List of metropolitan areas in Europe

This list ranks metropolitan areas in Europe by their population according to three different sources; it includes metropolitan areas that have a population of over 1 million.

Moscow, the capital of Russia, has the most populous metropolitan area in Europe.
Europe and some parts of Africa and Asia by night. Lights reveal the urbanized areas of Europe. It also shows the Blue Banana megalopolis from north-west England to northern Italy, and the Golden Banana urbanized area between Genoa and Valencia.

Sources

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List includes metropolitan areas according only to the studies of ESPON, Eurostat, and OECD. For this reason some metropolitan areas, like the Italian Genoa Metropolitan Area (with a population of 1,510,781 as of 2010[1]) or the Ukrainian Kryvyi Rih metropolitan area (with a population of 1,170,953 as of 2019[2]), are not included in this list, with data by other statistic survey institutes.

Figures in the first three columns correspond to Functional urban areas (FUA). The concept of a functional urban area defines a metropolitan area as a 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 first two columns use a harmonised definition of a Functional urban area developed jointly in 2011, with delimitation basing on the DEGURBA method.[3][4]

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

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  Areas within the European Union
Metropolitan area name Country OECD
(2020)[5]
Eurostat[6] ESPON
(2006)[7]
Amsterdam metropolitan area   Netherlands 2,017,935 2,915,114 (2022) 2,497,000[a]
Antwerp   Belgium 1,860,869 1,157,068 (2021) 1,406,000[b]
Athens metropolitan area   Greece 3,618,860 3,828,434 (2011) 3,761,000
Barcelona metropolitan area   Spain 5,345,763 5,093,585 (2022) 4,082,000[c]
Belgrade   Serbia 1,612,587
Berlin metropolitan area   Germany 4,558,043 4,979,867 (2021) 4,016,000
Bilbao metropolitan area   Spain 957,261 1,041,059 (2022) 947,000
Bordeaux   France 1,085,823 1,376,375 (2020) 918,000
Greater Bristol   United Kingdom 1,274,128 955,541 (2018) 1,041,000
Brussels metropolitan area   Belgium 2,338,157 3,350,969 (2022) 2,639,000[b]
Bucharest metropolitan area   Romania 2,348,982 2,478,618 (2018) 2,064,000
Budapest metropolitan area   Hungary 2,798,396 3,001,643 (2022) 2,523,000
Cardiff   United Kingdom 1,165,502 915,466 (2018) 1,097,000
Copenhagen metropolitan area   Denmark 2,088,197 1,928,612 (2013) 1,881,000[d]
Dnipro   Ukraine 1,014,593
Donetsk   Ukraine 1,450,194
Dublin Metropolitan Area   Ireland 1,721,812 1,793,902 (2011) 1,477,000
Frankfurt Rhine-Main   Germany 3,167,862 2,678,557 (2021) 2,764,000[e]
Gdańsk (Tricity)   Poland 987,006 1,223,884 (2021) 993,000
Greater Glasgow   United Kingdom 1,790,499 1,830,710 (2018) 1,395,000
Gothenburg   Sweden 941,867 1,021,831 (2018) 759,000
The Hague   Netherlands 3,592,389[f] 1,132,975 (2021) 1,404,000[a]
Hamburg Metropolitan Region   Germany 2,763,491 3,421,692 (2021) 2,983,000
Hannover   Germany 1,156,114 1,289,320 (2021) 997,000[g]
Helsinki Metropolitan Area   Finland 1,439,175 1,551,959 (2022) 1,285,000
Istanbul[h]   Turkey 14,693,269 11,044,642 (2004)
Katowice metropolitan area   Poland 2,843,725 2,417,386 (2021) 3,029,000[i]
Kazan metropolitan area   Russia 1,341,784
Kharkiv   Ukraine 1,713,794
Kraków metropolitan area   Poland 1,339,089 1,489,912 (2021) 1,236,000
Kyiv metropolitan area   Ukraine 3,545,076
Lille   France 1,226,810 1,515,061 (2020) 1,161,000[j]
Lisbon metropolitan area   Portugal 2,731,340 3,049,222 (2023) 2,591,000
Łódź metropolitan area   Poland 1,041,339 893,083 (2021) 1,165,000
London metropolitan area   United Kingdom 13,475,297 12,434,823 (2018) 11,203,000
Lyon   France 2,090,206 2,293,180 (2020) 1,669,000
Madrid metropolitan area   Spain 6,989,714 6,982,656 (2022) 5,263,000
Málaga-Marbella   Spain 1,288,693[k] 1,230,313[l] (2022) 775,000[m]
