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This list includes the most up-to-date official census figures or census estimates with regards to the population of the largest cities in the European Union. It deals exclusively with the areas within city boundaries as opposed to urban areas or metropolitan areas.

In some cases, the list of Largest urban areas of the European Union gives figures that better reflect common understanding of the different cities' sizes as the metropolitan areas also include non-urban and suburban areas and administrative borders for cities often cut across the urban areas.

The European Union statistics agency Eurostat does not gather information with regards to the population of cities within the member states, it is rather the task of national statistical agencies that gather such information every 5 to 10 years and that often make official estimates on the population of the cities. In some case the regional, local and municipal authorities also gather such information. This list exclusively includes official information from national agencies as well as official information from local government authorities.

Top 100 administrative units

National capitals are in bold.

Rank City and country Population Census year
1. London, United Kingdom 7,428,600 2004 (official, June 30)
2. Berlin, Germany 3,396,990 2005 (official, November 30)
3. Madrid, Spain 3,155,359 2005 (official, January 1)
4. Rome, Italy 2,547,932 2005 (official, November 30)
5. Paris, France 2,144,700 2004 (official, July 1)
6. Hamburg, Germany 1,744,215 2005 (official, November 30)
7. Warsaw, Poland 1,697,596 2005 (official, December 31)
8. Budapest, Hungary 1,697,343 2005 (official, January 1)
9. Vienna, Austria 1,651,437 2006 (official, January 1)
10. Barcelona, Spain 1,612,237 2005 (official, June 30)
11. Milan, Italy 1,307,864 2005 (official, November 30)
12. Munich, Germany 1,305.522 2006 (official, May 31)
13. Prague, Czech Republic 1,181,610 2005 (official, December 31)
14. Birmingham, United Kingdom 992,400 2004 (official, June 30)
15. Naples, Italy 983,797 2005 (official, November 30)
16. Cologne, Germany 975.907 2005 (official, June 30)
17. Turin, Italy 900,142 2005 (official, November 30)
18. Marseille, France 808,700 2004 (official, July 1)
19. Valencia, Spain 796,549 2005 (official, January 1)
20. Stockholm, Sweden 774,411 2006 (official, March 31)
21. Łódź, Poland 767,628 2005 (official, December 31)
22. Kraków, Poland 756,629 2005 (official, December 31)
23. Athens, Greece 745,514 2001 (Census)
24. Amsterdam, Netherlands 743,393 2005 (official, December 31)
25. Riga, Latvia 731,762 2005 (official, January 1)
26. Sevilla, Spain 704,154 2005 (official, January 1)
27. Palermo, Italy 671,593 2005 (official, November 30)
28. Frankfurt, Germany 660,289 2005 (official, September 30)
29. Zaragoza, Spain 647,373 2005 (official, January 1)
30. Wrocław, Poland 635,932 2005 (official, December 31)
31. Glasgow, United Kingdom 629,501 2001 (Census)
32. Genoa, Italy 614,058 2005 (official, November 30)
33. Stuttgart, Germany 591,528 2006 (official, April 30)
34. Rotterdam, Netherlands 588,500 2005 (official, December 31)
35. Dortmund, Germany 587,830 2005 (official, June 30)
36. Essen, Germany 586,382 2005 (official, June 30)
