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List of metropolitan areas in Europe

  • ️Tue Jun 23 2009
This is a list of metropolitan areas. For a list of urban areas, see Largest urban areas of the European Union. For a list of cities proper, see Largest cities of the European Union by population within city limits. For a list of European cities by country, see List of cities in Europe.

Satellite picture of Europe by night. Light pollution from the major metropolitan areas and cities is clearly visible.

This is a list of metropolitan areas in Europe, with their population according to five different sources. The list includes metropolitan areas that have a population of over 1 million.

Figures in the first column come from the ESPON project, "Study on Urban Functions", which defines cities according to the concept of a functional urban area (core urban area defined morphologically on the basis of population density, plus the surrounding labour pool defined on the basis of commuting).

Figures in the second column come from Eurostat's Urban Audit and correspond to Larger Urban Zones (LUZ). Figures in the third column come from the UN's World Urbanization Prospects and correspond to urban areas.

Figures in the fourth column come from the OECD Territorial Reviews and correspond to "metropolitan regions". Figures in the last column come from the citypopulation.de website and correspond to urban agglomerations. Further information on how the areas are defined can be found in the source documents. These figures should be seen as an interpretation, not as conclusive fact.

Metropolitan areas

Metropolitan area name Country ESPON 1.4.3[1] Urban Audit[2] UN WUP[3] OECD[4] Citypopulation.de[5]
Amsterdam metropolitan area  Netherlands 2,497,000[6] 1,443,258 (2004) 1,049,000 7,500,000[6] 1,970,000
Antwerp  Belgium 1,406,000[7] 938,904 965,000 No data Not listed
Athens  Greece 3,761,000 4,013,368 (2004) 3,257,000 3,900,000 3,775,000
Barcelona metropolitan area  Spain 4,082,000[8] 4,440,629 5,083,000 4,900,000 4,500,000
Baku  Azerbaijan No data No data 1,972,000 No data 1,940,000
Belgrade  Serbia No data No data 1,731,425 No data 1,750,000
Berlin  Germany 4,016,000 5,025,272 3,450,000 6,000,000 4,325,000
Bremen  Germany 1,077,000 1,247,139 Not listed No data Not listed
Greater Bristol  United Kingdom 1,041,000 1,071,000 Not listed No data Not listed
Brussels-Capital Region  Belgium 2,639,000[7] 1,885,319 1,904,000 3,800,000 1,910,000
Bucharest metropolitan area  Romania 2,064,000 2,176,117 1,934,000 No data 2,075,000
Budapest metropolitan area  Hungary 2,523,000 2,475,737 1,706,000 2,800,000 2,525,000
Cardiff  United Kingdom 1,097,000 861,400 Not listed No data Not listed
Copenhagen metropolitan area  Denmark 1,881,000[9] 1,822,569 (2004) 1,186,000 2,400,000 1,420,000
Donetsk  Ukraine No data No data 966,000 No data 1,450,000
Dnipropetrovsk  Ukraine No data No data 1,004,000 No data 1,360,000
Dublin Metropolitan Area  Ireland 1,477,000 1,534,426 (2004) 1,099,000 1,600,000 1,100,000
Frankfurt/Rhine-Main Region  Germany 2,764,000[10] 2,531,970 Not listed 5,600,000 1,940,000
Greater Glasgow  United Kingdom 1,395,000 1,755,300 1,170,000 No data 1,430,000
The Hague  Netherlands 1,404,000[6] 978,161 (2004) Not listed 7,500,000[6] 2,900,000[11]
Hamburg Metropolitan Region  Germany 2,983,000 3,187,338 1,786,000 4,600,000 2,625,000
Helsinki Metropolitan Area  Finland 1,285,000 1,279,685 1,115,000 1,800,000 1,120,000
Istanbul  Turkey No data 11,044,642 (2004) 10,525,000 11,400,000 13,000,000
Katowice metropolitan area  Poland 3,029,000[12] 2,710,397 (2004) Not listed No data 2,450,000
Kazan  Russia No data No data 1,140,000 No data 1,140,000
Kharkiv  Ukraine No data No data 1,453,000 No data 1,590,000
Kiev metropolitan area  Ukraine No data No data 2,805,000 No data 3,225,000
Kraków metropolitan area  Poland 1,236,000 1,276,438 756,000 2,100,000 Not listed
West Yorkshire (Bradford & Leeds)  United Kingdom 2,302,000 2,393,300 (2004) 1,547,000 2,100,000 2,250,000
Lille-Kortrijk  France/
