Greater Glasgow refers to the Greater Glasgow Health Board area, and the Greater Glasgow Metropolitan Settlement Area (created in the 2001 census).

Greater Glasgow, in a more general sense, refers to the City of Glasgow, together with the network of towns and villages that immediately surround it. The surrounding commuter area of Greater Glasgow including other towns, has an approximate population of 2.1 million people, though this is not recorded on the census.

Greater Glasgow (NHS) Health Board

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Greater Glasgow Health Board consisting of the local authorities of East Dunbartonshire, West Dunbartonshire, most of East Renfrewshire (excepting the towns of Barrhead, Neilston and Uplawmoor) and the City of Glasgow, together with the towns of Rutherglen and Cambuslang in South Lanarkshire. The population of the area is around 870,000, which means that 17% of Scotland's population live there.

Greater Glasgow Metropolitan Settlement Area

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Following the boundary changes in 1996, and the creation of unitary councils in Scotland, replacing the former regional and district councils, The Greater Glasgow Settlement Area or Metropolitan Area was created for the 2001 Census from groups of neighbouring urban postcodes grouped so that each group of postcode unit contains at least a given number of addresses per unit area and the group contains at least 500 residents. The total population is around 2.1 million people.

The area includes the following localities: Airdrie, Bargeddie, Barrhead, Bearsden, Bellshill, Bishopbriggs, Bothwell, Busby, Calderbank, Carfin, Chapelhall, Clarkston, Clydebank, Coatbridge, Duntocher and Hardgate, Elderslie, Faifley, Giffnock, Glasgow, Holytown, Howwood, Johnstone, Kilbarchan, Linwood, Milngavie, Milton, Motherwell, New Stevenston, Newarthill, Newmains, Newton Mearns, Old Kilpatrick, Paisley, Renfrew, Stepps, Uddingston, Viewpark and Wishaw.

Demographics

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Population density

Due to council boundary changes since the previous census of 1991, Greater Glasgow has four distinct definitions for the population of Glasgow in the 2001 Census: the smallest is the new Glasgow City Council Area (which lost the district of Rutherglen to South Lanarkshire, the Greater Glasgow Health Board area (covered by the local NHS Trust), the City of Glasgow Locality Area (formerly Glasgow District Council Area) and the Greater Glasgow Metropolitan Settlement Area (including surrounding localities).

Location	Population	Area (km²)	Density (/km²)	Area (mi²)	Density (/mi²)
Glasgow City Council	577,869	175.49	3293	67.75	8,528
City of Glasgow locality	629,501	162.10	3883	62.58	10,058
Greater Glasgow Health Board	867,150	555.27	1562	214.38	4,044
Greater Glasgow Settlement Area	1,728,270	368.46	3171	142.26	8,212

Source 2001 Census

Glasgow is half the density of Inner London.

Glasgow | Cities in Scotland | National Health Service | Metropolitan areas of the United Kingdom