Cities with at least 1,000,000 inhabitants in 2006

A metropolis (in Greek μήτηρ, mētēr meaning 'mother' and πόλις, pólis meaning 'city/town') is a big city,^[1] in most cases with over half a million inhabitants in the city proper, and with a population of at least one million living in its urban agglomeration. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly A city is an Urban area with a large Population and a particular Administrative, Legal, or Historical status In the study of human settlements an agglomeration is an extended City or Town area comprising the built-up area of a central place ( usually a Municipality ^[2] Big cities belonging to a larger urban agglomeration, but which are not the core of that agglomeration, are not generally considered a metropolis but a part of it. A metropolis is usually a significant economical, political and cultural center for some country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections and communications. An economic system is a System that involves the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services between Politics Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate" generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic In Political geography and International politics, a country is a Political division of a geographical entity The article is about the geographic sense of the term For other uses including Regions and Regional, see Region (disambiguation. The plural of the word is most commonly metropolises, though metropoleis is sometimes used as well.

In a broader sense, it refers to the city or state of origin of a colony (as of ancient Greece), a city regarded as a center of a specified activity, or a large important city. This article is about a type of political territory For other uses see Colony (disambiguation. The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca

Antiquity

In the past, metropolis was the designation for a city or state of origin of a colony. This article is about a type of political territory For other uses see Colony (disambiguation. Many large cities founded by ancient civilizations have been considered important world metropolises of their times due to their large populations and importance. Examples include Alexandria, Angkor, Antioch, Athens, Babylon, Beirut, Benares, Byblos, Cahokia, Carthage, Constantinople, Corinth, Damascus, Dholavira, Ephesus, Great Zimbabwe, Harappa, Istanbul, Jerusalem, Nanjing, Nineveh, Macchu Picchu, Mohenjo-Daro, Rome, Side, Siracuse, Tenochtitlan, Teotihuacan, Tikal, Tyre, Xian and Ur. Alexandria ( Egyptian Arabic: اسكندريه Eskendereyya; Standard Arabic: ar الإسكندرية Al-Iskandariyya; Ἀλεξάνδρεια Angkor is a name conventionally applied to the region of Cambodia serving as the seat of the Khmer empire that flourished from approximately the 9th century to Antioch on the Orontes (Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Δάφνῃ Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ Μεγάλη Antiochia ad Orontem also Athens (ˈæθənz Αθήνα Athina,) the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery as one of the world's Babylon was a City-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which can be found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq Beirut (بيروت Bayrūt) is the Capital and Largest city of Lebanon with a population of over 2 Varanasi ( Sanskrit: वाराणसी Vārāṇasī, pronunciation) also commonly known as Benares ( or Banaras (बनारस Byblos ( Βύβλος) is the Greek name of the Phoenician city Gebal (earlier Gubla) Carthage (Καρχηδών Karkhēdōn, Carthago from the Phoenician קרת חדשת phn-Latn Qart-ḥadašt meaning new town) refers Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoúpolis, or gr ἡ Πόλις hē Polis, Latin: la CONSTANTINOPOLIS Corinth, or Korinth ( Greek Κόρινθος ( is a city in Greece. Damascus ( دمشق,, also commonly known as الشام ash-Shām) is the capital and largest city of Syria. Dholavira, an ancient metropolitan city, and locally known as Kotada Timba Prachin Mahanagar Dholavira, is one of the largest and most prominent archaeological sites Ephesus ( Hittite Apasa; Ancient Greek; Turkish Efes) was a city of ancient Anatolia. The Great Zimbabwe, or "stone buildings" is the name given to hundreds of great stone Ruins spread out over a 500 km² (200 square mile area within the modern-day Harappa ( Urdu:, Hindi: हड़प्पा) is a City in Punjab, northeast Pakistan, about 35km (22 miles southwest Istanbul (historically Byzantium and later Constantinople; see the other Names of Istanbul) is the largest city of Turkey Jerusalem (יְרוּשָׁלַיִם, he-Latn Yerushaláyim; Arabic: ar القُدس, ar-Latn al-Quds) is the ( Chinese: 南京 Romanizations Nánjīng ( Pinyin) Nan-ching ( Wade-Giles Nineveh ( Akkadian: Ninua; Aramaic: ܢܝܢܘܐ Hebrew נינוה Nīnewē; Arabic نينوى Naīnuwa) Machu Picchu (Machu Pikchu "Old Peak" 'mɑtʃu 'piktʃu is a Pre-Columbian Inca site located 2400 meters (7875 ft above sea level Mohenjo-daro (موئن جودڑو موئن جو دڙو मोहन जोदड़ो Mound of the Dead was one of the largest city-settlements of the Indus Valley Civilization Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 Side (ˈsiːdǝ is one of the best-known classical sites in Turkey, and was an ancient harbour whose name meant pomegranate Syracuse (Siracusa Sicilian: Sarausa, Classical Greek: / transliterated Syrakousai) is a historic City in There are some towns in Mexico which are spelled "Tenochtitlán" like San Lorenzo Teotihuacan is an enormous archaeological site in the Basin of Mexico, containing some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the Pre-Columbian Americas Tikal (or Tik’al, according to the more current orthography is the largest of the ancient ruined cities of the Mayan civilization. Tyre ( Arabic صور Ṣūr, Phoenician Phoenician wawsvg|12px|ו]] Ṣur, Hebrew UserEl_C --> Xi'an ( Postal map spelling: Sian is the Capital of the Shaanxi province in the Ur ( Sumerian:urim; Akkadian: ?) is modern Tell el-Mukayyar, Iraq, and was a city in ancient Sumer. Some of these ancient metropolises survived until the modern days and are among the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities.

