Metropolitan Area (both Israeli and Palestinian part): 1,022,929 * Haifa Metropolitan Area: 449,588 * Ashdod Metropolitan Area: 282,181 * Beersheba, Beer Sheva Metropolitan Area: 205,400

Japan

Urban population rate: 72% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024.

Jordan

Urban population rate: 83% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Amman Metropolitan Area: 6,425,246 * Irbid Metropolitan Area: 704,577 * Madaba Metropolitan Area: 104,759

Kazakhstan

Urban population rate: 66% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024.

Kuwait

Urban population rate: 98% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Kuwait City, Al Kuwait Metropolitan Area: 3,703,486

Kyrgyzstan

Urban population rate: 42% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Bishkek Metropolitan Area: 1,428,079 * Osh Metropolitan Area: 481,389

Laos

Urban population rate: 43% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Vientiane Metropolitan Area (Vientiane + Si Chiang Mai district, Si Chiang Mai): 166,271

Lebanon

Urban population rate: 90% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Beirut Metropolitan Area: 1,538,386

Malaysia + Singapore

Urban population rate: 77% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024.

Maldives

* Malé Metropolitan Area: 229,283 (2024).

Mongolia

Urban population rate: 69% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Ulaanbaatar, Ulaanbataar Metropolitan Area: 1,634,097

Myanmar

Urban population rate: 42% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Yangon Metropolitan Area: 6,190,958 * Mandalay Metropolitan Area: 1,849,446

Nepal

Urban population rate: 25% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Kathmandu Metropolitan Area: 3,862,697 * Biratnagar Metropolitan Area (Biratnagar + Jogbani + Inaruwa Municipality, Inaruwa + Laukahi, Nepal, Laukhi): 1,385,038 * Pokhara Metropolitan Area: 151,399 * Bharatpur, Nepal, Bharatpur Metropolitan Area: 153,049 * Tulsipur, Dang, Tulsipur Metropolitan Area: 101,378

North Korea

Boundaries are referred to the Third Inter-Korean summits, inter-Korean summit agreement (2018). Urban population rate: 67% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024.

Oman

Urban population rate: 78% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Muscat Metropolitan Area (Muscat + Seeb, Al Seeb + Ruwi): 1,339,009 * Salalah, Salahah Metropolitan Area: 247,073 * Sohar, Suhar Metropolitan Area: 139,036

Pakistan

Pakistan has nine metropolitan areas with populations greater than a million. Five of these are entirely in Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab including Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Multan; one (Islamabad-Rawalpindi metropolitan area, Islamabad-Rawalpindi is split between Punjab and the Islamabad Capital Territory; two are located in Sindh, including Karachi, the largest metropolitan area in the country, and Hyderabad, Pakistan, Hyderabad; one in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Peshawar; and the final in Balochistan: Quetta. Data are referred to 1972 Simla Agreement, Shimla Agreement borders, after Indo-Pakistani war of 1971, 1971 Indo-Pakistani war. Urban population rate: 39% (2015)

Palestine

Data are referred to 1949 Armistice Agreements, 1949 Armistice boundaries, after 1948 Arab-Israeli War of 1948, Arab-Israeli War. Urban population rate: 78% (2023). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2023, before the Gaza war, Israeli Army invasion. * Gaza City, Gaza Strip Conurbation (Gaza + Rafah): 1,922,681 * Ramallah Metropolitan Area: 1,054,623 * Hebron Metropolitan Area: 414,422 * Nablus Metropolitan Area: 209,246 * Tulkarm Metropolitan Area (Tulkarm + Tayibe): 158,781

