A conurbation is an urban area comprising a number of cities or towns which, through population growth and expansion, have physically merged to form one continuous built up area. It is thus a polycentric form of agglomeration.

A metropolitan area usually combines one or several conurbations with peripheral zones not themselves necessarily urban in character but closely dependent of the conurbation(s) in terms of employment and commerce.

Examples

• Greater Los Angeles Area
• San Francisco Bay Area
• Nottingham
• Greater Manchester
• Mumbai
• Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto
• Greater Mexico City
• Randstad
• Rhine-Ruhr
• Helsinki
• Hong Kong
• The Greater Toronto Area (GTA)
• Upper Silesian Metropolitan Area

See also

• Largest cities of the world

External links

• Largest cities of the world (municipalities)