Size Comparison of the UK’s 30 Most Populous Urban Areas
Most populous urban areas in the United Kingdom
1. Greater London – 9,787,426 (Built-up area* 1,737.9 km2)
2. Greater Manchester – 2,553,379 (630.3 km2)
3. West Midlands – 2,440,986 (598.9 km2)
4. West Yorkshire – 1,777,934 (487.8 km2)
5. Greater Glasgow – 1,209,143 (368.5 km2)
6. Liverpool – 864,122 (199.6 km2)
7. South Hampshire – 855,569 (192 km2)
8. Tyneside – 774,891 (180.5 km2)
9. Nottingham – 729,977 (176.4 km2)
10. Sheffield – 685,368 (167.5 km2)
11. Bristol – 617,280 (144.4 km2)
12. Belfast Urban Area 595,879
13. Leicester – 508,916 (109.4 km2)
14. Edinburgh 482,005
15. Brighton and Hove – 474,485 (89.4 km2)
16. Bournemouth/Poole – 466,266 (131 km2)
17. Cardiff – 447,287 (102.3 km2)
18. Teesside – 376,633 (108.2 km2)
19. Stoke-on-Trent – 372,775 (103.9 km2)
20. Coventry – 359,262 (81.3 km2)
21. Sunderland – 335,415 (83.5 km2)
22. Birkenhead – 325,264 (88.2 km2)
23. Reading – 318,014 (83.7 km2)
24. Kingston upon Hull – 314,018 (82.6 km2)
25. Preston – 313,322 (82.4 km2)
26. Newport – 306,844 (84.2 km2)
27. Swansea – 300,352 (87.6 km2)
28. Southend-on-Sea – 295,310 (71.8 km2)
29. Derby – 270,468 (64.1 km2)
30. Plymouth – 260,203 (59.7 km2)
*The definition used in United Kingdom censuses for what constitutes a continuous urban area is a built-up land over 200,000m2 in an area, and those within 200m of each other are connected.