Philippines

The Philippines currently has three metropolitan areas defined by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA). These metropolitan areas are separated into three main geographical areas; Metro Manila (which is located in Luzon), Metro Cebu (which is located in Visayas), Metro Davao (which is located in Mindanao), and Greater Manila Area (which is the largest metropolitan area of Manila). The official definition of each area does not necessarily follow the actual extent of continuous urbanization. For example, the built-up area of Metro Manila has long spilled out of its officially defined borders into the adjacent provinces of Bulacan, Rizal (province), Rizal, Laguna (province), Laguna, and Cavite known as Greater Manila Area. The number of metropolitan areas in the Philippines was reduced from 13 in 2007 to the current three based from the 2017–2022 Philippine Development Plan by NEDA. The other 10 metropolitan areas were Metro Angeles, Metro Bacolod, Metro Baguio, Metro Batangas, Metro Cagayan de Oro, Metro Dagupan, Metro Iloilo–Guimaras, Butuan, Metro Butuan, Metro Naga, and Metro Olongapo. Urban population rate: 59% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024.

Qatar

Urban population rate: 46% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Doha Metropolitan Area: 2,076,720

Saudi Arabia

Urban population rate: 86% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Riyadh Metropolitan Area: 7,970,319 * Jeddah Metropolitan Area: 4,842,257 * Dammam Metropolitan Area: 2,634,829 * Mecca Metropolitan Area: 1,876,451 * Medina Metropolitan Area: 1,565,146

South Korea

Boundaries are referred to the Third Inter-Korean summits, inter-Korean summit agreement (2018). Urban population rate: 86% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024.

Sri Lanka

Urban population rate: 20% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Colombo Metropolitan Area: 4,881,182 * Kandy Metropolitan Area: 850,450 * Matara, Sri Lanka, Matara Metropolitan Area: 225,584 * Jaffna Metropolitan Area: 214,344 * Galle Metropolitan Area: 197,578 * Kalmunai Metropolitan Area: 134,013 * Batticaloa Metropolitan Area: 125,685

Syria

Urban population rate: 63% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Damascus Metropolitan Area: 3,771,638

Taiwan

Boundaries are referred to the territories administrated by the Republic of China, after Cross-Strait Act (1992). Urban population rate: 80% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024.

Tajikistan

Urban population rate: 34% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Dushanbe Metropolitan Area (Dushanbe + Hisar (Tajikistan), Hisor + Kofarnihon district, Kofarnihon): 1,759,769 * Khujand Metropolitan Area (Khujand + Chkalovsk, Tajikistan, Ckalovsk + Qistaquz): 454,273 * Kulob Metropolitan Area: 177,692

Thailand

Urban population rate: 42% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024.

Timor Leste

Urban population rate: 36% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Dili Metropolitan Area: 381,794

Turkey

The word metropolitan describes the central municipality governing local services in a province with more than 750.000 residents in Turkey, like Istanbul and its metropolitan municipality, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. There are 30 officially defined "metropolitan municipalities" in Turkey. This classification, however, is only used for administrative purposes, and sometimes contradicts the colloquial use of the term "metro area". As an example, Gebze, a district in Kocaeli Province, Kocaeli province and thus in the jurisdiction of the Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality, is arguably within the metro area of Istanbul with many of its residents commuting to Istanbul for work and the Marmaray, a commuter rail line, extending into the district. The district however, as previously mentioned, is not a part of Istanbul's provincial limits, and thus not subject to the jurisdiction of its metropolitan municipality. The word metropolitan (municipality) is generally only used as an administrative distinction in Turkey. Urban population rate: 73% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024.

Turkmenistan

Urban population rate: 57% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Ashgabat, Asgabat Metropolitan Area: 1,144,222 * Mary, Turkmenistan, Mary Metropolitan Area: 243,436 * Türkmenabat, Turkmenabat Metropolitan Area: 215,520 * Daşoguz, Dasoguz Metropolitan Area: 182,056

United Arab Emirates

Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman (DSA) is a metropolitan area in the United Arab Emirates. It consists of the combined, greater urban areas of Dubai, Ajman, and Sharjah. The urban areas at the northeast end of Dubai flow into those of Sharjah, which in turn are contiguous with those of Ajman. The total population is about 5.9 million people as of 2023 Urban population rate: 87% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Dubai Metropolitan Area (Dubai + Sharjah): 4,565,478 * Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area: 1,052,835 * Al Ain, Al-Ain Metropolitan Area (Al-Ain + Al-Buraimi, Al-Buraymi): 854,940 * Ras al-Haymah Metropolitan Area: 259,127

Uzbekistan

Urban population rate: 44% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024.