37. Düsseldorf, Germany 577,416 2005 (official, December 31)
38. Poznań, Poland 567,882 2005 (official, December 31)
39. Helsinki, Finland 560,905 2005 (official, December 31)
40. Málaga, Spain 558,287 2005 (official, January 1)
41. Vilnius, Lithuania 553,528 2006 (official, January 1)
42. Bremen, Germany 547,193 2005 (official, December 1)
43. Lisbon, Portugal 529,485 2004 (estimate)
44. Sheffield, United Kingdom 516,100 2004 (official, June 30)
45. Hannover, Germany 515,772 2005 (official, June 30)
46. Duisburg, Germany 502,522 2005 (official, June 30)
47. Leipzig, Germany 502,300 2005 (official, December 31)
48. Copenhagen, Denmark 501,612 2005 (official, December 31)
49. Nuremberg, Germany 499,354 2006 (official, March 31)
50. Dublin, Ireland 495,781 2002 (Census)
51. Dresden, Germany 495,300 2005 (official, December 31)
52. Gothenburg, Sweden 487,028 2006 (official, March 31)
54. The Hague, Netherlands 475,197 2005 (official, December 31)
53. Liverpool, United Kingdom 469,017 2001
55. Edinburgh, United Kingdom 457,830 2005 (estimate)
56. Gdańsk, Poland 457,404 2005 (estimate)
57. Antwerp, Belgium 455,148 2004 (estimate)
58. Lyon, France 445,452 1999 (census)
59. Leeds, United Kingdom 443,247 2001 (census)
60. Manchester, United Kingdom 437,000 2004 (estimate)
61. Bratislava, Slovakia 428,672 2001
62. Bristol, United Kingdom 420,556 2001 (census)
63. Szczecin, Poland 413,638 2005 (estimate)
64. Murcia, Spain 409,810 2005 (official, January 1)
65. Tallinn, Estonia 400,378 2000
66. Toulouse, France 390,350 1999 (census)
67. Bochum, Germany 387,283 2003 (estimate)
68. Las Palmas, Spain 378,628 2005 (official, January 1)
69. Palma de Mallorca, Spain 375,773 2005 (official, January 1)
70. Kaunas, Lithuania 373,669 2003 (estimate)
71. Bologna, Italy 373,539 2004 (official, January 1)
72. Brno, Czech Republic 369,559 2004 (estimate)
73. Bydgoszcz, Poland 368,845 2005 (estimate)
74. Florence, Italy 367,259 2004 (official, January 1)
75. Thessaloniki, Greece 363,987 2001
76. Wuppertal, Germany 362,137 2003 (estimate)
77. Lublin, Poland 357,167 2005 (estimate)
78. Bilbao, Spain 353,173 2005 (official, January 1)
79. Nice, France 342,738 1999(census)
80. Bari, Italy 328,458 2004 (official, December 31)
81. Bielefeld, Germany 328,452 2003 (estimate)
82. Córdoba, Spain 321,164 2005 (official, January 1)
83. Valladolid, Spain 321,001 2005 (official, January 1)
84. Alicante, Spain 319,380 2005 (official, January 1)
85. Katowice, Poland 318,588 2005 (estimate)
86. Cardiff, United Kingdom 315,100 2003 (estimate)
87. Ostrava, Czech Republic 313,088 2003 (estimate)
88. Bonn, Germany 312,295 2005 (estimate)
89. Mannheim, Germany 307,721 2005 (estimate)
90. Catania, Italy 305,671 2005 (*, May 1)
91. Coventry, United Kingdom 303,475 2001 (census)
92. Kingston upon Hull, United Kingdom 301,416 2001 (census)
93. Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal 300,868 2004 (estimate)
94. Arhus, Denmark 295,512 2006 (estimate)
95. Białystok, Poland 294,072 2005 (estimate)
96. Vigo, Spain 293,725 2005 (official, January 1)
97. Bradford, United Kingdom 293,717 2003 (estimate)
98. Karlsruhe, Germany 283,959 2005 (local authority estimate)(*)
99. Leicester, United Kingdom 280,000 2001 (local authority estimate) (*)
100. Belfast, United Kingdom 277,391 2001 (estimate)

