definition
strict definition
metropolitan area
A population center comprising several cities in geographical proximity with close economic interaction.
Metropolitan areas are defined as officially recognized contiguous urban areas, generally including both cities and the towns surrounding them. Official sources of metropolitan area definition are generally government agencies at the national level, including census bureaus.
Cities making up a metropolitan area have a high degree of social and economic interaction, and normally possess tightly integrated transportation systems so that all parts are within commuting distance of each other or of a common center.
The recognized area combines urban places with close social, economic, and transport connections. Those connections distinguish the metropolitan grouping from a collection of nearby places without the same interaction.
Related definitions
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1st-level district
A stable, government-determined subdivision of a municipality, excluding transitory postal and electoral divisions. -
2nd-level district
A stable government-determined subdivision of a first-level district, in a municipality that has that higher tier. -
3rd-level district
A stable government-determined subdivision of a second-level district, in a municipality with first- and second-level districts. -
NUTS 1
The largest tier of the European statistical region classification, above the level used for most reporting. -
NUTS 2
The middle tier of the European statistical region classification, the level most regional policy is measured at. -
NUTS 3
The finest tier of the European statistical region classification, usually matching a county or a province. -
administration
An official territorial unit assigned to a public office for coordinating work within a municipality. -
area
A named territorial subdivision whose official designation does not state a more specific kind of unit. -
arrondissement
An administrative subdivision in a French or related system, with powers and rank set by that system. -
barrio
A named subdivision of a municipality or settlement in a Spanish-speaking jurisdiction. -
belde municipality
A Turkish municipal government for a town that is not a provincial or district administrative center. -
block
An officially and consistently identified urban land unit bounded by streets, with no street crossing its interior. -
borough
A town or district with its own charter, at a tier that differs from country to country. -
canton
An official territorial division called a canton, with constitutional status and rank set locally. -
census area
An area delimited for statistics in place of a county, used in Alaska where no borough exists. -
centrally governed city
A Vietnamese city forming a province-level unit under the national government. -
charter township
A Michigan township that has adopted a charter, giving it stronger powers than an ordinary township. -
city
A populated area with some degree of self-governance, which does not belong to any other city. -
civil township
A subdivision of a US county that has a government, used where townships rather than municipalities cover the land. -
commune
A basic local territorial unit governed as a commune under the law of its country. -
community
A named populated place recognized by a register without being a separate unit of government. -
continent
Any of the seven commonly recognized subdivisions of the earth's land area. -
country
An independent political state or distinct territory treated as a country-level geographical unit. -
county
A geographical subdivision of a country, usually below a state, province, or comparable regional tier. -
county-administered city
A self-governing Taiwanese city that remains within a county and has the status of a township. -
county-level city
A Chinese city administered at the same level as a county, below a prefecture. -
department
An official territorial division called a department, with its rank and government defined nationally. -
development region
A grouping of counties used for regional planning and statistics, without a government of its own. -
district
An officially delimited subdivision of a larger territory, with no fixed rank or form of government. -
district municipality
An incorporated local government whose statutory class is district municipality. -
division
A formally delimited part of a territory whose official class is a division. -
edition
A version of a boundary set, kept so that data measured against an earlier version stays interpretable. -
emirate
A territory governed by an emir, including each constituent member of the United Arab Emirates. -
governorate
An administrative territory whose chief executive or state representative is a governor. -
group of countries
A set of countries treated as one unit, whether by a treaty, a shared history or common geography. -
indian reserve
Land set aside for the use of a First Nation in Canada, administered separately from the surrounding municipality. -
island territory
An island or island group administered as a distinct territory of a country. -
land parcel
A single contiguous piece of land which is bought, sold, or owned as a unit. -
local community
A legally recognized submunicipal area through which residents handle limited local matters. -
metro township
A Utah township that has become a municipality while keeping the township name. -
metropolitan district municipality
A Turkish district municipality operating within the territory of a metropolitan municipality. -
mountain indigenous district
A self-governing indigenous district formed from a former mountain township in a Taiwanese special municipality. -
municipality
A legally constituted territorial unit governed by the municipal authorities of its country. -
nation
A territorially defined constituent nation recognized as a political part of a larger country. -
neighborhood
A named part of a settlement recognized as a local place, with customary or official boundaries. -
neighborhood planning unit
A neighborhood planning unit in Atlanta, used to organize citizen participation in planning. -
non-municipalized area
A Colombian territory that is administered by its department because it has no municipality of its own. -
parish
A civil division used in place of a county in Louisiana, and a local unit in several other countries. -
planning region
One of nine Connecticut planning areas represented by regional councils and recognized as Census Bureau county equivalents. -
prefecture
An official administrative territory called a prefecture, with rank and institutions set nationally. -
prefecture-level city
A Chinese city administered at prefecture level, usually containing counties and smaller cities. -
province
A first-level subdivision of a country, used where the country calls it a province. -
quarter
A named section of a settlement, defined by customary identity or an official subdivision. -
raion
An administrative district in a country whose official or transliterated terminology uses raion. -
region
A first-level or second-level country subdivision, used where the country's own term is region. -
rural township
A self-governing Taiwanese county subdivision whose statutory municipal class is rural township. -
section
A named or numbered subdivision of a settlement or district established by an official scheme. -
sector
A major division of a city, used where the country's own term for a large city district is sector. -
special administrative region
A Chinese region that keeps its own legal and economic system, namely Hong Kong and Macau. -
special administrative zone
A Vietnamese commune-level unit established for an important island area with special conditions.