Vietnam

Urban population rate: 38% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024.

Central America and Caribbeans

Bahamas

Urban population rate: 87% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Nassau, The Bahamas, Nassau Conurbation: 261,235

Barbados

Urban population rate: 53% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Bridgetown Conurbation: 152,912

Costa Rica

Urban population rate: 70% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * San José, Costa Rica, San Jose Conurbation: 2,461,955

Cuba

Urban population rate: 80% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Havana Metropolitan Area: 1,632,772

Dominican Republic

Urban population rate: 75% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Santo Domingo Metropolitan Area: 4,593,164

El Salvador

Urban population rate: 70% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * San Salvador Conurbation: 1,615,741 * Santa Ana, El Salvador, Santa Ana Metropolitan Area: 205,665 * Sonsonate, El Salvador, Sonsonate Metropolitan Area: 181,726 * San Miguel, El Salvador, San Miguel Metropolitan Area: 165,222 * Lourdes, El Salvador, Lourdes Metropolitan Area: 134,316

Guatemala

Urban population rate: 57% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Guatemala City, Guatemala Metropolitan Area: 2,900,619

Haiti

Urban population rate: 63% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Port-au-Prince, Port au Prince Metropolitan Area: 1,733,378

Honduras

Urban population rate: 59% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Tegucigalpa Conurbation: 1,653,509 * San Pedro Sula Conurbation: 1,547,548 * La Ceiba Metropolitan Area: 300,948 * El Progreso Metropolitan Area: 138,954 * Choluteca, Choluteca, Choluteca Metropolitan Area: 128,127 * Comayagua Metropolitan Area: 113,060

Jamaica

Urban population rate: 60% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston Conurbation: 936,134 * Montego Bay Metropolitan Area: 116,517

Nicaragua

Urban population rate: 64% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Managua Conurbation: 1,690,329 * León, Nicaragua, Leon Metropolitan Area: 155,985 * Matagalpa Metropolitan Area: 134,380 * Estelí, Esteli Metropolitan Area: 113,538 * Puerto Cabezas, Bilwi Metropolitan Area: 107,012 * Chinandega Metropolitan Area: 104,366

Panama

Urban population rate: 80% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Panama City, Ciudad del Panama Conurbation: 2,043,187 * Colón, Panama, Colon Metropolitan Area: 187,546 * David, Chiriquí, David Metropolitan Area: 126,995

Trinidad and Tobago

Urban population rate: 19% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Port of Spain Conurbation: 474,070 * Chaguanas Metropolitan Area: 131,058 * San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago, San Fernando Metropolitan Area: 119,286

Europe

The European Union's statistical agency Eurostat, in partnership with

, has created a concept named functional urban area (FUA). The FUA represents an attempt at a harmonised definition of the metropolitan area, and the goal was to have an area from which a significant share of the residents commute into the city. The FUA consists of a city and its commuting zone, which is a contiguous area of spatial units that have at least 15% of their employed residents working in the city. A further, derived concept is the typology of metropolitan regions. A Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics, NUTS 3 region (or a group thereof) is considered to be metropolitan, if at least 50% of its residents live inside a FUA with a population of 250,000 or more. NUTS 3 regions not meeting these criteria are considered to be non-metropolitan regions.

Albania

Urban population rate: 61% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Tirana, Tirane Metropolitan Area: 995,789 * Durrës Metropolitan Area: 131,865

Austria

Urban population rate: 72% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Vienna Metropolitan Area: 2,056,565 * Graz Metropolitan Area: 306,742 * Linz Metropolitan Area: 243,243 * Innsbruck Metropolitan Area: 144,226 * Salzburg Metropolitan Area: 143,452

Belarus

Urban population rate: 79% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024.