Other notable cities

  • Brussels – the capital city of Belgium is nowhere near the top 100 list, as the municipality has a total population of only 141,312 (Census estimate 2004). The greater Brussels-Capital Region has a population of almost 1 million, which would place it 14th on this list.
  • Bordeaux, France – the city in Aquitaine is not on the list because most people in the Bordeaux Metropolitan Area live in the suburbs, outside of the city limits.
  • Ljubljana – the Slovenian capital has a total population of 258,873 and its population is currently declining.
  • Luxembourg - the capital city of Luxembourg has a total population of 77,325 (Census Estimate 2004).
  • Nicosia – the capital of Cyprus has a population of 47,832 (Census 2001). It is the third largest municipality in Cyprus.
  • Lille, France – the city in French Flanders is not on the list because most people in the Lille Metropolitan Area live in the suburbs, outside of the city limits.
  • Nottingham, United Kingdom, 273,863 (2003 est.) – the famous English city lost over 20,000 of its inhabitants between 1991 and 2001, owing mostly to migration from the inner city to suburbs outside the city limits.
  • Porto, Portugal - 263,131 (2001 est.) - the second city in Portugal. One of the biggest metropolitan areas on the European Atlantic coast. Plans of an union with Vila Nova de Gaia could mean the formation of a city with 400,000 inhabitants.
  • Strasbourg, France – another important city in terms of the European Union is just short of the list, with a population of 264,115 as of 1999, but the 2004 estimate suggests that it is now closer with a population of 273,100. The area has a total population of around 450,000.
  • Valletta, Malta – the capital city has a total population of only 7,199 (Census Estimate 2001). The largest city in Malta is Birkirkara, with a population just under 25,000.
  • Venice, Italy – the famous Italian city was constantly losing population for over 20 years until 2003 when the influx of immigrant population gave Venice a net gain of 3417 citizens in comparison to 2002. The city may be back in the top 100 soon. Its current population is 271,663 (Census Estimate 2004-01-01).

Cities likely to enter the top 100 in the near future

  • L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain - the EU's biggest suburb currently has a total population of 250,536 and growing. The Catalan city is likely to enter the top 100 within five years.
  • Malmö, Sweden - with a total population of 272,634 (official, March 31 2006) and a fast and steady growth the 3rd largest Swedish city is virtually assured to be on the top 100 list within one year.
  • Nantes, France - this city is already 103rd on the list and given its healthy gains of population is likely to enter the top 100 in less than two years. Nantes's attractive business climate and low crime rate encourages a further growth of the city.
  • Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain - this city in the Canary Islands had a net gain of population of over 7 000 people between 2001 and 2005 according to Spanish Census estimates. This gain is due to a large influx of population from other EU countries. As of 2005 the city had a total population of 221,567 and with such growth the city is likely to crack the top 100 within the next decade.
  • Utrecht, the Netherlands. Utrecht has a population of 276,000 at this moment and is about to get a new area Leidsche Rijn, in which around 80,000 people can live.

Cities likely to lose their top 100 status in the future

  • Bari and Catania, Italy - massive population losses for all Italian cities are especially large in the cities of southern part of Italy like these two.
  • Belfast, United Kingdom - contrary to popular perceptions, Northern Ireland's migration rate has shown a net increase since 1995 - but this is countered by population movement from Belfast into the suburbs outside the city boundary. However, the planned reorganization of local government boundaries in Northern Ireland in 2009 should see the city limits extended and take the population back above 300,000, and back into the top 100.
  • Wuppertal, Germany as other industrial cities in the Ruhr area has had a declining population for many years, and looking at the current demographic tendency it is all but certain that some of them will disappear from the top 100 list in the farer future as did another Ruhr area city Gelsenkirchen which was included in the top 100 until 2004.
  • Katowice, Poland - this industrial city is losing its population quickly. In three years the city is unlikely to figure among the 100 largest EU cities.

Future member countries

Bulgaria and Romania are scheduled to become members of the European Union in 2007 or 2008. Other candidate countries include Croatia, Macedonia and Turkey. Potential candidates for EU membership are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia. The cities that would currently make the top 100 from these countries are:

Bulgaria

Romania

Croatia

  • Zagreb 973,667 (Census 2005 data)

Macedonia

  • Skopje 506,926 (Census 2002 data)

Turkey

(only Istanbul is geographically in Europe, other cities are part of Asia, although these will be in the EU if and when Turkey joins)

Albania

  • Tirana 353,400 (Census 2003 data)

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Serbia

European Union | Lists of cities | Towns by country

Liste der größten Städte der EU | Miasta w Unii Europejskiej według liczby ludności | Lista e qyteteve më të mëdha të BE

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Largest cities of the European Union by population within city limits".

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