List of urban areas in the European Union

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This is a list of all the urban areas of the European Union which have greater than 500,000 inhabitants each, in 2014. This list is an attempt to present a consistent list of population figures for urban areas in the European Union. Figures here have been compiled by Demographia and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.[1][2] Demographia provides figures for urban areas (including conurbations),[1] while the UN DESA figures are for agglomerations only.[2]

Important notes

  • This is a list of urban areas, not a list of metropolitan areas. Urban areas are contiguous built-up areas where houses are typically not more than 200 m apart (discounting rivers, parks, roads, industrial fields, etc.). A metropolitan area is an urban area plus the satellite cities around the urban area and the agricultural land in between. For instance London is sometimes listed with 14 million inhabitants, Stuttgart is frequently listed with 2.2 million inhabitants, Munich with 2 million or more, etc., indicating the wider metropolitan area of those places. Metropolitan areas, which imply much more complicated definitions (such as the proportion of people in satellite cities working in the core of the metropolitan area), can be accurately computed only by statistical offices, after they have chosen a definition for metropolitan areas, whereas urban areas can be computed by any institution or person with the study of maps, satellite imagery and other geographical data in order to determine the outer limits of a continuous built-up area with one or more neighbouring cities. Furthermore, the list does not make a difference between cities that have multiple satellites and cities that do not. Therefore, two cities with the same demographics for their urban area will have an equal ranking on this list, even if one of the two cities may be much larger as it is the core of a number of satellites.
  • This is a list of urban areas, not a list of administrative cities. For example, the list of conurbations contains the urban area of Lille-Kortrijk. Lille and Kortrijk remain two very distinct cities, each belonging to a different country, culture and language area. For a list of the largest cities of the European Union by population, please see Largest cities of the European Union by population within city limits.
  • The study of urban areas is useful to analyse how cities develop, which in turn can be used to define transportation, planning and environmental policies, to adjust administrative boundaries etc. At the same time its limitations have to be acknowledged. It is a purely geographic study and disregards all other factors that contribute to the analysis of the functional city. For instance, several cities in the European Union such as Brussels and London have reserved green belts in the outskirts which impacts the size of urban areas but not the "perceived city" as these green belts have now become integrated in what people consider to be the functional city.

Urban areas over 500,000 inhabitants (2015)

Rank Urban area Image State Urban areas (Demographia)[1] Agglomerations (UN WUP)[2] Density
(per km²;
Demographia)
Annual growth
rate (%;