 Belgium		 1,161,000[13] 1,223,173 (2004) 1,033,000 2,600,000 1,240,000[14]
Lisbon Metropolitan Area  Portugal 2,591,000 2,467,484 2,824,000 2,700,000 2,575,000
Liverpool  United Kingdom 2,241,000 1,350,200 819,000 No data 1,350,000
Łódź  Poland 1,165,000 1,139,405 Not listed No data Not listed
Greater London  United Kingdom 13,709,000 12,317,800 8,631,000 7,400,000 12,500,000
Lyon  France 1,669,000 1,748,271 (2004) 1,468,000 1,600,000 1,470,000
Madrid metropolitan area  Spain 5,263,000 6,271,638 5,851,000 5,600,000 6,500,000
Greater Manchester  United Kingdom 2,556,000 2,580,000 2,253,000 2,500,000 2,625,000
Marseille  France 1,530,000 No data 1,469,000 No data 1,470,000
Milan metropolitan area  Italy 4,136,000[15] 3,076,643 3,115,392 7,400,000 4,575,000
Minsk  Belarus No data No data 1,852,000 No data 1,860,000
Moscow metropolitan area  Russia No data No data 10,550,000 No data 14,800,000
Munich  Germany 2,665,000[16] 2,644,807 1,349,000 6,100,000 2,025,000
Naples metropolitan area  Italy 2,905,000[17] 2,239,330 2,276,000 3,100,000 4,150,000
Nizhniy Novgorod  Russia No data No data 1,267,000 No data 1,760,000
Nottingham-Derby  United Kingdom 1,534,000 856,900 Not listed No data Not listed
Nuremberg  Germany 1,443,000 1,299,016 Not listed No data 1,060,000
Odessa  Ukraine No data No data 1,009,000 No data 1,070,000
Greater Oslo  Norway 1,037,000 1,162,255 888,000 1,700,000 Not listed
Paris metropolitan area  France 11,175,000 11,532,409 (2004) 10,485,000 11,200,000 10,500,000
Perm  Russia No data No data 982,000 No data 1,040,000
Greater Metropolitan Area of Porto  Portugal 1,245,000[18] 1,109,990 1,355,000 No data 1,240,000
Portsmouth-Southampton  United Kingdom 1,547,000 506,800[19] Not listed No data Not listed
Prague  Czech Republic 1,669,000 2,099,282 1,162,000 2,300,000 1,390,000
Rhein-Nord[20] (Düsseldorf-Neuss)  Germany 3,073,000[21] 1,527,018[22] Not listed 13,400,000[21] 1,220,000[22]
Rhein-Süd[20] (Cologne/Bonn Region)  Germany 3,070,000[21] 1,898,438[23] 1,001,000[23] 13,400,000[21] 1,900,000[23]
Riga  Latvia 1,195,000 1,003,949 (2004) Not listed No data Not listed
Rome metropolitan area  Italy 3,190,000 3,695,148 3,362,000 3,700,000 3,300,000
Rostov-on-Don  Russia No Data No data 1,046,000 No data 1,190,000
Rotterdam  Netherlands 1,904,000[6] 1,186,818 (2004) 1,010,000 7,500,000[6] 2,900,000[24]
Ruhr area[20] (Essen – Bochum – Dortmund)  Germany 5,376,000[21] 5,203,100 Not listed 13,400,000[21] 4,650,000[25]
Saarbrücken - Forbach  Germany/
 France		 1,102,000 832,617 Not listed No data Not listed
Saint Petersburg  Russia No data No data 4,575,000 No data 4,775,000
Samara  Russia No data No data 1,131,000 No data 1,270,000
Saratov  Russia No data No data 822,000 No data 1,070,000
Seville  Spain 1,180,000[26] 1,307,097 Not listed No data 1,340,000
Sofia  Bulgaria 1,174,000 1,334,782 1,196,000 No data 1,260,000
Metropolitan Stockholm  Sweden 2,171,000 1,981,263 1,285,000 2,200,000 2,075,000
South Yorkshire (Sheffield)  United Kingdom 1,569,000 1,308,600 Not listed No data 1,330,000
Stuttgart Metropolitan Region  Germany 2,289,000 2,674,527 Not listed 2,700,000 1,980,000
Tbilisi  Georgia No data No data 1,120,000 No data 1,220,000
Thessaloniki Metropolitan Area  Greece 1,052,000 995,766 (2004) 837,000 No data Not listed
Turin metropolitan area  Italy 1,601,000[27] 1,773,747 1,665,000 2,200,000 1,690,000
Tyne and Wear  United Kingdom 1,599,000 1,067,400 891,000 No data 1,110,000
Ufa  Russia No data No data 1,023,000 No data 1,040,000
Valencia  Spain 1,398,000 [28] 1,670,682 814,000 2,300,000 1,780,000
Vienna  Austria 2,584,000 2,285,988 1,706,000 2,200,000 2,025,000
Volgograd  Russia No data No data 977,000 No data 1,360,000
Warsaw metropolitan area  Poland 2,785,000 2,726,829 1,712,000 3,000,000 2,225,000
West Midlands (Birmingham)  United Kingdom 3,683,000 2,401,900 2,302,000 2,600,000 2,650,000
Yerevan  Armenia No data No data 1,112,000 No data 1,230,000
Zürich metropolitan area  Switzerland 1,615,000 1,160,687 1,150,000 2,500,000 1,180,000