Etymology and modern usage

The word comes from the Greek metropolis ("mother city"), which is how the Greek colonies of antiquity referred to their original cities, with whom they retained cultic and political-cultural connections. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly The metropole, from the Greek Metropolis 'mother city' (polis being a city state hence also used for any colonizing 'mother country' in ecclesiastical languages an archbishopric having Colonies in antiquity were City-states founded from a mother- City The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca The word was used in post-classical Latin for the chief city of a province, the seat of the government, and in particular ecclesiastically for the seat or see of a metropolitan bishop to whom suffragan bishops were responsible. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. In Hierarchical Christian churches the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the Diocesan bishop or A suffragan bishop is a Bishop subordinate to a Metropolitan bishop or Diocesan bishop. This usage equates the province with the diocese or episcopal see. In many rites of the Roman Catholic Church and in Anglican churches, a diocese is an administrative territorial unit administered by a Bishop. An episcopal see is the ecclesiastical domain of authority of a Bishop.

In modern usage the word is also used for a metropolitan area, a set of adjacent and interconnected cities clustered around a major urban center. A metropolitan area is a large population center consisting of a large Metropolis and its adjacent zone of influence or of more than one closely adjoining neighboring central A city is an Urban area with a large Population and a particular Administrative, Legal, or Historical status In this sense "metropolitan" usually means "spanning the whole metropolis" (as in "metropolitan administration"); or "proper of a metropolis" (as in "metropolitan life", and opposed to "provincial" or "rural"). A province is a territorial unit almost always an Administrative division.

Global/world city

The concept of a Global city (or a World city) means a city that has a direct and tangible effect on global affairs through socioeconomic, cultural, and/or political means. The term has become increasingly familiar, because of the rise of globalization (i. Globalization (or globalisation) in its literal sense is the process of transformation of local or regional phenomena into global ones e. , global finance, communications, and travel). The global financial system ( GFS) is a Financial system consisting of institutions and regulations that act on the international level as opposed to those Communication is the process of conveying information from a sender to a receiver with the use of a medium in which the communicated information is understood the same way Travel is the change in location of people on a trip through the means of Transport from one location to another An attempt to define and categorize world cities by financial criteria was made by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group & Network (GaWC), based primarily at Loughborough University in England. Loughborough University is a Campus university located in the Market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, in the East Midlands England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The study ranked cities based on their provision of "advanced producer services" such as accountancy, advertising, finance and law. Accountancy or accounting is the measurement statement or provision of assurance about financial information primarily used by Lenders managers, Advertising is a form of Communication that typically attempts to persuade potential Customers to Purchase or to consume more of a particular Brand The field of finance refers to the concepts of Time, Money and Risk and how they are interrelated Law is a system of rules enforced through a set of Institutions used as an instrument to underpin civil obedience politics economics and society The Inventory identifies three levels of world cities and several sub-ranks (See World cities ranking).

A metropolis isn't necessarily a global city, or being one, it could not be among the top ranking due to its standards of living, development, and infrastructures.