Belgium

Urban population rate: 98% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Brussels, Bruxelles Metropolitan Area: 1,468,754 * Antwerp Metropolitan Area: 767,652 * Liège, Liege Metropolitan Area: 373,662 * Ghent, Gent Metropolitan Area: 250,379 * Charleroi Metropolitan Area: 222,465

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Urban population rate: 56% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Sarajevo Metropolitan Area: 235,734

Bulgaria

Urban population rate: 76% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Sofia Metropolitan Area: 1,068,057 * Plovdiv Metropolitan Area: 331,578 * Varna, Bulgaria, Varna Metropolitan Area: 286,140 * Burgas Metropolitan Area: 102,154

Croatia

Urban population rate: 65% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Zagreb Metropolitan Area: 643,962 * Split, Croatia, Split Metropolitan Area: 215,968 * Rijeka Metropolitan Area: 115,636

Czechia

Urban population rate: 78% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Prague Metropolitan Area: 1,201,278 * Brno Metropolitan Area: 313,582 * Ostrava Metropolitan Area: 150,766 * Plzeň, Plzen Metropolitan Area: 146,255

Denmark

Urban population rate: 89% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Copenhagen Metropolitan Area: 1,338,887 * Aarhus Metropolitan Area: 252,649 * Odense Metropolitan Area: 147,088 * Aalborg Metropolitan Area: 101,029

Estonia

Urban population rate: 74% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Tallinn Metropolitan Area: 449,861

Finland

Urban population rate: 88% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Helsinki Metropolitan Area (Helsinki + Espoo): 1,001,125 * Tampere Metropolitan Area: 153,567 * Turku Metropolitan Area: 104,248

France

France's national statistics office, INSEE, names an urban core and its surrounding area of commuter influence an (AAV, literally meaning "catchment area of a city"), plural: ''aires d'attraction des villes''. The official translation of this statistical area in English (as used by INSEE) is "functional area". The AAV follows the same definition as the Functional Urban Area (FUA) used by Eurostat and the

, and the AAVs are thus strictly comparable to the FUAs. The AAV replaced in 2020 the metropolitan statistical area called ''aire urbaine'' (AU). The AU, which was defined differently than the AAV, has now been discarded by INSEE and replaced with the AAV in order to facilitate international comparisons. Urban population rate: 88% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024.

Germany

Metropolitan regions in Germany by definition, are the eleven urban areas that are the most densely populated areas in the Federal Republic of Germany. They comprise the major German cities and their surrounding catchment areas and form the political, commercial and cultural centers of the country. For urban centers outside metropolitan areas, that generate a similar attraction at smaller scale for their region, the concept of the Regiopolis and respectively regiopolitan area or region was introduced by German professors in 2006. Urban population rate: 79% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024.

Greece

Urban population rate: 68% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Athens Metropolitan Area: 3,166,757 * Thessaloniki Metropolitan Area: 783,450 * Heraklion Metropolitan Area: 159,049 * Patras Metropolitan Area: 146,128 * Larissa, Larisa Metropolitan Area: 118,892

Hungary

Urban population rate: 72% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Budapest Metropolitan Area: 1,743,875 * Debrecen Metropolitan Area: 139,471 * Pécs, Pecs Metropolitan Area: 123,329 * Szeged Metropolitan Area: 122,060 * Miskolc Metropolitan Area: 115,425

Iceland

Urban population rate: 73% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Reykjavík, Reykjavik Metropolitan Area: 206,895

Ireland

Urban population rate: 69% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Dublin Metropolitan Area: 1,310,160 * Cork (city), Cork Metropolitan Area: 137,272

Italy

In 2001 Italy transformed 14 provinces of some of the country's largest cities into ''Metropolitan cities of Italy, Metropolitan Cities''. Therefore, the territory of the ''Metropolitan City'' corresponds to that of a standard Italian province. Urban population rate: 73% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024.