Demographia)
1 Paris Paris - Eiffelturm und Marsfeld2.jpg  France 10,858,000 10,843,285 3,800 0.83
2 London City of London skyline from London City Hall - Oct 2008.jpg  United Kingdom 10,236,000 10,313,307 5,900 0.07
3 Ruhr area DK DO Skyline 300ppi CC BY NC SA-20140223-3068.jpg  Germany 6,679,000 N/A 2,800 0.01
4 Madrid Cuatro Torres Business Area.JPG  Spain 6,171,000 6,199,254 4,600 0.27
5 Milan Skyline Milano - 05.JPG  Italy 5,257,000 3,098,974 2,800 −0.16
6 Barcelona Central business district of Barcelona (2).JPG  Spain 4,693,000 5,258,319 4,300 0.12
7 Berlin 120px  Germany 4,069,000 3,563,194 2,900 0.01
8 Rome Colosseum in Rome, Italy - April 2007.jpg  Italy 3,906,000 3,717,956 3,400 0.89
9 Naples Napoli.jpg  Italy 3,706,000 2,201,789 3,600 0.01
10 Athens Attica 06-13 Athens 36 View from Lycabettus.jpg  Greece 3,484,000 3,051,899 5,000 0.29
11 Lisbon Vista de Lisboa.jpg  Portugal 2,666,000 2,884,297 2,800 0.39
12 Rotterdam-The Hague RotterdamMaasNederland.jpg
Cityscape of The Hague, viewed from Het Plein (The Square).jpg
 Netherlands 2,660,000 N/A 2,700 0.39
13 Manchester Manchester Town Hall from Lloyd St.jpg  United Kingdom 2,639,000 2,645,598 4,200 −0.03
14 Birmingham (West Midlands) Birmingham -UK -Skyline.jpg  United Kingdom 2,512,000 2,514,596 4,200 −0.03
15 Katowice (Katowice urban area) Śródmieście, Katowice.png  Poland 2,190,000 3,300 0.11
16 Cologne-Bonn Über den Rhein.jpg  Germany 2,104,000 N/A 2,300 0.50
17 Brussels Brussels skyline gp.jpg  Belgium 2,089,000 2,044,993 2,600 0.02[3]
18 Hamburg Hamburg skyline St Michaelis.jpg  Germany 2,087,000 1,830,673 2,700 0.43[3]
19 Munich Stadtbild München.jpg  Germany 1,981,000 1,437,900 4,200 0.72[3]
20 Frankfurt Skyline Frankfurt am Main.jpg  Germany 1,915,000 3,000 0.50
21 Leeds-Bradford LeedsSkyline2013.jpg  United Kingdom 1,893,000 1,912,493 3,900 0.24[3]
22 Bucharest Hotel Continental - Calea Victoriei.jpg  Romania 1,860,000 1,867,724 6,500 0.10[3]
23 Vienna Wien-Reichsbruecke-6.JPG  Austria 1,763,000 1,752,845 3,900 1.04[3]
24 Warsaw FB Warszawa panorama.jpg  Poland 1,720,000 1,722,310 3,200 0.67
25 Budapest Parlement van Boedapest gelegen aan de Donau.jpg  Hungary 1,710,000 1,713,903 1,900 −0.19
26 Stockholm Gamla Stan swe.jpg  Sweden 1,630,000 1,485,680 4,300 0.58[3]
27 Amsterdam ZuidasAmsterdamtheNetherlands.jpg  Netherlands 1,624,000 1,090,772 3,200 0.41[3]
28 Lyon Lyon - La Part-Dieu de nuit - 07-12-2009.jpg  France 1,583,000 1,608,712 1,300 0.50[3]
29 Valencia Valencia west night.jpg  Spain 1,561,000 5,700 0.29[3]
30 Turin Turin monte cappuccini.jpg  Italy 1,521,000 1,764,868 4,100 −0.16[3]
31 Porto Cais da Ribeira, Oporto, Portugal, 2012-05-09, DD 17.JPG  Portugal 1,474,000 1,299,437 1,900 1.05[3]
32 Marseille Coucher de soleil sur Notre-Dame de la Garde.JPG  France 1,397,000 1,605,046 3,100 0.46[3]
33 Stuttgart Stuttgart AltesSchloss03.JPG  Germany 1,379,000 2,900
34 Sofia AlexanderNevskyCathedral-Sofia-6.jpg  Bulgaria 1,316,557 1,226,155 5,700 0.78[3]
35 Prague Night view of the Castle and Charles Bridge, Prague - 8034.jpg  Czech Republic 1,310,000 1,313,557 4,600 −0.07[3]
36 Copenhagen Nyhavn MichaD.jpg  Denmark 1,231,000 1,268,052 2,700 0.04[3]
37 Helsinki Helsinki July 2013-27a.jpg  Finland 1,203,000 1,179,916 2,400 0.81[3]
38 Glasgow (looking down) Buchannan Street, Glasgow.jpg  United Kingdom 1,182,000 1,222,955 3,300 0.07[3]
39 Dublin Grafton St, Dublin.jpg  Ireland 1,158,000 1,169,371 2,500 1.14[3]
40 Seville Espacio Parasol Sevilla.jpg  Spain 1,100,000 5,600
41 Lille Lille vue gd place.JPG  France,  Belgium 1,016,000 1,027,178 2,200 0.50[3]
42 Antwerp OLV-Kathedraal.jpg  Belgium 990,000 1,500 0.05[3]
43 Nice Nice Port 1.jpg  France 962,000 1,300 0.52[3]
