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A metropolis (in Greek μήτηρ, mētēr meaning mother and πόλις, pólis meaning city/town) is a big city, 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. 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. 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.

Antiquity

In the past, metropolis was the designation for a city or state of origin of a colony. Many large cities founded by ancient civilizations have been considered important world metropolises of its time 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. 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. 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. This usage equates the province with the diocese or episcopal see.

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. 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").

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.e., global finance, communications, and travel). 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. The study ranked cities based on their provision of "advanced producer services" such as accountancy, advertising, finance and law. 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. London could be considered the first Global City and modern metropolis in the world.

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.

India

In India, the Census Commission defines a metropolitan city as one having a population of over 4 million. Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad are the six cities that qualify. 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. Now recently Bangalore and Hyderabad are considered Metropolitan cities, due to tremendous development in these cities.

United Kingdom

Various conurbations in the United Kingdom are considered to be metropolitan areas (see Metropolitan county). The term 'Metropolis' itself is rarely used. London is archaically referred to as 'the Metropolis'.

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. 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. They define a metropolitan statistical area as at least one urbanized area of 50,000 or more inhabitants.

Metropole

Like in the UK, in French and Portuguese language, the cognate word métropole (Fr.) / 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 during the Portuguese Empire period, it used to be common to designate Portugal except its colonies (the Ultramar).

Gallery

Contemporary metropolises

According to the main definition at the top of this article, worldwide examples of modern-day metropolises by continent include the cities in the following non-exhaustive list:

Africa

Asia

Eastern Asia

Southern Asia

Southeastern Asia

Western/Central Asia

Europe

Eastern Europe

Northern Europe

Southern Europe

Western Europe

North America

Canada

United States of America

Mexico

Central America

West Indies

South America

Oceania

Notes and references

1. The United Nations has set up its own classifications scheme: a "big city" is a locality with 500,000 or more inhabitants; a "city" is a locality with 100,000 or more inhabitants; an "urban locality" is a locality with 20,000 or more inhabitants; a "rural locality" is a locality with less than 20,000 inhabitants..., Sociumas magazine. Retrieved 15 July 2006.
2. A full member is either a capital city or a city with more than one million inhabitants, City Mayors: Metropolis World Congress. Retrieved 15 July 2006.

See also

Other city types

• Global city
• Megacity
• Megalopolis

Lists

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

Other

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

External links

• U.S. Census Bureau: About Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistics

• Urban geography
• Demographics
• Lists of cities