Kosovo

Urban population rate: 42% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Pristina Metropolitan Area: 218,971

Latvia

Urban population rate: 72% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Riga Metropolitan Area: 516,897

Lithuania

Urban population rate: 72% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Vilnius Metropolitan Area: 339,420 * Kaunas Metropolitan Area: 236,910 * Klaipėda, Klaipeda Metropolitan Area: 103,210

Luxembourg

Urban population rate: 88% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Luxembourg City, Luxembourg Metropolitan Area: 161,303

Malta

Urban population rate: 89% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Birkirkara Metropolitan Area (Valletta and nearby cities): 366,066

Moldova

Urban population rate: 55% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Chișinău, Chisinau Metropolitan Area: 450,581

Montenegro

Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Podgorica Metropolitan Area: 152,731

Netherlands

Urban population rate: 86% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024.

North Macedonia

Urban population rate: 67% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Skopje Metropolitan Area: 402,733

Norway

Urban population rate: 84% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Oslo Metropolitan Area: 889,573 * Stavanger Metropolitan Area: 205,533 * Bergen Metropolitan Area: 148,237 * Trondheim Metropolitan Area: 142,104

Poland

Urban population rate: 68% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024.

Portugal

Urban population rate: 68% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Lisbon Metropolitan Area: 2,443,987 * Porto Metropolitan Area: 1,060,250 * Funchal Metropolitan Area: 135,362

Romania

Urban population rate: 65% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024.

Russia

Urban population rate: 78% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Moscow, Moskva Metropolitan Area: 14,384,082

Serbia

Urban population rate: 63% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Belgrade, Beograd Metropolitan Area: 1,200,547 * Novi Sad Metropolitan Area: 286,753 * Niš, Nis Metropolitan Area: 219,095 * Kragujevac Metropolitan Area: 140,856

Slovakia

Urban population rate: 62% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Bratislava Metropolitan Area: 310,204 * Košice Metropolitan Area: 223,173

Slovenia

Urban population rate: 57% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Ljubljana Metropolitan Area: 252,736

Spain

Urban population rate: 82% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024.

Sweden

The list of metropolitan areas in Sweden is collated based on statistics of commuting between central municipalities and surrounding municipalities and taking into account existing planning cooperation in the country's three geographic regions. They were defined around 1965. In 2005, a number of further municipalities were added to the defined areas. Urban population rate: 88% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Stockholm Metropolitan Area: 1,543,892 * Gothenburg Metropolitan Area: 599,675 * Malmö, Malmo Metropolitan Area: 339,007 * Uppsala Metropolitan Area: 133,611 * Helsingborg Metropolitan Area: 106,339 * Västerås, Vasteras Metropolitan Area: 104,147

Switzerland

Urban population rate: 77% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Zürich, Zurich Metropolitan Area: 689,208 * Geneva, Geneve Metropolitan Area (Geneve + Annemasse): 433,727 * Lausanne Metropolitan Area: 288,888 * Basel Metropolitan Area (Basel + Lörrach, Lorrach + Buschwiller): 285,823 * Bern Metropolitan Area: 193,474 * Lucerne, Luzern Metropolitan Area: 146,604

Ukraine

Boundaries are referred to the Treaty on the Russian–Ukrainian border signed in 2003. Urban population rate: 73% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024.

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom's Office for National Statistics defines "travel to work areas" as areas where "at least 75% of an area's resident workforce work in the area and at least 75% of the people who work in the area also live in the area". The European Union's ESPON group has compiled a separate ESPON metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom, list of metropolitan areas which covers the UK. Industrial and housing growth in the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries produced many conurbations. Greater London is by far the largest urban area and is usually counted as a conurbation in statistical terms, but differs from the others in the degree to which it is focused on a single central area. In the mid-1950s the Metropolitan Green Belt, Green Belt was introduced to stem the further urbanisation of the countryside in South East England. The list below shows the most populous urban areas in the UK as defined by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Different organisations define conurbations in the UK differently for example, Liverpool–Manchester Megalopolis, the Liverpool–Manchester or the Manchester–Liverpool conurbation is defined as one conurbation by AESOP in a comparison report published by the University of Manchester in 2005 found here. The Liverpool–Manchester Conurbation has a population of 5.68 million. Urban population rate: 89% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024.