Polycentric metropolitan areas

Rank Area State Population[29]
1 London  United Kingdom 13,709,000
2 Rhein-Ruhr  Germany 12,190,000
3 Paris  France 11,175,000
4 Randstad Holland  Netherlands 6,787,000
5 Milan  Italy 6,011,000
6 Upper Silesian metropolitan area  Poland/ Czech Republic 5,294,000
7 Madrid  Spain 5,263,000
8 Belgian central metropolitan area  Belgium 5,103,000
9 Barcelona  Spain 4,251,000
10 Rhein-Main Region  Germany 4,149,000

See also

Regional and country-specific lists

Notes and references

  1. ^ European Spatial Planning Observation Network, Study on Urban Functions (Project 1.4.3), Final Report, Chapter 3, (ESPON, 2007)
  2. ^ Eurostat, Total population in Urban Audit cities, Larger Urban Zone, accessed on 2009-06-23. Data for 2009 unless otherwise noted.
  3. ^ United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, World Urbanization Prospects (2009 revision), (United Nations, 2010), Table A.12. Data for 2007.
  4. ^ Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Competitive Cities in the Global Economy, OECD Territorial Reviews, (OECD Publishing, 2006), Table 1.1
  5. ^ Thomas Brinkoff, Principal Agglomerations of the World, accessed on 2009-03-12. Data for 2011-04-01.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Part of the Randstad polycentric urban region consisting of the metropolitan areas of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht (982,000). The total population of the region is 6,787,000.
  7. ^ a b The Flemish Diamond metropolitan region, which consists of the metropolitan areas of Brussels, Antwerp, Gent, and Leuven, has a total population of 5,103,000.
  8. ^ Total population is 4,251,000 if the metropolitan area of Mataro (169,000) is included.
  9. ^ Part of the wider Öresund region, which includes the Swedish metropolitan area of Malmö (961,000). The total regional population is 2,842,000.
  10. ^ Part of the Rhein-Main metropolitan region with a total population of 4,149,000, which additionally includes the metropolitan areas of Darmstadt (501,000), Wiesbaden (453,000), and Mainz (431,000).
  11. ^ Includes Rotterdam
  12. ^ Part of the polycentric Upper Silesian urban region with a total population of 5,294,000. The region additionally includes the metropolitan areas of Ostrava (1,046,000), Bielsko-Biała (584,000) and Rybnik (526,000).
  13. ^ Part of the wider Lille-Bassin Minier region with a total population of 3,115,000.
  14. ^ Includes Kortrijk
  15. ^ Part of a wider polycentric urban region with a population of 6,011,000.
  16. ^ When combined with the Augsburg metropolitan area (606,000), the region has a total population of 3,271,000.
  17. ^ Part of a wider polycentric urban region with a population of 3,714,000/
  18. ^ Part of a wider polycentric urban region with a population of 1,778,000.
  19. ^ Excludes Southampton
  20. ^ a b c Polycentric metropolitan area
  21. ^ a b c d e f Part of the polycentric urban region of Rhein-Ruhr, which has a total population of 12,190,000.
  22. ^ a b Excludes Duisburg, Krefeld, Mönchen-Gladbach
  23. ^ a b c Excludes Bonn
  24. ^ Includes The Hague
  25. ^ Includes Duisburg
  26. ^ Total population is 1,262,000 if the metropolitan area of Utrera (82,000) is included.
  27. ^ Total population is 1,716,000 if the metropolitan of Pinerolo is included.
  28. ^ Total population is 1,499,000 if the metropolitan area of Sagunto is included.
  29. ^ European Spatial Planning Observation Network, Study on Urban Functions (Project 1.4.3), Final Report, Chapter 3, (ESPON, 2007) page 241-243

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