Greater Manchester   United Kingdom 3,374,693 3,348,274 (2018) 2,556,000
Mannheim-Ludwigshafen   Germany 1,755,988 1,318,805 (2021) 1,136,000[n]
Marseille   France 1,322,989[o] 1,879,601 (2020) 1,530,000
Merseyside (Liverpool/Birkenhead)   United Kingdom 1,729,058 1,533,860 (2018) 2,241,000
Milan metropolitan area   Italy 5,301,987 4,934,205 (2022) 4,136,000[p]
Minsk metropolitan area   Belarus 2,173,105
Moscow metropolitan area   Russia 17,217,606
Munich   Germany 2,618,482 3,016,834 (2021) 2,665,000[q]
Nantes   France 946,441 1,022,775 (2020) 708,000
Naples metropolitan area   Italy 4,095,364 3,303,711 (2022) 2,905,000[r]
Nice   France 1,143,557 618,489 (2020) 1,082,000
Nizhny Novgorod   Russia 1,430,212
Nottingham-Derby   United Kingdom 1,618,393 1,406,315[s] (2018) 1,534,000
Northwest Metropolitan Region (Bremen)   Germany 912,616 1,046,897 (2021) 1,077,000
Nuremberg Metropolitan Region   Germany 1,307,726 1,181,541 (2021) 1,443,000
Odesa   Ukraine 1,273,381
Greater Oslo Region   Norway 1,422,223 1,278,827 (2013) 1,037,000
Ostrava metropolitan area   Czech Republic 751,133[t] 695,244 (2022) 1,046,000[i]
Paris metropolitan area   France 11,249,025 13,125,142 (2020) 11,175,000
Porto Metropolitan Area   Portugal 1,651,124 1,316,989 (2023) 1,245,000[u]
Portsmouth-Southampton   United Kingdom 1,390,006 1,230,011[v] (2018) 1,547,000
Poznań metropolitan area   Poland 975,965 1,051,414 (2021) 919,000
Prague metropolitan area   Czech Republic 1,977,776 2,216,746 (2022) 1,669,000
Rhein-Nord[w] (Düsseldorf - Neuss)   Germany 2,557,228[x] 2,247,629[y] (2021) 3,073,000[z][aa]
Rhein-Süd[w] (Cologne - Bonn)   Germany 3,354,797 3,005,728[ab] (2021) 3,070,000[aa]
Riga metropolitan area   Latvia 762,194 917,351 (2022) 1,195,000
Rome metropolitan area   Italy 3,684,930 4,291,581 (2022) 5,190,000
Rostov-on-Don   Russia 1,349,583
Rotterdam   Netherlands 3,592,389[f] 1,902,704 (2022) 1,904,000[a]
Ruhr[w]   Germany 6,108,500 5,068,912 (2021) 5,376,000[ac][aa]
Saarbrücken - Forbach   Germany/
  France
582,231[ad] 522,983[ad] (2021) 1,102,000
Saint Petersburg metropolitan area   Russia 5,518,560
Samara   Russia 1,307,406
Saratov   Russia 1,097,493
Seville metropolitan area   Spain 1,299,106 1,556,975 (2021) 1,180,000[ae]
Sofia   Bulgaria 1,488,887 1,531,867 (2022) 1,174,000
South Yorkshire (Sheffield-Doncaster)   United Kingdom 1,166,720 1,189,393 (2018) 1,869,000
Metropolitan Stockholm   Sweden 2,241,651 2,308,143 (2018) 2,171,000
Stuttgart Metropolitan Region   Germany 2,300,011 2,531,040 (2021) 2,289,000
Tbilisi[af]   Georgia 1,042,204
Thessaloniki metropolitan area   Greece 1,011,795 973,997 (2011) 1,052,000
Toulouse   France 1,332,370 1,470,899 (2020) 832,000
Turin metropolitan area   Italy 1,828,088 1,712,372 (2022) 1,601,000[ag]
Tyne and Wear (Newcastle-Sunderland)   United Kingdom 1,719,730 1,175,274 (2018) 1,599,000
Ufa   Russia 1,149,103
Valencia   Spain 1,916,932 1,775,845 (2022) 1,398,000[ah]
Vienna   Austria 2,565,196 2,584,000
Volgograd   Russia 1,402,254
Voronezh   Russia 1,127,100
Warsaw metropolitan area   Poland 2,975,932 3,374,742 (2021) 2,785,000
West Midlands conurbation (Birmingham)   United Kingdom 3,083,783 3,097,965 (2018) 3,683,000
West Yorkshire Built-up Area (Leeds - Bradford)   United Kingdom 3,010,473 2,619,128 (2018) 2,302,000
Yerevan[af]   Armenia 1,232,670
Zagreb metropolitan area   Croatia 1,008,763 1,161,259 (2022)
Zürich metropolitan area    Switzerland 2,124,246 1,951,341 (2022) 1,615,000

Polycentric metropolitan areas in the European Union

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Rank Area State Population[8]
1 Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region   Germany 12,190,000
2 Randstad   Netherlands 6,787,000
3 Katowice-Ostrava metropolitan area   Poland/   Czech Republic 5,294,000
4 Flemish Diamond   Belgium 5,103,000
5 Vienna-Bratislava metropolitan region   Austria/   Slovakia 4,600,000

See also

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Regional and country-specific lists