North America

Canada

In Canada, a ''census metropolitan area'' (CMA) or ''census agglomeration'' (CA) consists of one or more neighboring municipalities centered around a core population. A CMA requires a total population of at least 100,000, with 50,000 or more residing in the core, while a CA requires a core population of at least 10,000. Both are determined using data from Canada's Census of Population Program, and surrounding municipalities must demonstrate strong economic integration with the core, measured by commuting patterns. Urban population rate: 85% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Toronto Metropolitan Area: 5,566,382 * Montreal Metropolitan Area: 3,221,844 * Vancouver Metropolitan Area: 2,198,107 * Calgary Metropolitan Area: 1,524,649 * Edmonton Metropolitan Area: 1,144,486

United States

As of February 28, 2013, the

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) defined 1,098 statistical areas for the metropolitan areas of the United States and Puerto Rico. These 1,098 statistical areas comprise 929 Core-Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) and 169 Combined Statistical Areas (CSAs). The 929 Core-Based Statistical Areas are divided into 388 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs – 381 for the U.S. and seven for Puerto Rico) and 541 Micropolitan Statistical Areas (μSAs – 536 for the U.S. and five for Puerto Rico). The 169 Combined Statistical Areas (166 for the U.S. and three for Puerto Rico) each comprise two or more adjacent Core Based Statistical Areas. The Office of Management and Budget defines a Metropolitan Statistical Area as one or more adjacent county (United States), counties or county-equivalent, county equivalents that have at least one List of United States urban areas, urban area of at least 50,000 population, plus adjacent territory that has a high degree of economic and social integration with the core as measured by commuting ties. The OMB then defines a Combined Statistical Area as consisting of various combinations of adjacent metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas with economic ties measured by commuting patterns. The Office of Management and Budget further defines a core-based statistical area (CBSA) to be a geographical area that consists of one or more counties (or equivalents) anchored by an urban center of at least 10,000 people plus adjacent counties that are socioeconomically tied to the urban center by commuting. Urban population rate: 86% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * New York City, New York Metropolitan Area (including Newark, New Jersey, Newark and Jersey City, New Jersey, Jersey): 14,197,659 * Los Angeles Metropolitan Area: 13,474,333 * Miami Metropolitan Area: 5,733,042 * Chicago Metropolitan Area: 5,318,735 * Houston Metropolitan Area: 4,301,461 * San Francisco Metropolitan Area: 4,178,349 * Washington, D.C., Washington Metropolitan Area: 3,471,725 * Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix Metropolitan Area: 2,608,874 * Dallas Metropolitan Area. 2,577,308 * Denver Metropolitan Area: 2,425,086 * Las Vegas Metropolitan Area: 2,371,780 * Philadelphia, Philadephia Metropolitan Area: 2,286,396 * Seattle Metropolitan Area: 2,099,643 * San Diego Metropolitan Area: 1,977,279 * Detroit Metropolitan Area: 1,918,653 * Portland, Oregon, Portland Metropolitan Area: 1,839,776 * Mesa, Arizona, Mesa Metropolitan Area: 1,724,503 * Sacramento, California, Sacramento Metropolitan Area: 1,697,184 * Boston Metropolitan Area: 1,669,310 * Austin, Texas, Austin Metropolitan Area: 1,580,153 * San Antonio Metropolitan Area: 1,513,874 * Orlando, Florida, Orlando Metropolitan Area: 1,231,650 * Minneapolis Metropolitan Area: 1,217,972 * Baltimore Metropolitan Area: 1,127,338 * Salt Lake City Metropolitan Area: 1,108,953

