Most Europeans live in urban areas

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72% of the EU population lives in urban areas.

Reddit user: AJgloe

According to the harmonized definition by Eurostat, urban areas — defined as cities, towns, and suburbs — provide a home to 72% of the EU-28’s population; 41% live cities and 31% in towns and suburbs. Over the past 50 years, the urban population has continued to grow. However, the strongest growth took place in towns and suburbs. Many people have settled in the newly developed residential areas surrounding the existing cities. In contrast to the urban growth rates, the rural population showed a steady decline throughout the past decade. The share of people living in rural areas has decreased from 35% in i960 to 28% in 2010.

Most popolous urban areas in Europe:
London (United Kingdom) – 14,831,830
Paris (France) – 12,005,077
Milan (Italy) – 7,867,946
Madrid (Spain) – 6,529,700
Rome (Italy) – 5,800,000
Barcelona (Spain) – 5,445,616
Ruhr area (Germany) – 5,045,784
Berlin (Germany) – 5,005,216
Birmingham (West Midlands) (United Kingdom – 4,332,629
Athens (Greece) – 3,863,763
Warsaw (Poland) – 3,304,641
Hamburg Metropolitan Region (Germany) – 3,173,871
Naples (Italy) – 3,127,390
Rhein-Süd [Cologne – Bonn] (Germany) – 3,023,545
Budapest (Hungary) – 2,971,246
Brussels-Capital Region (Belgium) – 2,967,513
Lisbon (Portugal) – 2,839,908
Greater Manchester (United Kingdom) – 2,815,144
Munich (Germany) – 2,808,581
Rotterdam (Netherlands) – 2,808,550
Katowice (Poland) – 2,743,929
Stuttgart Metropolitan Region (Germany) – 2,678,795
West Yorkshire [Bradford – Leeds] (United Kingdom) – 2,638,127
Frankfurt/Rhine-Main Region (Germany) – 2,573,745
Lille–Kortrijk–Tournai (France, Belgium) – 2,572,374
Liverpool/Birkenhead (United Kingdom) – 2,552,000
Prague (Czech Republic) – 2,522,136
Valencia (Spain) – 2,516,818
Amsterdam (Netherlands) – 2,437,114
Vienna (Austria) – 2,339,807
Turin (Italy) – 2,302,353
Bucharest (Romania) – 2,267,419
Lyon (France) – 2,188,759
South Yorkshire [Sheffield] (United Kingdom) – 2,136,298
Metropolitan Stockholm (Sweden) – 2,034,354
Zürich (Switzerland) – 1,984,534
Copenhagen (Denmark) – 1,893,010
Greater Glasgow (United Kingdom) – 1,889,003
Seville (Spain) – 1,877,060
Dublin (Ireland) – 1,742,600
Nottingham-Derby (United Kingdom) – 1,729,096
Portsmouth-Southampton (United Kingdom) – 1,698,402
Newcastle-Sunderland (United Kingdom) – 1,641,879
Sofia (Bulgaria) – 1,543,377
Helsinki (Finland) – 1,532,309
Nuremberg Metropolitan Region (Germany) – 1,301,504
Porto (Portugal) – 1,286,111
Kraków (Poland) – 1,276,438
Bremen (Germany) – 1,244,363
Thessaloniki (Greece) – 1,166,914
Greater Oslo (Norway) – 1,144,883
Cardiff (United Kingdom) – 1,125,526
Zagreb (Croatia) – 1,123,374
Łódź (Poland) – 1,116,660
Bristol (United Kingdom) – 1,090,080
Riga (Latvia) – 1,089,767
Nice (France) – 1,082,847
Bilbao (Spain) – 1,025,109
Antwerp (Belgium) – 998,211
Saarbrücken – Forbach (Germany) – 822,128