44 Łódź Wolności Square in Łódź, 2002.jpg  Poland 939,000 5,000 −0.67[3]
45 Toulouse Toulouse by night with Basilique Saint-Sernin.jpg  France 880,000 1,100 0.72[3]
46 Liverpool Liverpool Pier Head.jpg  United Kingdom 864,000 4,400 0.11[3]
47 South Hampshire Portsmouth-from-PortsdownHill.jpg  United Kingdom 856,000
48 Bordeaux Bordeaux place de la bourse with tram.JPG  France 845,000 700 0.60[3]
49 Thessaloniki Salonica-view-aerial2.jpg  Greece 840,000 4,300 0.39[3]
50 Florence Florence Cathedral.jpg  Italy 821,000 3,700
51 Zagreb Zageb Croatian National Theater.jpg  Croatia 793,000 4,400
52 Newcastle upon Tyne (Tyneside) Millennium Bridge and Quayside from The Baltic - geograph.org.uk - 677250.jpg  United Kingdom 780,000 4,200 0.16[3]
53 Gdańsk (Tricity) Gdansk 2004.jpg  Poland 775,000 5,000
54 Kraków 009KrakówRynek.jpg  Poland 760,000 3,500
54= Bilbao Ayuntamiento-bilbao1.jpg  Spain 750,000 5,800
54= Riga Riga - House of Blackheads.jpg  Latvia 750,000 2,900
56 Palermo Palermo panorama.JPG  Italy 731,000 6,000 0.12[3]
57 Nottingham Christmas at Nottingham Market Square - geograph.org.uk - 916680.jpg  United Kingdom 730,000 4,200
58 Catania Catania anfiteatro romano2423.jpg  Italy 720,000 2,900
59= Malaga Palacio de Ferias y Congresos de Málaga.jpg  Spain 700,000 3,600
59= Las Palmas Auditorio alfredo kraus las palmas de gran canaria.jpg  Spain 700,000 6,800
59= Zaragoza 0849 pilar ebro 2004.png  Spain 700,000 5,700
59= Dresden Dresden Überblick 12.jpg  Germany 700,000 2,200
59= Hannover Hannover Altstadt 128-h.jpg  Germany 700,000 2,500
65 Sheffield Sheffield Cathedral 2001.jpg  United Kingdom 685,000 4,000
66 Nuremberg Nürnberg panorama.jpg  Germany 660,000 3,000
67= Bremen Bremen Altstadt (5438245111).jpg  Germany 650,000 2,400
67= Utrecht Stadhuis Utrecht.JPG  Netherlands 650,000 3,900
69 Genoa Genova-Panorama dalla collina di Camandoli.jpg  Italy 625,000 2,400
70 Bristol River.avon.from.balloon.bristol.arp.jpg  United Kingdom 617,000 3,900
71= Wrocław Wroclaw 1.jpg  Poland 600,000 4,800
71= Poznań 6 Poznan 015.jpg  Poland 600,000 2,700
73 Nantes Quai de la Fosse (de la butte Saint-Anne)- Nantes.jpg  France 585,000 1,100
74 Belfast Belfast City Hall 2007.jpg  United Kingdom 580,000 3,500
75 Leipzig Leipzig Burgplatz Panorama.jpg  Germany 575,000 2,000
76 Toulon Toulon Faron3 P1440701-P1440708.jpg  France 559,000 700
77 Mannheim Mannheim Friedrichsplatz 2005 Richtung Augustaanlage.jpg  Germany 552,000 3,500
78= Liège Eglise-liege-stbarthelemy-juin2006.jpg  Belgium 550,000 1,900
78= Vilnius Vilnius view.jpg  Lithuania 550,000 2,500
78= Gothenburg Älvsborgsbron.jpg  Sweden 550,000 2,700
81 Saarbrücken SB-Rathaus.jpg  Germany 515,000 2,200
82= Douai-Lens Douai - office de tourisme (3).jpgJean Jaurès square, Lens.jpg  France 510,000 1,100
82= Bologna Bologna-vista02.jpg  Italy 510,000 3,300
82= Aachen Aachen Rathaus pano.jpg  Germany 510,000 1,500
85 Leicester Leicester from Welford Place.jpg  United Kingdom 509,000
86 Grenoble Seilbahn-Grenoble.JPG  France 505,000 985
Cologne Über den Rhein.jpg  Germany N/A 1,036,771 N/A N/A

Top 15 urban areas by population

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Demographia: World Urban Areas. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Annual Population of Urban Agglomerations with 300,000 Inhabitants or More in 2014, by Country, 1950-2030 (thousands), World Urbanization Prospects, the 2014 revision, Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Retrieved 6 September 2015. Note: List based on estimates for 2015, from 2014.
  3. 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 3.21 3.22 3.23 3.24 3.25 3.26 3.27 3.28 United Nations: World Urbanization Prospects

External links