Mexico

Metropolitan areas are known as ''zonas metropolitanas'' in Mexico. The National Population Council (CONAPO) defines them as: * a set of two or more municipalities where a city with a population of at least 100,000 is located, and whose urban area, functions and activities exceed the limits of the municipality. * municipalities with a city of more than 500,000 inhabitants, or a city of more than 200,000 inhabitants located in the northern and southern border areas and in the coastal zone. * municipalities where state capitals are located, if they are not already included in a metropolitan zone. Urban population rate: 82% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Mexico City, Ciudad del Mexico Metropolitan Area: 17,639,164 * Guadalajara Metropolitan Area: 4,138,350 * Monterrey Metropolitan Area: 4,001,151 * Puebla (city), Puebla Metropolitan Area: 1,949,860 * Toluca Metropolitan Area: 1,594,046 * Tijuana Metropolitan Area: 1,538,301 * León, Guanajuato, Leon Metropolitan Area: 1,384,014 * Torreón, Torreon Metropolitan Area: 1,363,776 * Ciudad Juárez, Ciudad Juarez Metropolitan Area: 1,214,949 * San Luis Potosí (city), San Luis Potosi Metropolitan Area: 1,005,068

Oceania

Australia

Melbourne at night from the International Space Station

The Australian Bureau of Statistics uses ''Greater Capital City Statistical Areas'' (GCCSAs), which are geographical areas designed to represent the functional extent of each of the eight state and territory capital cities. They were designed to reflect labor markets, using the 2011 Census "travel to work" data. Labor markets are sometimes used as proxy measures of the functional extent of a city as it contains the majority of the commuting population. GCCSAs replaced "Statistical Divisions" used until 2011. Other metropolitan areas in Australia include cross border cities or continuous built-up areas between two or more cities that are connected by an extensive public transport network that allows for commuting for work or services. *Albury-Wodonga *Canberra-Queanbeyan *Newcastle (New South Wales), Newcastle-Sydney-Wollongong *Perth-Mandurah *South East Queensland *Melbourne-Geelong Urban population rate: 91% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Sydney Metropolitan Area: 4,375,394 * Melbourne Metropolitan Area: 4,010,658 * Brisbane Metropolitan Area: 1,359,105 * Perth Metropolitan Area: 1,357,382 * Adelaide Metropolitan Area: 938,328 * Point Cook Metropolitan Area: 501,408 * Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast Metropolitan Area: 279,191 * Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle Metropolitan Area: 205,366 * North Lakes, Queensland, North Lakes Metropolitan Area: 179,797 * Geelong Metropolitan Area: 165,825 * Wollongong Metropolitan Area: 149,057 * Langwarrin Metropolitan Area: 122,179 * Thuringowa Central, Queensland, Thuringowa Metropolitan Area: 107,619 * Butler, Australia, Butler Metropolitan Area: 106,621 * Campbelltown, New South Wales, Campbelltown Metropolitan Area: 104,044 * Huntfield Heights, South Australia, Huntfield Heights Metropolitan Area: 103,948

Fiji

Urban population rate: 58% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Suva Metropolitan Area: 242,910

New Zealand

Urban population rate: 89% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Auckland Metropolitan Area: 1,673,898 * Christchurch Metropolitan Area: 278,356 * Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton Metropolitan Area: 176,223 * Wellington Metropolitan Area: 154,120 * Tauranga Metropolitan Area: 122,546

Papua New Guinea

Urban population rate: 12% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Port Moresby Metropolitan Area: 442,165 * Mendi Metropolitan Area: 125,843 * Lae Metropolitan Area: 116,212 * Madang Metropolitan Area: 110,610 * Mount Hagen Metropolitan Area: 100,524

Solomon Islands

Urban population rate: 25% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Honiara Metropolitan Area: 137,201

South America

Argentina

Urban population rate: 95% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area: 14,179,912 * Córdoba, Argentina, Cordoba Metropolitan Area: 1,468,197 * Rosario Metropolitan Area: 1,187,382 * Mendoza, Argentina, Mendoza Metropolitan Area: 1,063,217