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c Part of the Randstad polycentric urban region consisting of the metropolitan areas of Amsterdam (2,497,000), Rotterdam (1,904,000), The Hague (1,404,000), and Utrecht (982,000). The total population of the region is 6,787,000.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ Total population is 4,251,000 if the metropolitan area of Mataro (169,000) is included.
  4. ^ Part of the wider Öresund region, which includes the Danish metropolitan area of Copenhagen (1,881,000) and the Swedish metropolitan areas of Malmö (667,000) and Helsingborg (294,000). The total regional population is 2,842,000.
  5. ^ 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).
  6. ^ a b Combined total population of Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area.
  7. ^ Estmation.
  8. ^ 65% of the population lives on the European part
  9. ^ a b Part of the polycentric Katowice-Ostrava metropolitan area with a total population of 5,294,000. The region includes the metropolitan areas of Katowice (3,029,000) Ostrava (1,046,000), Bielsko-Biała (584,000), Rybnik (526,000) and Racibórz (109,000).
  10. ^ Part of the wider Lille-Bassin Minier region with a total population of 3,115,000.
  11. ^ Lists Málaga (1,048,764) and Marbella (239,929) as two separate metropolitan areas.
  12. ^ Lists Málaga (887,146) and Marbella (343,167) as two separate metropolitan areas.
  13. ^ Total population is 844,000 if the metropolitan area of Vélez-Málaga (69,000) is included.
  14. ^ Lists Mannheim (683,000) and Ludwigshafen (453,000) as two of eight FUAs within the Rhein-Neckar poly-FUA (2,931,000).
  15. ^ Does not include Aix-en-Provence, which OECD, unlike INSEE, considers as a separate metropolitan area, with a population of 243,615 in 2020.
  16. ^ Part of a wider Milan polycentric metropolitan area with a total population of 6,011,000.
  17. ^ Total population is 3,271,000 if the metropolitan area of Augsburg (606,000) is included.
  18. ^ Part of a wider polycentric metropolitan area with a population of 3,714,000.
  19. ^ Lists Nottingham (919,484) and Derby (486,831) as two separate metropolitan areas.
  20. ^ Lists Ostrava (539,358) and Havířov (211,775) as two separate metropolitan areas.
  21. ^ Part of a wider polycentric urban region with a population of 1,778,000.
  22. ^ Lists Portsmouth (542,040) and Southampton (687,971) as two separate metropolitan areas.
  23. ^ a b c Polycentric metropolitan area
  24. ^ Lists Düsseldorf (1,087,466), Wuppertal (872,475), and Mönchengladbach (597,287) as three separate metropolitan areas.
  25. ^ Lists Düsseldorf (1,464,904), Wuppertal (383,594), and Mönchengladbach (399,131) as three separate metropolitan areas.
  26. ^ Includes Duisburg metropolitan area of Ruhr.
  27. ^ a b c Part of the polycentric urban region of Rhein-Ruhr, which has a total population of 12,190,000.
  28. ^ Lists Cologne (2,215,509) and Bonn (790,219) as two separate metropolitan areas.
  29. ^ Does not include Duisburg metropolitan area.
  30. ^ a b Does not include the French part.
  31. ^ Total population is 1,262,000 if the metropolitan area of Utrera (82,000) is included.
  32. ^ a b Continental placement may vary depending on geographic convention being followed.
  33. ^ Total population is 1,716,000 if the metropolitan area of Pinerolo (115,000) is included.
  34. ^ Total population is 1,499,000 if the metropolitan area of Sagunto (101,000) is included.

References

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  1. ^ "Urbanismi, Cluster urbani e aree metropolitane – volume primo, Italia" (PDF) (in Italian). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  2. ^ "Чисельність наявного населення України на 1 січня 2019" (PDF).(in Ukrainian)
  3. ^ Lewis Dijkstra, Hugo Poelman (2012-03-01). Cities in Europe - The new OECD-EC definition (PDF) (Report). p. 2. Retrieved 2024-06-08. Until recently, there was no harmonised definition of 'a city' for European and other countries member of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). This undermined the comparability, and thus also the credibility, of cross-country analysis of cities. To resolve this problem, the OECD and the European Commission developed a new definition of a city and its commuting zone in 2011. […] Each city is part of its own commuting zone or a polycentric commuting zone covering multiple cities. These commuting zones are significant, especially for larger cities. The cities and commuting zones together (called Larger Urban Zones) account for 60 % of the EU population.
  4. ^ "Territorial typologies manual - cities, commuting zones and functional urban areas". Eurostat. Within the Urban Audit, (...) functional urban areas were previously referred to as 'larger urban zones'.
  5. ^ "OECD: FUAs and Cities". OECD. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  6. ^ "Database". ec.europa.eu. Eurostat. Retrieved 16 Jun 2024. Population on 1 January by age groups and sex - functional urban areas (urb_lpop1)
  7. ^ "Study on Urban Functions (Project 1.4.3)]" (PDF). European Spatial Planning Observation Network. March 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015., Final Report, Chapter 3
  8. ^ European Spatial Planning Observation Network, Study on Urban Functions (Project 1.4.3) Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine, Final Report, Chapter 3, (ESPON, 2007) page 241-243
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  • Geopolis: research group, university of Paris-Diderot, France - Population of urban areas of 10,000 or more