Local definitions by country

Canada

Statistics Canada defines a census metropolitan area as one or more adjacent municipalities situated around a major urban core where the urban core has a population of at least 100,000. Statistics Canada (Statistique Canada is the Canadian federal government department commissioned with producing Statistics to help The census geographic units of Canada are the Country subdivisions defined and used by Canada's federal government statistics bureau Statistics Canada to [3]

India

In India, the Census Commission defines a metropolitan city as one having a population of over 4 million. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country [4] Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad are the six cities that qualify. Mumbai ( Marathi:,, IPA: formerly Bombay, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the financial Delhi (दिल्ली ਦਿੱਲੀ دلی d̪ɪlːiː sometimes referred to as Dilli) is the second largest metropolis of India, with a population Bangalore ( officially Bengaluru ( Kannada: ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು) is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Residents of these cities are also entitled to a higher House rent allowance. The figure only applies to the city region and not the conurbation.

Japan

The Japanese legal term to (都) is commonly translated as metropolis. ^[3] Structured like a prefecture instead of a normal city, there is only one to in Japan, namely Tokyo. The prefectures of Japan are the country's 47 sub-national Jurisdictions one "metropolis" (都 to) Tokyo; one " circuit officially, is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan and located on the eastern side of the main island Honshū. As of 2008, Japan has 11 other cities with populations greater than one million. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Japan has many major cities. Many of these cities are crowded into a relatively small area of land along the Pacific coast of Honshū, between

United Kingdom

Various conurbations in the United Kingdom are considered to be metropolitan areas (see Metropolitan county). A conurbation is an Urban area or Agglomeration comprising a number of Cities, large Towns and larger urban areas that through Population The metropolitan counties are a type of county-level Administrative division of England. The term 'Metropolis' itself is rarely used. London is archaically referred to as 'the Metropolis'. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom.

United States

In the United States an incorporated area or group of areas having a population more than 50,000 is required to have a metropolitan planning organization in order to facilitate major infrastructure projects and to ensure financial solubility. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including (but not necessarily limited to cities, counties, Towns A metropolitan Planning organization (MPO is a Transportation policy-making organization made up of representatives from local Government and transportation Thus, a population of 50,000 or greater has been used as a de facto standard in the United States to define a metropolis. A similar definition is used by the United States Census Bureau. The United States Census Bureau (officially Bureau of the Census as defined in Title) is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census They define a metropolitan statistical area as at least one urbanized area of 50,000 or more inhabitants. Table of United States Metropolitan Statistical Areas|Table of United States Core Based Statistical AreasIn the United States, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB has produced

Metropole

Main article: Metropole

Like in the UK, in French , in Spanish language and Portuguese language, the cognate word métropole (Fr. The metropole, from the Greek Metropolis 'mother city' (polis being a city state hence also used for any colonizing 'mother country' in ecclesiastical languages an archbishopric having The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people Portuguese ( or língua portuguesa) is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia (Spain and northern Portugal. Cognates in Linguistics are words that have a common origin They may occur within a language such as shirt and skirt as two English words descended from ) / metrópoli (Spa. ) / metrópole (Port. ), designates the part of a country near or on the European continent; in the case of France, this would mean France without its overseas departments; for Portugal and Spain during the Spanish Empire and Portuguese Empire period, it used to be common to designate Portugal or Spain except its colonies (the Ultramar). Overseas department (départements d’outre-mer or DOM) is a designation under the 1946 Constitution of the Fourth Republic that was given to the The Spanish Empire (Imperio Español was one of the largest Empires in history and one of the first Global empires In the 15th and 16th centuries The Portuguese Empire was the earliest and longest lived of the modern European colonial empires spanning almost six centuries from the capture of Ceuta This article is about a type of political territory For other uses see Colony (disambiguation.

Notes and references

Allen J. Scott (ed. ) "Global City Regions: Trends, Theory, Policy," Oxford University Press (2001).

See also

Other city types

• Global city
• Megacity
• Megalopolis

Lists

• World's largest cities
• List of metropolitan areas by population

Other

• Ekistics
• Ecopolis (city)
• Large Cities Climate Leadership Group

Planning Theories

• New Urbanism
• Smart Growth
• Transit Oriented Development

External links

• U.S. Census Bureau: About Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistics
• Megalopolis, my Arcadia, a podcast with a worldwide analysis of megacities (focus Latin America)