Bolivia

Urban population rate: 71% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * La Paz Metropolitan Area: 2,063,633 * Santa Cruz de la Sierra Metropolitan Area: 2,016,833 * Cochabamba Metropolitan Area: 1,357,548

Brazil

The IBGE defines also "Immediate Geographic Areas" (formerly termed Microregions of Brazil, microregions) which capture the region "surrounding urban centers for the supply of immediate needs of the population". Intended for policy planning purposes, as of March 2021 census data is not tabulated on the level of these Areas, but instead at the Municipalities of Brazil, municipality or state level. Urban population rate: 89% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * São Paulo, Sao Paulo Metropolitan Area: 19,485,158 * Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Area: 9,853,693 * Belo Horizonte Metropolitan Area: 4,376,747 * Recife Metropolitan Area: 3,847,558 * Salvador, Bahia, Salvador Metropolitan Area: 3,305,396 * Fortaleza Metropolitan Area: 3,324,149 * Porto Alegre Metropolitan Area: 2,763,350 * Curitiba Metropolitan Area: 2,512,877 * Goiânia, Goiania Metropolitan Area: 2,457,483 * Manaus Metropolitan Area: 2,368,805 * Belém, Belem Metropolitan Area: 2,192,375 * Brasília, Brasilia Metropolitan Area: 1,799,121 * Niterói, Niteroi Metropolitan Area: 1,734,951 * Vitória, Espírito Santo, Vitoria Metropolitan Area: 1,291,834 * São Luís, Maranhão, Sao Luis Metropolitan Area: 1,272,247 * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Natal Metropolitan Area: 1,133,224 * Santos, São Paulo, Santos Metropolitan Area: 1,128,178 * João Pessoa, Paraíba, Joao Pessoa Metropolitan Area: 1,120,243 * Maceió, Maceio Metropolitan Area: 1,046,071

Chile

There are three metropolitan areas in Chile, the biggest and most important one is the Gran Santiago in the Santiago Metropolitan Region. The other two metro areas are Gran Valparaiso in the Valparaiso Region with almost a million inhabitants, and Gran Concepción in the Bio Bio Region, with a population of about a million people living in it. Smaller "metropolitan" areas are known as conurbations. Conurbaciones tend to have a bit over 200.000 inhabitants to be considered as such. An example is the Conurbacion de Rancagua, which considers the area shared by the city of Rancagua, and the adjacent smaller towns of Machalí, Gultro and Graneros. Urban population rate: 92% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Santiago Metropolitan Area: 6,633,767

Colombia

Urban population rate: 80% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Bogotá, Bogota Metropolitan Area: 10,419,361 * Medellín, Medellin Metropolitan Area: 3,215,457 * Cali Metropolitan Area: 2,691,616 * Barranquilla Metropolitan Area: 2,166,638

Ecuador

Urban population rate: 72% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Guayaquil Metropolitan Area: 3,247,674 * Quito Metropolitan Area: 2,605,678

Guyana

Urban population rate: 33% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown Metropolitan Area: 130,680

Paraguay

Urban population rate: 68% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Asunción, Asuncion Metropolitan Area: 1,175,482

Peru

Urban population rate: 79% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Lima Metropolitan Area: 10,828,104 * Arequipa Metropolitan Area: 1,004,835

Suriname

Urban population rate: 75% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Paramaribo Metropolitan Area: 253,626

Uruguay

Urban population rate: 94% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Montevideo Metropolitan Area: 2,619,222

Venezuela

Urban population rate: 96% (2024). Metropolitan area population data are referred to 2024. * Caracas Metropolitan Area: 2,667,322 * Maracaibo Metropolitan Area: 2,142,105 * Valencia, Venezuela, Valencia Metropolitan Area: 1,601,249

References

External links

* (page 1 illustrates metropolitan area versus city proper and urban agglomeration)
Geopolis
research group, university of Paris-Diderot, France — Urbanization of the world {{Authority control Metropolitan areas, Cities Capitals Urban geography