AI tools
Loading AI tools

This is a list of metropolitan areas. For a list of urban areas, see List of urban areas in Europe. For a list of cities proper, see List of European cities by population within city limits. For a list of European cities by country, see List of cities 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.

Thumb
Moscow, the capital of Russia, has the most populous metropolitan area in Europe.
Thumb
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

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.

Population figures correspond to the populations of 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 population 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

  Areas within the European Union
More information Metropolitan area name, Country ...
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
Liverpool City Region  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
Close

Polycentric metropolitan areas in the European Union

More information Rank, Area ...
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
Close

See also

Regional and country-specific lists

Notes

  1. 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. 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. Combined total population of Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area.
  7. Estimation.
  8. 65% of the population lives on the European part
  9. 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. 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. 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. Does not include the French part.
  31. Total population is 1,262,000 if the metropolitan area of Utrera (82,000) is included.
  32. 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

External links

Wikiwand in your browser!

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.

Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.

Chrome
Wikiwand for Chrome
Edge
Wikiwand for Edge
Firefox
Wikiwand for Firefox